Artist: Elvis Costello
Album: My Aim is True
Worth Buying: The Whole Album
You will be interested in this album if you are a fan of: early rock from the 50's, blues, R&B from the early 60's and great songwriting.
I remember turning on the TV one late night to watch Saturday Night Live. The week before it had been announced that the Sex Pistols would be the musical guests. But the Pistol's must have backed out or something, because instead the musical guest was this guy that I had never heard of (till then anyways) named Elvis Costello.
At the time music was the domain of bands like Led Zeppelin, and Van Halen. Long hair and looking like you where the bad ass who got kicked out of school was look that most Rock musicians went for. And I of course was into these bands. So here was this guy who at first glance looked to me more like the school bookworm than a rock star (and back then I was still to musically uneducated to realize that Elvis was riffing on Buddy Holly's look).
Today, most people remember this first US TV appearance by Elvis Costello for the song "Radio Radio". He launched into the performance by playing "Less than Zero", a few bars in he stopped the band, apologized to the audience and played Radio Radio (a scathing attack on the radio industry. In doing this one simple thing, He went against what his record label wanted, and he and was banned by SNL for 12 years.....But what really grabbed me about this guy was his performance of "Watching the Detectives". I couldn't get over how intense and angry this guy came off.
If I thought he looked like a bookworm at first, I quickly changed my mind. Suddenly he looked like a bookworm who would crunch your nuts and then walk off with your woman. he looked like this angry M.F. who wanted to stick his middle finger in the face of every long haired Robert Plant Wannabe in the world.
I was immediately taken by his intensity and went out and got his first album "My Aim is True". It is still to this day one of my favorite albums and a real turning point for me as it signaled the expansion of my musical palate beyond just Hard Rock and Heavy Metal (although I still love both of those genres).
I remember some of my "rocker" friends made fun of me for getting this record. That's because all they had seen was the cover with this bookworm looking guy holding a guitar in a funky pose. They hadn't seen him live. They didn't realize how intense he was. This guy was as angry as me, and I loved him for it.
Looking back now, it's amazing who timeless all these songs sound. There is a strong influence of Motown, R&B, Blues, and 50's Rock'n'Roll. Elvis took all these genres and put new spins on it. He wrote songs with strong hooks and clever, intriguing lyrics.....AND IT WAS ONLY HIS FIRST ALBUM!
Listening to this album with the benefit of hindsight, it's amazing to consider that as awesome a songwriter as he was, he was only going to get BETTER as the years went on.
lines like "I used to be disgusted, but now I try to be amused" from the song "Angels Wanna Wear My Red Shoes", became slogans that people put on bumper stickers and buttons.
Major music stars of the time started covering his songs.
If you haven' heard My Aim is True. Now is the time to see where he started
Since then Elvis has stopped being as angry (so have I, come to think of it). But he's never stopped being one of the rock and pop's best songwriters.
Listen My Aim is true and buy in Mp3 format
On CD with extra tracks
http://www.amazon.com/My-Aim-True-Elvis-Costello/dp/B000UAE86C/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1232567022&sr=1-3
Deluxe CD edition
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