{"id":52825,"date":"2014-08-20T01:28:37","date_gmt":"2014-08-20T01:28:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/englishroam.com\/?p=52825"},"modified":"2022-07-30T16:07:59","modified_gmt":"2022-07-30T16:07:59","slug":"elvis-costello","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/englishroam.com\/?p=52825","title":{"rendered":"Elvis Costello"},"content":{"rendered":"<h6 style=\"text-align: right;\">\u2022\u2192<a href=\"http:\/\/genius.com\/search?q=elvis+costello\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">http:\/\/genius.com\/search?q=elvis+costello<\/a>\u21d0<\/h6>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">\u03c6\u00a0 \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.elviscostello.com\/homepage#\/the-wheel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Elvis Costello<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<h6 style=\"text-align: right;\"><strong>\u00a0\u21d3 \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=LrjHz5hrupA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Oliver&#8217;s Army<\/a>\u00a0\u21d0<\/strong><\/h6>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kgR19WW3NOE\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<address style=\"text-align: center;\">Don&#8217;t start me talking \u00a0&#8211; \u00a0I could talk all night<\/address>\n<address style=\"text-align: center;\">My mind goes sleepwalking \u00a0While I&#8217;m putting the world to right<\/address>\n<address style=\"text-align: center;\">Called careers information \u00a0&#8211; \u00a0Have you got yourself an occupation?<\/address>\n<address style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<\/address>\n<address style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Oliver&#8217;s army is here to stay \u00a0&#8211;\u00a0<\/strong><strong>Oliver&#8217;s army are on their way<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=NZGfBWPRXaI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-45180 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eoisabi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/pillssoap.jpg\" alt=\"pills&amp;soap\" width=\"152\" height=\"216\" srcset=\"https:\/\/englishroam.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/pillssoap.jpg 146w, https:\/\/englishroam.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/pillssoap-105x150.jpg 105w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 152px) 100vw, 152px\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/address>\n<address style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>And I would rather be anywhere else b<\/strong><strong>ut here today<\/strong><\/address>\n<address style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<\/address>\n<address style=\"text-align: center;\">There was a checkpoint Charlie \u00a0&#8211; \u00a0He didn&#8217;t crack a smile<\/address>\n<address style=\"text-align: center;\">But it&#8217;s no laughing party \u00a0When you&#8217;ve been on the murder mile<\/address>\n<address style=\"text-align: center;\">Only takes one itchy trigger \u00a0&#8211; \u00a0One more widow, one less white nigger<\/address>\n<address style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>(Chorus)<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/address>\n<address style=\"text-align: center;\">Hong Kong is up for grabs \u00a0&#8211; \u00a0London is full of Arabs<\/address>\n<address style=\"text-align: center;\">We could be in Palestine \u00a0Overrun by a Chinese line<\/address>\n<address style=\"text-align: center;\">With the boys from the Mersey and the Thames and the Tyne<\/address>\n<address style=\"text-align: center;\">But there&#8217;s no danger \u00a0&#8211; \u00a0It&#8217;s a professional career<\/address>\n<address style=\"text-align: center;\">Though it could be arranged \u00a0With just a word in Mr. Churchill&#8217;s ear<\/address>\n<address style=\"text-align: center;\">If you&#8217;re out of luck or out of work \u00a0We could send you to Johannesburg<\/address>\n<address style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>(Chorus)\u00a0<\/strong><\/address>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=gSDgJec5rzA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-52818\" src=\"http:\/\/englishroam.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Bmovie.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"93\" height=\"167\" srcset=\"https:\/\/englishroam.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Bmovie.png 168w, https:\/\/englishroam.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Bmovie-84x150.png 84w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 93px) 100vw, 93px\" \/><\/a><strong>\u0394\u00a0 \u00a0&#8216;B movie&#8217; \u00a0<\/strong>[1980]<\/p>\n<h6 style=\"text-align: left;\">\u2666 \u2192 &#8216;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=eM86DdwT71Y\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lipstick Vogue<\/a>&#8216;\u00a0 <\/strong><strong>\u21d0<\/strong><\/h6>\n<h6 style=\"text-align: right;\">\u25ca \u00a0&#8216;Big Sister&#8217;s Clothes&#8217; \u00a0\u2193 \u00a0[\u00abTrust\u00bb_1981]<\/h6>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/q9hzfHmcino\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div style=\"color: #000000; text-align: center;\">Sheep to the slaughter oh I thought this must be love<br \/>\nAll your sons and daughters in a strangle hold with a kid glove<br \/>\nShe&#8217;s got eyes like saucers oh you think she&#8217;s a dish<br \/>\nShe is the blue chip that belongs to the big fish<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000; text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000; text-align: center;\"><strong>But it&#8217;s easier to say \u00abI love you,\u00bb<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>than \u00abYours sincerely\u00bb I suppose<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>All little sisters like to try on big sister&#8217;s clothes<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Big sister&#8217;s clothes<\/strong><\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000; text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000; text-align: center;\">The sport of kings, the old queen&#8217;s heart<br \/>\nThe prince in darkness stole some tart<br \/>\nAnd it&#8217;s in the papers, it&#8217;s in the charts<br \/>\nIt&#8217;s in the stop press before it all starts.<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000; text-align: center;\">With a hammer on the slap and tickle under grisly garments<br \/>\nWith all the style and finesse of the purchase of armaments<br \/>\nCompassion went out of fashion &#8211;\u00a0That&#8217;s all your concern meant<br \/>\nSweat it out for thirty seconds on home improvements<\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000; text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000; text-align: center;\"><strong>But it&#8217;s easier to say \u00abI love you\u00bb \u00a0. . .<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div style=\"color: #000000; text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=dCX-TETPgc8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-45182\" src=\"http:\/\/englishroam.