ABSTRACT

Although initially identified with the punk movement due to the caustic tone of his songs and affiliation with the London-based Stiff label, Elvis Costello owed as much to the Tin Pan Alley tradition of songcraft as tothe energy and social consciousness typifying rock music. He has emerged as one of the finest pop songwriters of the late 20th century, as well as a superb interpreter of outside material spanning a wide range of styles, including country (e.g., Patsy Cline’s “Sweet Dreams,” Hank Williams’s “Why Don’t You Love Me Like You Used To Do”), soul (Sam and Dave’s “I Can’t Stand Up for Falling Down,” Smokey Robinson’s “From Head To Toe”), classic rock ‘n’ roll (Little Richard’s “Bama Lama Bama Loo”), British Invasion rock (the Beatles’“You’re Got to Hide Your Love Away”), the singer/songwriter tradition (Randy Newman’s “I’ve Been Wrong Before”), and big band (Ray Noble’s “The Very Thought of You”).