bloggedy blog: the personal weblog of a music lover and aging punk wannabe

:: Friday, September 26, 2003 ::

His aim is still true

Worked late last night to catch up on a few projects, then went home, slumped into the corner of the sofa and watched part of A&E TV's Live By Request Starring Elvis Costello. Elvis was taking requests from fans via telephone and email, and also played (not by request) a couple of tunes from his new album, North, which is all piano and singing. I prefer Elvis the rocker to Elvis the crooner, so I got happy when fans called in some of my all-time favorites, like "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes," "Radio, Radio," "45" and, of course, "Alison." It was a great interaction between a living legend and his fans, delivering somewhat on communications technology's promises of bringing us all together.

And Elvis showed us he can still rock. He's older now, his voice not quite what it used to be, but at least he's grown into that oversized head of his. One of the images burned in my mind is of that picture of Elvis on his first album, My Aim Is True, in that pigeon-toed, I'm-a-punk-don't-mess-with-me stance, wearing straight-legged jeans with the cuffs rolled up and those dorky thick-rimmed glasses. He was Buddy Holly incarnate. But he had this huge head head perched incongruously atop his slender frame.

My two favorite quips from fans:

From an email message: "Elvis helped make puberty more bearable when I was growing up, and now he's making aging more bearable." I can relate. I was a senior in high school when a friend turned me on to My Aim Is True, and it was powerful stuff. It's still powerful stuff today.

From a caller named Alison: She said she hadn't heard his music until she met a guy in high school. When she told him her name, he broke in to that familiar chorus: Aaaaalisonnnn....I know, this world, is kil-ling you-u.... She was immediately flattered. And: "He immediately got to second base." She asked him to sing the song "for all the Alisons of the world who think this song is for us."

:: Andrew 07:41 + ::
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