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/everydayiwrite.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"236\" height=\"234\" srcset=\"https:\/\/englishroam.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/everydayiwrite.jpg 236w, https:\/\/englishroam.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/everydayiwrite-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 236px) 100vw, 236px\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<h6 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #333333;\">\u00a0\u221e\u00a0 w\/ \u00a0C. Baker <\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=9bSsj_kVVtw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8216;<\/a><b style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\">You Don&#8217;t Know What Love Is&#8217;\u00a0 \u21d3\u00a0 \u00a0[1986]<\/span><\/b><\/h6>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=9bSsj_kVVtw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-54183\" src=\"https:\/\/englishroam.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Chet_BakeR.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"268\" height=\"201\" srcset=\"https:\/\/englishroam.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Chet_BakeR.jpg 268w, https:\/\/englishroam.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Chet_BakeR-150x113.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 268px) 100vw, 268px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong>You don&#8217;t know what love is<\/strong><\/span><br style=\"color: #000000;\" \/><span style=\"color: #800080;\">Until you&#8217;ve learned the meaning of the blues<\/span><br style=\"color: #000000;\" \/><span style=\"color: #800080;\">Until you&#8217;ve loved a love you&#8217;ve had to lose<\/span><br style=\"color: #000000;\" \/><span style=\"color: #800080;\">You don&#8217;t know what love is<\/span><br style=\"color: #000000;\" \/><br style=\"color: #000000;\" \/><span style=\"color: #800080;\">You don&#8217;t know how lips hurt<\/span><br style=\"color: #000000;\" \/><span style=\"color: #800080;\">Until you&#8217;ve kissed and had to pay the cost<\/span><br style=\"color: #000000;\" \/><span style=\"color: #800080;\">Until you&#8217;ve flipped your heart and you have lost<\/span><br style=\"color: #000000;\" \/><span style=\"color: #800080;\">You don&#8217;t know what love is<\/span><br style=\"color: #000000;\" \/><br style=\"color: #000000;\" \/><span style=\"color: #800080;\">Do you know how lost heart feels<\/span><br style=\"color: #000000;\" \/><span style=\"color: #800080;\">At the thought of reminiscing?<\/span><br style=\"color: #000000;\" \/><span style=\"color: #800080;\">And how lips that taste of tears<\/span><br style=\"color: #000000;\" \/><span style=\"color: #800080;\">Lose their taste for kissing<\/span><\/p>\n<h6 style=\"text-align: right;\"><b style=\"color: #000000;\">\u2207\u00a0 \u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">&#8216;I&#8217;m a Fool to Want You&#8217;\u00a0 \u21d3<\/span><\/b><\/h6>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/58s0KlO70SQ\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>I&#8217;m a fool to want you . . .<\/strong><\/span><br style=\"color: #000000;\" \/><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">To want a love that can&#8217;t be true<\/span><br style=\"color: #000000;\" \/><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">A love that&#8217;s there for others too<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">I&#8217;m a fool to hold you &#8211; Such a fool to hold you<\/span><br style=\"color: #000000;\" \/><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">To want a kiss not mine alone &#8211; to want a kiss the devil has\u00a0known<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">Time and time again I say I&#8217;d leave you<\/span><br style=\"color: #000000;\" \/><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">Time and time again I \u00a0went away<\/span><br style=\"color: #000000;\" \/><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">But then would come a time when I would need you<\/span><br style=\"color: #000000;\" \/><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">and once gain these words I have to say,<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\">You don&#8217;t know how hearts burn<\/span><br style=\"color: #000000;\" \/><span style=\"color: #800080;\">For love that cannot live yet never dies<\/span><br style=\"color: #000000;\" \/><span style=\"color: #800080;\">Until you&#8217;ve faced each dawn with burning\u00a0eyes<\/span><br style=\"color: #000000;\" \/><span style=\"color: #800080;\">How could you\u00a0know what love is<\/span><br style=\"color: #000000;\" \/><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong>What love is . . .<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<h6 id=\"watch-headline-title\" class=\"yt\" style=\"color: #222222;\"><span id=\"eow-title\" class=\"watch-title long-title yt-uix-expander-head\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"color: #000080;\" title=\"Chet Baker and Elvis Costello The Very Thought of You\">\u221e \u00a0w\/ Chet Baker \u00a0\u2193 &#8216;The Very Thought of You&#8217;<\/span><\/h6>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6Que8KwBNEc\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The very thought of you and I forget to do<\/span><br style=\"color: #000000;\" \/><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The little ordinary things that everyone ought to do<\/span><br style=\"color: #000000;\" \/><span style=\"color: #000080;\">I&#8217;m living in a kind of daydream<\/span><br style=\"color: #000000;\" \/><span style=\"color: #000080;\">I&#8217;m happy as a king<\/span><br style=\"color: #000000;\" \/><span style=\"color: #000080;\">And foolish though it may seem<\/span><br style=\"color: #000000;\" \/><span style=\"color: #000080;\">To me that&#8217;s everything<\/span><br style=\"color: #000000;\" \/><br style=\"color: #000000;\" \/><strong><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The mere idea of you, the longing here for you<\/span><\/strong><br style=\"color: #000000;\" \/><strong><span style=\"color: #000080;\">You&#8217;ll never know how slow the moments go till I&#8217;m near to you<\/span><\/strong><br style=\"color: #000000;\" \/><strong><span style=\"color: #000080;\">I see your face in every flower<\/span><\/strong><br style=\"color: #000000;\" \/><strong><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Your eyes in stars above<\/span><\/strong><br style=\"color: #000000;\" \/><strong><span style=\"color: #000080;\">It&#8217;s just the thought of you<\/span><\/strong><br style=\"color: #000000;\" \/><strong><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The very thought of you, my love . . .<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=hW8wM-3RS4Y\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-45191\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eoisabi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/dont-let-me-be-misunderstood.png\" alt=\"dont-let-me-be-misunderstood\" width=\"236\" height=\"98\" srcset=\"https:\/\/englishroam.