Word: costelloe
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
During its ten months in office, the Carter Administration has put together an economic policymaking apparatus that often seems to be running a Washington replay of the classic Abbott and Costello baseball routine "Who's on first?" As the President and his aides have zigged and zagged-proposing and then abandoning a $50 tax rebate, touting a major tax-reform program, then delaying it and shifting the emphasis to tax cuts-businessmen, brokers and economic forecasters have complained that the Administration's economic voice is muffled and mystifying...
...death wish for albums, this one would have it--it is a record that fairly thumbs its nose at the Intelligent Rock Listener, inside and out. The cover art, for one thing, is nightmarish--bright red lettering, a black-and-white checkerboard pattern spelling out "Elvis is King," and Costello himself feering out from a lurid yellow background. He clutches a Fender menacingly, and leans forward in that half-aggressive pigeon-toed stance so dear to the hearts of '50s rockers; his eyes are genuinely loony, wild and dangerous-looking, behind huge Buddy Holly horn-rims. No doubt about...
...Elvis Costello is a British rocker in the grand tradition of his namesake, but he infuses that tradition with a deep and unsubtle sense of '70s neurosis. Look at his picture; listen to his lyrics. He is (or would have us believe he is) far gone in bitterness and anger at the world--so far gone, in fact, that he can sit back more or less comfortably and point an accusing finger at the rest of us. His vantage point is that of the observer once as deeply embroiled in craziness as the people he castigates but now above...
This perspective comes across strongly in Costello's lyrics. "Welcome to the Working Week," the album's opening track, is at 1:22 its shortest cut and an introduction to what's to come. A driving middle-tempo rocker with drums mixed way up and biting guitar riffs, it's an ironic salute to a friend's new success. The message is clear--"Deal with it if you can." Blame It On Cain" shows a strong persecution complex ("Blame it on Cain, don't blame it on me..."); "Sneaky Feelings" is a bouncy, silly tune about paranoia and screwed...
...associate, Dominick Dequatro, 55; both have disappeared in the past month. Officials say the disappearances may be connected with the rise in the family of Vincent ("Chin") Gigante, 49. An ex-boxer, Gigante won lasting notoriety as the gunman who unsuccessfully tried to liquidate Mafia "Prime Minister" Frank Costello in 1957. The investigators doubt that Gigante is acting...