I was very tired and overwrought
Elvis' forthcoming DVD , The Right Spectacle , has been reviewed in Uncut -
COSTELLO’S VIDEOS OFTEN seemed the most disposable aspect of his art, from an otherwise driven perfectionist. But this collection, stuffed with barely seen curios and half remembered gems. and featuring a typically acerbic commentary from Costello himself, indicates otherwise.
The videos fall into distinct phases. From 1978 to 1980, they’re essentially the products of drunk punks, with more pressing concerns than visual posterity. It was a case of. “Fill them with vodka and let them loose,” as Costello recalls on the commentary, the band furiously knocking out clips two or three at a time, sometimes straight after a gig. The end results have a pre MTV rawness that Iooks genuinely shocking even now.
On “Pump It Up”. Costello is all comic derision and pop art fury. Behind him the Attractions bash away so aggressively they look in danger of damaging themselves and their instruments. No one seems to know that they only have to mime.
Even after Stateside success in 1979 allowed for location shoots in the south of France the Attractions attitude remained unchanged. On the likes of I Can’t Stand Up...”. they’re caught in vodka paralysed states or seconds after theyve fallen out of bed. These early clips now function as fascinating visual mementoes of a band physically disintegrating in the face of pop expectations.
Later, Costello treated the Attractions as expendable employees (his bitching on the commentary about loathed ex-bassist Bruce Thomas is a treat), but here they’re clearly a tight knit gang.
For all their frenetic charm, these early videos don’t engage with the content of the songs. The lone exception is”Accidents Will Happen” (1979) in which future Max Headroom creators Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel use primitive computer animation to slice Costello’s image, paralleling the song’s alienation. But it wasn’t until the late Barney Bubbles’ two 1981 promos that a director finally captured the knotted , vengeful feel of Costello. “Clubland” , in particular, is sleazy Brit neon noir, with judges’ drunk daughters recruited as extras for a seedy nights work.
Evan English, meanwhile, created the two truly essential promos in Costello’s canon. “I Wanna Be Loved” (1984) captures Costello at a rare moment of emotional vulnerability. His marriage was disintegrating, he was drinking way too much, and he knew Goodbye Cruel World the album he was promoting at the time, was a dud. English ruthlessly
and brilliantly exploited his star’s turmoil. Refusing to let him sleep the night before the shoot, he put him into a photobooth and made random strangers shove their heads in to kiss him. Staring into the camera, Costello’s response was to weep. overcome by the song and his own emotions, flinching at each new intrusion It’s almost too painful to watch, a glimpse of the artist on the edge of collapse.
“Veronica” (1989), inspired by the final years of his Alzheimer’s afflicted grandmother, finds Costello caught up in genuine emotion once again. Delivering the song to an elderly woman who bears a close resemblance to his late grandmother, the promo perfectly captures the lyric’s sentiment. Costello was finally taking full advantage of the format just as his time as a pop star came to an end. Perhaps ironically, it even won MTV’s Best Male Video award . Nothing else here quite matches it. But there are enough game pop moments to keep the viewer entertained. Add in an hour of riveting TV footage. and this makes for a revealing document of Elvis, and the Attractions, in their prime.
With comments , taken , presumably , from the DVD soundtrack -
OLIVER’S ARMY
COSTELLO:This was the first video we did where we tried to act anything out. Made on location in Hawaii. The record was a big hit in England, probably because people liked to see the scenery. There was some idea behind my act in it. I was supposed to be an arms dealer or a guy who would hire mercenaries.
I WANNA BE LOVED
This was shot in Melbourne, Australia. And it’s probably my favouritevideo of any that we’ve ever made. It wasn’t really the happiest time in my life, I was going through a lot of difficult thingsand I was very far from home.The director set it up that I was supposed to be in this photo-booth. I was very tired and overwrought. What you see in the video isn’t actually acting, it’s genuine emotion . For what it’s worth. Maybe that’s ridiculous to the viewer. It’s the truth, nonetheless.
VERONICA
This had my grandmother in mind, in the last few years of her life, when the Alzheimer’s started to scramble her conversation. The eeriest thing for me was that the director had picked an actress to play the Veronica character who resembled my grandmother uncannily, even though he’d never met her.
THE OTHER SIDE OF SUMMER
When this video was first aired in the Warner Brothers conference room ne of the senior executives jumped to his feet and yelled:
“What’s with the beard?” I can’t honestly tell you, except that I grew it to frighten people, and it seemed to work. It’s probably not my finest hour, in terms of fashion and personal hygiene.