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/dont-let-me-be-misunderstood.png 236w, https:\/\/englishroam.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/dont-let-me-be-misunderstood-150x62.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 236px) 100vw, 236px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>. . . I&#8217;m just a soul whose intentions are good<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Oh Lord please don&#8217;t let me be misunderstood . . .<\/strong><\/p>\n<h6 style=\"text-align: right;\">\u2022\u2192\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=22wwbTQYKxc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8216;Radio, Radio&#8217; \u00a0[with The Beastie Boys]<\/a>\u21d4\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.azlyrics.com\/lyrics\/elviscostello\/radioradio.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">lyrics<\/a><\/h6>\n<h6 style=\"text-align: center;\">\u221e\u00a0\u2192\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=mA8rO_akF-s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Elvis Costello &amp; The Roots<\/a> \u00a0\u2193 \u00a0&#8216;Walks Us Uptown&#8217; \u00a0[2013]<\/h6>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>&#8216;Wise Up Ghost&#8217;<\/strong> was born of Costello&#8217;s friendship with Questlove and the Roots, which grew during casual jams after a couple of appearances on\u00a0Late Night with Jimmy Fallon\u00a0in the US, where the Roots are the house band.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9lfhafgiONU\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h6 id=\"watch-headline-title\" style=\"text-align: center;\">\u221e\u00a0\u00a0 Elvis Costello and Mumford &amp; Sons:<\/h6>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>\u21d2 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=7heMhUSvuzs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">&#8216;The Ghost of Tom Joad&#8217;<\/a><\/strong> \u00a0(B. Springsteen) +<strong> &#8216;Do Re Mi&#8217;<\/strong> (W Guthrie) \u00a0\u21d0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Men walkin&#8217; &#8216;long the railroad tracks<br \/>\nGoin&#8217; someplace there&#8217;s no goin&#8217; back<br \/>\nHighway patrol choppers comin&#8217; up over the ridge<br \/>\nHot soup on a campfire under the bridge<br \/>\nShelter line stretchin&#8217; round the corner<br \/>\nWelcome to the new world order<br \/>\nFamilies sleepin&#8217; in their cars in the southwest<br \/>\nNo home no job no peace no rest<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">The highway is alive tonight \u00a0[ . . . ] \u00a0\u00a0everybody knows<br \/>\nI&#8217;m sittin&#8217; down here in the campfire light &#8211;\u00a0Searchin&#8217; for the ghost of Tom Joad<\/p>\n<address style=\"text-align: center;\">Lots of people back East, they say, is leavin&#8217; home every day,<br \/>\nBeatin&#8217; the hot old dusty way to the California line.<br \/>\n&#8216;Cross the desert sands they roll, gettin&#8217; out of that old dust bowl,<br \/>\nThey think they&#8217;re goin&#8217; to a sugar bowl, but here&#8217;s what they find<br \/>\nThe police at the port of entry saying,<br \/>\n\u00abYou&#8217;re number fourteen thousand for today.\u00bb<\/address>\n<address style=\"text-align: center;\">Oh, if you ain&#8217;t got the do re mi, boys, you ain&#8217;t got the do re mi,<br \/>\nWhy, you better go back to beautiful Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Georgia, Tennessee.<br \/>\nCalifornia is a garden of Eden, a paradise to live in or see;<br \/>\nBut believe it or not, you won&#8217;t find it too hot<br \/>\nIf you ain&#8217;t got the do re mi.<\/address>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<p>Now Tom said \u00abMom, wherever there&#8217;s a cop beatin&#8217; a guy<br \/>\nWherever a hungry newborn baby cries<br \/>\nWhere there&#8217;s a fight &#8216;gainst the blood and hatred in the air<br \/>\nLook for me &#8211; I&#8217;ll be there<br \/>\nWherever there&#8217;s somebody fightin&#8217; for a place to stand<br \/>\nOr decent job or a helpin&#8217; hand<\/p>\n<p>Wherever somebody&#8217;s strugglin&#8217; to be free<br \/>\nLook for me Mom you&#8217;ll see me.\u00bb<\/p>\n<p><strong>The highway is alive tonight \u00a0[ . . . ] \u00a0\u00a0everybody knows<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>I&#8217;m sittin&#8217; down here in the campfire light &#8211;\u00a0Searchin&#8217; for the ghost of Tom Joad . . .<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: left;\">\u2666 \u00a0&#8216;<strong>Pump It Up&#8217;\u00a0\u00a0\u2193 \u00a0[1978]<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3oi1-S6UPNc\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>I&#8217;ve been on tenterhooks,\u00a0ending in dirty looks,<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> list&#8217;ning to the muzak,\u00a0thinking &#8216;bout this &#8216;n&#8217; that.<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> She said that&#8217;s that.\u00a0I don&#8217;t wanna chitter-chat.<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> Turn it down a little bit\u00a0or turn it down flat.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Pump it up until you can feel it &#8211;\u00a0Pump it up when you don&#8217;t really need it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Down in the pleasure centre,\u00a0hell bent or heaven sent,<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> listen to the propaganda,\u00a0listen to the latest slander.<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> There&#8217;s nothing underhand\u00a0that she wouldn&#8217;t understand.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Pump it up until you can feel it &#8211;\u00a0Pump it up when you don&#8217;t really need it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>She&#8217;s been a bad girl &#8211;\u00a0She&#8217;s like a chemical.<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> Though you try to stop it, she&#8217;s like a narcotic.<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> You wanna torture her &#8211;\u00a0You wanna talk to her.<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> All the things you bought for her,<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> putting up your temp&#8217;rature.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Pump it up until you can feel it &#8211;\u00a0Pump it up when you don&#8217;t really need it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Out in the fashion show,\u00a0down in the bargain bin,<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> you put your passion out,\u00a0under the pressure pin.<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> Fall into submission,\u00a0hit-and-run transmission.<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> No use wishing now for any other sin.