Elvis Costello: A Biography

Elvis Costello arrives at the turn of the millennium generally recognized as one of the most important and influential stars of popular music. There are very few songwriters who can match his output on an album-to-album basis and none-perhaps with the exception of Bob Dylan-who can match his depth of passion and lyrical deftness. Born in London in 1955 as Declan Patrick McManus, he left school at seventeen, working as a computer operator by day and a folksinger by night. His first album, My Aim Is True, released in 1977, hit the charts and became the biggest import album of the decade when it crossed the Atlantic on the CBS/Columbia label. On his first U.S. tour, when a clash with Stephen Stills and Bonnie Bramlet turned ugly, Costello flew back home with death threats ringing in his ears. In the twenty years since, there have been twenty-three more albums that have made pop-music history. Tony Clayton-Lea tells the fascinating life story of an icon of the rock world-the hits, the drugs, the drink, the women, the critics, and the record companies-who once said it was his ultimate vocation in life to be an irritant.