Elvis Costello

When Elvis’ first album, 'My Aim Is True' came out, I was very disappointed. Not in the songs, which were wonderful, but in the lame instrumental backing he used by laid-back Marin County, CA band Clover, and I thought they were totally inappropriate for Elvis’ music. Then came the single ‘Watching The Detectives’, with the Attractions instead of Clover, and yeah, that was it!!

I first saw Elvis and the Attractions in Fall of ’77 in London at the Roundhouse on the Stiff Records tour. But their very first US shows were right here in San Francisco a few months later at the Old Waldorf nightclub; I believe these pictures from there were taken on the 2nd night.

Elvis was pretty different then to what he is now; he had an angry, punk kind of attitude about him; he used to say he was about 'guilt and revenge'. At one show in Berkeley, he played for 40 minutes and then walked off, and angry fans were smashing Elvis records outside afterwards, that they brought for him to sign.

But Elvis mellowed over the decades as have much of his audience - yay Elvis Costello!!