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Pump it up until you can feel it &#8211; Pump it up when you don&#8217;t really need it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h6>\u2207\u00a0 Elvis Costello &amp; The Imposters\u00a0 \u21d3\u00a0 &#8216;Monkey To Man&#8217;\u00a0 [\u00abThe Delivery Man\u00bb_2004]<\/h6>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VjUSajdIqF0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>A long time ago, our point of view<br \/>\nWas broadcast by Mr. Bartholomew<br \/>\nAnd now the world is full of sorrow and pain<br \/>\nAnd it&#8217;s time for us to speak up again<\/p>\n<p>You&#8217;re slack and sorry<br \/>\nSuch an arrogant brood<br \/>\nThe only purpose you serve is to bring us our food<br \/>\nWe sit here staring at your pomp and pout<br \/>\nOutside the bars we use for keeping you out<\/p>\n<p>You&#8217;ve taken everything that you wanted<br \/>\nBroke it up and plundered it and hunted<br \/>\nEver since we said it<br \/>\nYou went and took the credit<br \/>\nIt&#8217;s been headed this way since the world began<br \/>\nWhen a vicious creature took the jump from Monkey to man<\/p>\n<p>Monkey to man<\/p>\n<p>Every time man struggles and fails<br \/>\nHe makes up some kind of fairy tales<br \/>\nAfter all of the misery that he has caused<br \/>\nHe denies he&#8217;s descended from the dinosaurs<\/p>\n<p>Points up to heaven with cathedral spires<br \/>\nAll the time indulging in his base desires<br \/>\nEver since we said it<br \/>\nHe went and took the credit<br \/>\nIt&#8217;s been headed this way since the world began<br \/>\nWhen a vicious creature took the jump from monkey to man<\/p>\n<p>Monkey to man<\/p>\n<p>Big and useless as he has become<br \/>\nWith his crying statues and his flying bomb<br \/>\nGoes &#8216;round acting like the chosen one<br \/>\nExcuse us if we treat him like our idiot cousin<\/p>\n<p>He hangs up flowers and bells and rhymes<br \/>\nHoping to hell someone&#8217;s forgiven his crimes<br \/>\nFills up the air with his pride and praise<br \/>\nHe&#8217;s a big disgrace to our beastly ways<\/p>\n<p>In the fashionable nightclubs and finer precincts<br \/>\nMan uses words to dress up his vile instincts<br \/>\nEver since we said it<br \/>\nHe went and took the credit<br \/>\nIt&#8217;s been headed this way since the world began<br \/>\nWhen a vicious creature took the jump from monkey to man<\/p>\n<h6>\u2207\u00a0 Elvis Costello &amp; The Imposters\u00a0 \u21d3\u00a0 &#8216;Under Lime&#8217;\u00a0 [\u00abLook Now\u00bb_2018]<\/h6>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xMKkQtH75R8\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h6 id=\"watch-headline-title\" class=\"yt\" style=\"color: #222222; text-align: center;\"><span id=\"eow-title\" class=\"watch-title yt-uix-expander-head\" dir=\"ltr\" title=\"Elvis Costello - Live at Amoeba!\">\u2666 \u00a0Live at Amoeba! \u00a0\u21d3 \u00a0[2009]<\/span><\/h6>\n<p><b>\u2207 \u00a0\u00abSulphur To Sugarcane\u00bb\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<div>It&#8217;s not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane<br \/>\n&#8216;Cos everywhere I travel pretty girls call my name<br \/>\nI give &#8216;em as squeeze and they shoot me a wink<br \/>\nI buy their hot-headed husbands a long cool drink<br \/>\nYou&#8217;d better come up smelling sweet &#8216;cos you&#8217;re a long time stinking<br \/>\nThen it&#8217;s a little too late to complain<br \/>\nIt&#8217;s not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Now if you catch my eye and you find that it runs down your leg<br \/>\nIt&#8217;s like striking a match pretty hard upon a powder keg<br \/>\nThey&#8217;ll tell you from the borders to the waters of the Gulf<br \/>\nAnd if you take all the sugar you&#8217;ll end up in the sulphur<br \/>\nAnd you&#8217;ll burn in&#8230;<br \/>\n\u00abHello, baby I&#8217;m a pleased to meet you\u00bb<br \/>\n\u00abI wouldn&#8217;t do you wrong, honey\u00bb<br \/>\n\u00abI wouldn&#8217;t cheat you, honey'\u00bb<br \/>\n\u00abWhen can I see you again?\u00bb<br \/>\n\u00abWrap you up in cellophane\u00bb<br \/>\n<strong>It&#8217;s not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane&#8230;<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>And your eyes fill up with brine<br \/>\nBecause you&#8217;re drowning in wine<br \/>\nIt&#8217;s like the last days of Rome<br \/>\nWith the despots and divine<br \/>\nThere&#8217;s no place like home<br \/>\nFor a little doll from China<br \/>\nIt&#8217;s a little too late to complain<br \/>\nIt&#8217;s not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>You can go west to Texas<br \/>\nGo east to Mississippi<br \/>\nYou can run out of money<br \/>\nYou can run out of pity<br \/>\nThrow open your purse<br \/>\nUntil you&#8217;re crying for mercy<br \/>\nGo to Alabama<br \/>\nEscape Louisiana<br \/>\nI&#8217;m digging like a miner<br \/>\nNorth and South Carolina<br \/>\nAnd then if you continue<br \/>\nYou will end up in Virginia<br \/>\nThe woman in Poughkeepsie<br \/>\nTake their clothes off when they&#8217;re tipsy<br \/>\nBut in Albany, New York<br \/>\nThey love the filthy way I talk<br \/>\nAs they gargle with the finest champagne<br \/>\nWhen they can&#8217;t get the grape or the grain<br \/>\n&#8216;Cos it&#8217;s not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane<br \/>\nIt&#8217;s not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>If I could find a piano<br \/>\nHere in Bloomington, Indiana<br \/>\nI would play it with my toes<br \/>\nUntil the girls all take their clothes off<br \/>\nWomen knock upon my door<br \/>\nIn odd and even numbers<br \/>\nBut none of them as wild as I discovered in Columbus<br \/>\nI gave up married women<br \/>\n&#8216;Cause I heard it was a sin<br \/>\nBut now I&#8217;m back in Pittsburgh,<br \/>\nI might take them up again<br \/>\nBecause they gargle with the finest champagne<br \/>\nWhen they can&#8217;t get the grape or the grain<br \/>\n&#8216;Cos it&#8217;s not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane<br \/>\nIt&#8217;s not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><strong>Up in Syracuse<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>I was once falsely accused<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>But I&#8217;m not here to hurt you<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>I&#8217;m here to steal your<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Down in Bridgeport<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>The woman will kill you for sport<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>But in Worcester, Massachusetts<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>They just love my sauce<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>The women in Poughkeepsie<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Take their clothes off when they&#8217;re tipsy<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>But I hear in Ypsilanti<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>They don&#8217;t wear any panties<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Once they gargle with the finest champagne<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>They hitch up their skirts and exclaim<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>It&#8217;s not very far, Sugar &#8211;\u00a0<\/strong><strong>It&#8217;s not very far, Sugar<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>It&#8217;s not very far from Sulphur to Sugarcane<\/strong><\/div>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/x2-r_Xdk7tI\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div style=\"color: #000000; text-align: right;\">\n<p><b>\u2022 \u2022 \u00a0\u00abMy All Time Doll\u00bb<\/b><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: right;\">When I was away I needed you so<br \/>\nAnd now coming I&#8217;m home to stay<br \/>\nI won&#8217;t wake in the night and reach for you<br \/>\nTurn on the light and to my dismay<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: right;\">You&#8217;re not there &#8211;\u00a0You&#8217;re never around<br \/>\nOr is it me?\u00a0It&#8217;s so hard to see<br \/>\nI flick off the switch and stare in dark<br \/>\nAnd wait for you to appear<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: right;\">You&#8217;re My All-Time Doll &#8211;\u00a0I&#8217;m out of control<br \/>\nIt&#8217;s broken my mind but that&#8217;s not all that you stole<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: right;\">You&#8217;re My All-Time Doll &#8211;\u00a0You&#8217;re all I adore<br \/>\nI&#8217;d swear to it now it but I already swore<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: right;\">My eyes are blinded with tears but it&#8217;s all my own fault<br \/>\nMy lips taste of cruel words &#8211;\u00a0My eyes sting with salt<br \/>\nBut you can take the way I feel about you and put it in a vault<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: right;\">You&#8217;re My All-Time Doll<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: right;\">From near and from far\u00a0I&#8217;ve known many a girl,<br \/>\nNow&#8230; I&#8217;m closing in<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: right;\">My heart is beating like a whip on a hide<br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #808080;\">It&#8217;s raining outside<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><span style=\"color: #808080;\">[You&#8217;re My All-Time Doll&#8230;]<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">In the far flung cry of a closing saloon<br \/>\nOn the blank back side of that poisonous moon<br \/>\nTried not to think about you &#8211;\u00a0I thought I was immune..<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><strong>You&#8217;re My All-Time Doll . . .<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/excerpt-elvis-costellos-memoir\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-52823\" src=\"http:\/\/englishroam.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Unfaithful-M-DI.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"269\" height=\"351\" srcset=\"https:\/\/englishroam.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Unfaithful-M-DI.jpg 1567w, https:\/\/englishroam.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Unfaithful-M-DI-230x300.jpg 230w, https:\/\/englishroam.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Unfaithful-M-DI-784x1024.jpg 784w, https:\/\/englishroam.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Unfaithful-M-DI-768x1004.jpg 768w, https:\/\/englishroam.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Unfaithful-M-DI-1175x1536.jpg 1175w, https:\/\/englishroam.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Unfaithful-M-DI-115x150.jpg 115w, https:\/\/englishroam.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Unfaithful-M-DI-400x523.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 269px) 100vw, 269px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">In this audio book excerpt from his wonderful book, <strong>Unfaithful Music and Disappearing Ink<\/strong>, Elvis Costello recounts how his dad, Ross MacManus, who was a musician and bandleader, supported the Beatles when they performed before Queen Elizabeth on the occasion of their legendary Royal Command Performance.\u00a0 \u21d3<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mc3HkyuhXgU\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>\u0398\u00a0 Read the start of Elvis Costello&#8217;s memoir, where he\u00a0recalls his father, a dance hall singer, and his early associations with music. \u00a0\u21d3<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u03c6\u00a0 \u00a0A White Boy in the Hammersmith Palais<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I think it was my love of wrestling that first took me to the dance hall.<\/p>\n<p>There was barely a week of my childhood in which I did not have the following dialogue with a stranger:<\/p>\n<p>\u00abAny relation?\u00bb<\/p>\n<p>\u00abBeg your pardon?\u00bb<\/p>\n<p>\u00abYou know? Any relation to the wrestler?\u00bb<\/p>\n<p>My mother might wearily manage an indulgent laugh, as if to say,\u00a0<em>You know, I&#8217;ve never heard that before in my life.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>I just felt awkward.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Though, I suspected that I might indeed be a distant relation of Mick McManus, a professional wrestler who was a fixture on the Saturday-afternoon televised bouts. The contests in the early 1960s had none of the pyrotechnics of the modern spectacle, just well-oiled showmen like Jackie Pallo or Johnny Kwango grappling and hurling sweaty lunks around, and sometimes out of, a small roped ring.<\/p>\n<p>Mick McManus spelled his name like my Papa had, before my Dad added an\u00a0<em>a\u00a0<\/em>to make it \u00abMacManus,\u00bb because it looked posher and better in print.<\/p>\n<p>Anyone could see that I shared the same stocky physique with \u00abThe Man You Love to Hate\u00bb and had similar plastered-down, black hair.<\/p>\n<p>Later, it was revealed that, like me, Mick could only be forced into submission by tickling. Late in his career, Mick suffered a rare defeat when his opponent used this dastardly tactic, and the champ renounced the match in disgust.<\/p>\n<p>Back around 1961, I would practice my flying scissors kick in front of the television and then crumple as if felled by a forearm smash. Eventually all my jumping off the furniture became too much for the neighbors and my mother wanted to tidy the house, so she persuaded my Dad to take me with him to work on Saturday afternoons at the Hammersmith Palais.<\/p>\n<p>This was my father&#8217;s place of employment. His office. His factory.<\/p>\n<p>It was just an old tram shed that had been converted into a Palais de Danse, jammed in between the Laurie Arms pub and a parade of the shops just off of Hammersmith Broadway.<\/p>\n<p>While other dads came home at five-thirty, my father went to work at six p.m., or, in this case, on Saturday afternoon, to sing with the Joe Loss Orchestra.<\/p>\n<p>The walls of the Palais looked as if they were made of dark velvet, but it came off like powder if you ran your hand along it. It smelt and felt strange. It didn&#8217;t seem like a place for children.<\/p>\n<p>Today, it is hard to imagine any establishment opening in the afternoon for so few patrons, but when the Joe Loss Orchestra revolved into view on the turntable bandstand, you would forget it was still light outside.<\/p>\n<p>I was given a bottle of lemonade and a packet of crisps, and was secured in the balcony overlooking the dance floor with strict instructions to not speak to anyone.<\/p>\n<p>The clientele were as curious as they were sparse in number. When I pointed out that two old ladies were dancing together, they were identified as \u00abspinsters.\u00bb<\/p>\n<p>There was a mother teaching her young daughter dance steps, sometimes lifting her onto her own feet to give the girl the sense of the right rhythm.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Commanding the floor were the competition dancers who used the Saturday matinees for practice sessions. They jealously guarded their territory, intolerant of more frivolous obstacles, like children. From my vantage point, their haughty expressions and sudden frozen poses seemed quite comical, as they cocked their heads and made pecking movements with their necks like chickens. There could also be something quite intimidating about them, especially when they launched into a gallop during the quickstep. Foot soldiers fear cavalry charges for the same reason.<\/p>\n<p>There was nobody else up in the balcony except for the women who checked coats and another who sold refreshments at the kiosk. I think my Dad had charged one of them with checking on me from time to time, to make sure I hadn&#8217;t wandered off.<\/p>\n<p>She needn&#8217;t have worried. My eyes were fixed on the bandstand.<\/p>\n<p>At that time, the Joe Loss Orchestra was one of the most successful dance bands in the country. It consisted of three or sometimes four trumpets, four trombones, five saxophones, a rhythm section, and three vocalists. The band opened and closed every set and radio broadcast with its signature tune, \u00abIn the Mood,\u00bb which was borrowed from the Glenn Miller Orchestra.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, they still played a lot of Miller tunes from the war years: the beautiful and sentimental \u00abMoonlight Serenade,\u00bb \u00abPennsylvania 6-5000\u00bb &#8212; with the band members shouting out the telephone number in the title &#8212; and \u00abAmerican Patrol,\u00bb which was my favorite, probably because it sounded like the theme song from a cops-and-robbers show.<\/p>\n<p>What the outfit lacked in musical adventure, Joe Loss made up for by hiring arrangers with a keen ear for fleeting dance trends. They had a hit with \u00abMust Be Madison,\u00bb and recorded novelty tunes with daft titles like \u00abMarch of the Mods,\u00bb \u00abMarch of the Voomins\u00bb and \u00abGo Home, Bill Ludendorff,\u00bb which my Dad wrote with the band&#8217;s pianist, Syd Lucas.<\/p>\n<p>I still had a child&#8217;s uncritical ear for the corny bell effect created by the horns on \u00abWheels Cha Cha\u00bb and waited for the tango or the paso doble numbers because of the comical dance moves, or the samba, as my Dad got to play the maracas or the conga drum.<\/p>\n<p>The competitive ballroom dancers used not to care much for vocalists, because they pulled the beat around when phrasing, so my Dad might only get to sing once or twice during the afternoon.<\/p>\n<p>I became impatient for those moments, kicking my leg against the balcony wall and picking idly at a swivel lid mounted on the tabletop, until I pulled out my finger, all grey and powdered with ash.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, my father was called to the microphone to sing a Spanish number. It was a language that he could actually speak. He once made the Spanish wife of a friend of mine blush when she inquired where he had learned the Spanish tongue.<\/p>\n<p>\u00abIn bed,\u00bb he replied.<\/p>\n<p>I believe that this was true.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">His talent for learning songs phonetically meant that he was able to fool most people when called upon to sing in Italian, French, or even Yiddish. The Argentine international hit \u00abCuando Calienta el Sol\u00bb and Peppino di Capri&#8217;s tremulous Italian pop hit \u00abRoberta,\u00bb sung in Spanish, were two rumbas that I heard him sing during those afternoons. They were eventually recorded for the wonderfully titled\u00a0<em>Go Latin with Loss<\/em>\u00a0album, on which Ross also sang Ritchie Valens&#8217;s \u00abLa Bamba.\u00bb<\/p>\n<p>My father didn&#8217;t have the appearance of the typical romantic leading man. He was only five-foot-five and wore black horn-rimmed glasses, much like the ones I&#8217;ve sported most of my career. His hair was slicked tight at the sides and swept up into a discreet jet-black pompadour, until the fashion for brushing your hair forward caught up with him around 1965, when he started to buy Chelsea boots with Cuban heels from Toppers on Carnaby Street.<\/p>\n<p>In 1961, my Dad was thirty-three. \u00abThe boys in the band,\u00bb as he always referred to them, seemed like older men to me, but were probably only in their late thirties and forties. They wore matching band uniforms &#8212; shawl-collared jackets of burgundy or baby blue, and dress pants with a satin side stripe.<\/p>\n<p>My father wore a dark lounge suit for the matinees, and evening dress when the occasion demanded it. The idea that you wore a suit to go to work became so instilled in me that, to this day, the temperature must soar well above one hundred degrees Fahrenheit before I will remove my jacket.<\/p>\n<p>* * *<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">One evening in 1980, when I&#8217;d already had my own brief moment of pop infamy, my Dad and I were talking with Joe Loss&#8217;s former singing star Rose Brennan and dancer Lionel Blair in an area curtained off from a hotel ballroom in Lancaster Gate. On the television monitor, I could see Mr. Loss conducting his band in the style that was familiar from my childhood. He still shot the point of his baton to the floor and then to the ceiling with one sharp flick of the wrist, with his little finger daintily extended. He still bounced vigorously up onto the balls of his feet and then back down to his heels, a strand or two of hair breaking free, although his once pomaded black had now turned silver.<\/p>\n<p>A production assistant tapped me on the shoulder and said, \u00abRemember, when Eamonn introduces you, just say what we&#8217;ve agreed or you&#8217;ll throw him off completely.\u00bb<\/p>\n<p>\u00abEamonn\u00bb was the former sports commentator Eamonn Andrews. He was a man with the impressive build of a boxer who&#8217;d had a career on Irish radio before making some of his first appearances in England with the Joe Loss Orchestra and then going on to be the presenter of several long-running television shows. He was most famously the host of\u00a0<em>This Is Your Life<\/em>, a show that had begun in the late &#8217;50s and was now entering its second decade on the air, since a revival in 1969.<\/p>\n<p>For those of you who don&#8217;t recall the show, Eamonn would stalk up to some prearranged ambush location, clutching a big red book stamped with the show&#8217;s title, and surprise his quarry with the dramatic announcement that they had to cancel whatever was planned for the evening because \u00abTonight,\u00a0<em>This Is Your Life<\/em>.\u00bb<\/p>\n<p>The victim was then usually whisked in a fast car to a television studio, where their family and friends would arrive through an archway, preceded by a fanfare and an introduction that went something like this:<\/p>\n<p>\u00abHe was the choirboy who sat next to you in chapel and put live frogs down your cassock. You haven&#8217;t seen him since 1932, but he&#8217;s here tonight &#8230;\u00bb<\/p>\n<p>Cue laughter and tears and a gentle, somewhat selective, telling of a life story.<\/p>\n<p>On this occasion, the trap was already set, as Joe Loss was playing a dinner dance in honor of his fiftieth anniversary in show business. The comedian Spike Milligan entered the greenroom with a few minutes to spare. I hadn&#8217;t realized he had any connection to Joe Loss, as his radio fame from his days on\u00a0<em>The Goon Show<\/em>\u00a0and his books\u00a0<em>Puckoon\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0<em>Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall<\/em>\u00a0seemed to come from a different universe, but it turned out he&#8217;d made some of his earliest appearances with the band during summer engagements in towns like Bridlington.<\/p>\n<p>We all huddled around the television set to witness the big moment of surprise. Eamonn Andrews slipped from the shadows as the applause from the previous number tapered off. A few giggles and gasps almost gave the game away.<\/p>\n<p>The penny would usually drop with\u00a0<em>This Is Your Life<\/em>\u00a0victims the moment they saw Eamonn coming their way. Some would back away in mock alarm, others laugh hysterically or shed some tears, a few even fled the scene completely and refused to take part, which is perhaps why the show was no longer broadcast live.<\/p>\n<p>In the split second before Eamonn tapped Joe on the shoulder, a piercing Goon voice called out:<\/p>\n<p>\u00abA thousand pounds for anyone who warns that man!\u00bb<\/p>\n<p>If this was audible to the diners beyond the curtain, it was quickly swallowed by applause and cheering.<\/p>\n<p>The details of the Joe Loss story told that night had been fairly sketchy to me until then. Eamonn recounted how Joe had studied the violin and in the early &#8217;30s began leading a small group at the Kit-Kat Club called the Harlem Band, a strange name for a group fronted by a man born to Russian immigrants in Spitalfields.<\/p>\n<p>He&#8217;d given the wartime heroine Vera Lynn her first radio broadcast in 1935, had played at Princess Margaret&#8217;s wedding, and then went on to provide the music for several generations of lovers and dancers at the Hammersmith Palais, the Lyceum and Empire ballrooms, and on the radio.<\/p>\n<p>Rose Brennan and my Dad had probably been his best-known singers, so it made sense for them to be surprise guests at the party. They were reunited with Larry Gretton, who still sang with the band. He was a strapping man with a slightly stiff romantic charm and wavy blond hair that may not have been his own. He and my Dad had been good foils in the comedy numbers, not least of all because of the difference in their height. I have a publicity photograph of them dressed in striped vaudeville blazers and clutching straw boaters with matching hatbands while earnestly gazing at their boss, who is posed imparting some important detail about the performance of some long-forgotten novelty song while holding a pencil.<\/p>\n<p>My Dad was announced to the stage first, where he told some silly tale from his time with the orchestra.<\/p>\n<p>Then it was my turn to enter.<\/p>\n<p>Eamonn adopted his familiar style of setup, which I must now paraphrase.<\/p>\n<p>You may remember him as that young man who sat up in the balcony of the Hammersmith Palais.<\/p>\n<p>Now he&#8217;s the pop star responsible for the hit record \u00abOliver&#8217;s Army.\u00bb<\/p>\n<p>You know him as \u00abDeclan,\u00bb son of Ross MacManus, and he&#8217;s here tonight. Come in, \u00abElvis Costello\u00bb &#8230;<\/p>\n<p>It was as bizarre an entrance as I&#8217;d ever had to make. If I&#8217;d had to traipse down one of the gold-painted staircases that framed the Hammersmith Palais bandstand, I could not have felt more peculiar.<\/p>\n<p>During my Dad&#8217;s time with the band, Joe Loss had never spoken to me as if I were a child. He always addressed me as \u00abyoung man,\u00bb seeming kind and engaged in anything I said in response to his questions. Now he was just as gracious and composed upon meeting me for the first time as an adult.<\/p>\n<p>I can&#8217;t recall exactly what story I told, probably the one you&#8217;ve just read about me visiting the Hammersmith Palais matinees. He seemed to take pride in my success, as if he had suspected it would happen all along.<\/p>\n<p>It was all over in a flash, just like life itself.<\/p>\n<p>* * *<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It was impossible to say how much it meant to me to be there or to speak of all the things I probably learned from those few afternoons while lurking in the dark.<\/p>\n<p>Joe Loss led his band for almost sixty years, come rain or shine or changes of style, and that is no mean achievement. A band continues in his name to this day.<\/p>\n<p>Sometime later, my Dad let me in on one of the band&#8217;s secrets. Joe Loss&#8217;s energetic showmanship apparently didn&#8217;t always make for an entirely accurate beat. If there was ever any minor dissent in the ranks, they would adhere exactly to his baton and take evil glee in winding the tempo up and down like a wonky gramophone. It was a subtle, almost imperceptible, form of insubordination, but it probably acted as a safety valve for a group of men who worked in such close proximity, six days a week, in the same dance hall.<\/p>\n<p>The band got just two weeks&#8217; holiday a year like any other working-men, but it would also be their job to provide the entertainment when everyone else was celebrating Christmas and New Year&#8217;s Eve. They worked hard. When they weren&#8217;t at the Palais or another London ballroom, they were doing radio broadcasts or touring the country.<\/p>\n<p>Some of my earliest memories are of my Dad arriving home with a big stuffed animal under his arm or a small painted plaster donkey that he&#8217;d promised to bring back from a tour of Ireland. I have photographs but no actual memory of my mother carrying me as an infant on the sands of Douglas, during an engagement on the Isle of Man in the mid-&#8217;50s. In that picture my Mam is wearing pearls and full makeup, but it really wasn&#8217;t that glamorous a life, with band members always changing from damp clothes in freezing or overheated dressing rooms or crushed together for night drives in drafty coaches along foggy A and B roads.<\/p>\n<p>Joe Loss was a stickler for appearance, punctuality, and discipline. He seemed to regard my father almost like another son, constantly questioning him about his family origins as if unwilling to accept that they were Irish and not Jewish. He even forgave him a fair few transgressions.<\/p>\n<p>I recall one night when Mother had let me stay up late to watch my Dad on\u00a0<em>Come Dancing<\/em>. In those days it was a live broadcast that had nothing to do with the stunt casting of celebrities. It was purely a competition between amateur ballroom-dancing teams, so I knew there was little chance that my Dad would be singing, but it was still a novelty to see him on television.<\/p>\n<p>The moment the camera panned across to his side of the bandstand, I think I could tell something was amiss from my mother&#8217;s reaction.<\/p>\n<p>The show had opened with the Latin dances, and my father was up behind the conga drum playing with rather more force and animation than the number really required.<\/p>\n<p>My Mam went out of the room to put the kettle on and quietly registered her dismay at my father&#8217;s fairly obvious intoxication.<\/p>\n<p>A short time later the hallway telephone rang, and I could hear a low but anxious tone to her side of the conversation.<\/p>\n<p>My mother seemed to spend quite a lot of time on the phone to one or the other orchestra wives, alternately sympathizing or receiving consolation over their husbands&#8217; latest jag. The details were obscure to me then, but from what I overheard and came to understand, drink and other women were generally involved.<\/p>\n<p>After that appearance, my Dad remained \u00abfired\u00bb for about three days before Joe Loss relented and hired him back.<\/p>\n<p>I don&#8217;t recall exactly when my parents parted because, even after he went to live elsewhere, my Dad would come around a lot. There was no big ominous announcement of the parting, or if there was I have dismissed it from my mind.<\/p>\n<p>He&#8217;d still sometimes arrive on a Sunday morning and take me to the eleven-o&#8217;clock sung Latin mass at St. Elizabeth on Richmond Hill, which they retained long after it was abandoned elsewhere by papal decree. Then we&#8217;d all eat Sunday lunch together while listening to\u00a0<em>Two-Way Family Favourites<\/em>, a BBC request show linking military families with their kin serving overseas. While the dedications to a lance corporal at a BFPO in West Germany played in the background, my Dad would tell stories, reminiscing about a drummer and painter friend of his from Birkenhead or recounting tales of his working week.<\/p>\n<p>Ross definitely had charm, perhaps a little too much. Young women would call our number late at night, looking to make mischief, until we were obliged to take our listing from the directory.<\/p>\n<p>Although I was never allowed to go to the Palais after dark, I know that the nearly empty dance floor of the matinees was absolutely packed at night and not always with entirely salubrious types.<\/p>\n<p>My mother recalls one of my Dad&#8217;s more dubious acquaintances extending his hand to her with the greeting \u00abHello, I&#8217;m Phil the Thief,\u00bb and this was only a few convenient steps away from Hammersmith Police Station.<\/p>\n<p>* * *<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Many years after my Dad had left Joe Loss and was out touring the northern clubs and I&#8217;d had a couple of hit records to my name, London cabdrivers would delight in telling me, \u00abI used to see your Dad sing down at the Palais,\u00bb never failing to add, \u00abHe was a better bloody singer than you&#8217;ll ever be,\u00bb to which they would never get any argument from me.<\/p>\n<p>When The Attractions and I first played the Palais in January 1979, one reviewer unfavorably compared us to Freddie and the Dreamers.<\/p>\n<p>I knew we&#8217;d hit the big time.<\/p>\n<p>The dance bands had long been banished and the Palais was now an overcrowded, overheated rock and roll venue, looking a little bit tatty and kicked in.<\/p>\n<p>I wasn&#8217;t drinking lemonade anymore but did take a walk up into the balcony. The same scent hung in the air, only now I could name the ingredients: sour, spilt beer, stale tobacco, nicotine stains, and, of course, the stifled tears of jilted girls.<\/p>\n<p>You might expect I would have written more than a line or two about the old place, but I pretty much thought that Joe Strummer had put an indelible mark on a brand-new map with the Clash song \u00ab(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais.\u00bb<\/p>\n<p>We didn&#8217;t really click there until 1984, when we made a circuit of the country, returning to London for a Monday-night residency at the Palais, playing shows that were nearly forty songs long.<\/p>\n<p>I was looking for something I couldn&#8217;t find.<\/p>\n<p>In 1981, we hired the deserted ballroom for the afternoon so we could stage a photograph for the album sleeve of\u00a0<em>Trust<\/em>. Rather than list everyone involved in the credits, we dressed them all in hired tuxedos, sat them behind monogrammed music stands, and gave them rented instruments to hold.<\/p>\n<p>The Attractions were word-perfect. Nick Lowe was pretending to play a tenor sax, while our engineer led the string section. All the other members of the ensemble were our road crew, the staff of F-Beat Records, and the owners of Eden Studios.<\/p>\n<p>The scene was photographed in glorious black-and-white by Chalkie Davies. Two years later, I would sit for a series of 20&#215;24 Polaroids that Davies and Starr shot with a giant Land camera at the Science Museum. It resembled a Victorian plate contraption with bellows. Among the life-size Polaroids peeled back and framed was a portrait of me and my son Matt, then aged seven, but on the afternoon of that Hammersmith charade I was just my father&#8217;s son.<\/p>\n<p>I took my central place on the bandstand, I hid my eyes behind dark glasses and buttoned up my new silk Savile Row suit.<\/p>\n<p>There was no way to go back.<\/p>\n<p>Time and the wrecking ball have taken care of the rest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2022\u2192http:\/\/genius.com\/search?q=elvis+costello\u21d0 \u03c6 Elvis Costello \u21d3 Oliver&#8217;s Army \u21d0 <\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<p> Don&#8217;t start me talking &#8211; I could talk all night My mind goes sleepwalking While I&#8217;m putting the world to right Called careers information &#8211; Have you got yourself an occupation? Oliver&#8217;s army is here to stay &#8211; Oliver&#8217;s army are on their way [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":52828,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[168],"tags":[102,195,299],"class_list":["post-52825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lyrics2","tag-lyrics","tag-biography","tag-blighty","odd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/englishroam.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/englishroam.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/englishroam.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/englishroam.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/englishroam.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=52825"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/englishroam.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52825\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55647,"href":"https:\/\/englishroam.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52825\/revisions\/55647"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/englishroam.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/52828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/englishroam.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=52825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/englishroam.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=52825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/englishroam.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=52825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}