Richard Crouse

Elvis Is King: Costello's My Aim Is True by Richard Crouse is the story of the making of a star and a record. Crouse is the regular film critic for CTV’s Canada AM, CTV’s 24-hour News Channel and CP24. His syndicated Saturday afternoon radio show, "Entertainment Extra," originates on NewsTalk 1010. He is also the author of six books on pop culture history.

I found several interesting things in this book. Being the same age as the author and raised just on the other side of the border we would seem to have some things in common. Crouse seems to have taken to the British side of rock where I was raised on the American side. We both seem to be trapped in "what is punk rock." Clearly the Ramones and the Sex Pistols. Elvis Costello gets put in that New Wave, but not really category. He is punk rock in a suit, a Patti Smith with shaved armpits, the attitude without the punk image.

Crouse covers the life of Elvis Costello from when he was Declan Patrick MacManus to when he got banned from Saturday Night Live. The book also gives a good history of Stiff Records and other musicians of the period like Nick Lowe and Ian Dury. Crouse explains the making of My Aim is True and also details the songs. My favorite from the album is "Watching the Detectives." It received the most airplay from my hometown Station of WMMS in Cleveland.

The book is written in two different styles. For the most part, Crouse relies heavily on stringing source material together which can be a bit dry at times. Other times Crouse reminisces and adds his opinions and thoughts on the music which are quite good. It is good to see what effect the music had on the person writing biography. I remember watching with the same excitement of Crouse had when Elvis Costello appeared on Saturday Night Live. There is a special connection when to the book when it deals with shared experiences rather than third party source material.

Elvis Is King is a fair biography that covers more of the events of the time than of the subject of the book. Parts of the book seem almost cut-and-paste mass market while other parts seem to be written by a passionate fan. It is a good book for the die hard Elvis Costello fans, but average for those with only a passing interest.… (más)

Elvis is King – and I don’t mean Presley. Those of you who were born in the in the ‘70s or before and were into “alternative” music (not pop, metal, or just plain rock) will know what I’m talking about. For the rest of you, you are definitely missing a great artist and album.

Richard Crouse’s Elvis is king. Costello’s My Aim is True was written for ECW Press’s Pop Classics series. Crouse tells us of Declan MacManus, his transformation to Elvis Costello and the making of his first album, My Aim is True. To me, Crouse and many others, it has become a true classic.

Elvis Costello grew up in London, son of Ross MacManus, a musician, and Lillian MacManus, manager of the record shop at Selfridge’s department store. Growing up in a musical family, he listened to many types of music, and by age 15 was writing his own. He debuted in his first band, Rusty, when he was 17. While working as a computer operator, he hooked up with Stiff Records, and the rest was history. My Aim is True, produced by Nick Lowe, was recorded at Pathway Studio in virtually 24 hours.

My Aim is True came at a time which was ripe for a transition in music. Many bands were more interested in themselves than their audience and were beginning to play in large stadiums instead of intimate settings. Rock of the time included lengthy guitar solos. Punk was just coming into being partly as a reaction to this. Elvis Costello’s music was neither rock nor punk but had early rock influences, as well as punk, reggae and jazz influences. Although none of the songs on the album became number one hits, they are all definitely hit worthy and spoke to many of us in the late 70’s who were looking for a different sound.

Richard Crouse’s book is an easy-to-read and well-written and researched story of how My Aim is True came to be. It is very easy to tell that he loves the album as much as I do, and I learned quite a bit about one of my favorite musicians. My Aim is True is probably still one of my favorite albums, and I never get tired of listening to these songs. If you have not heard this album, download and listen as soon as you can, then go and read this book because you will want to know more.

I received this book from GoodReads First Reads in exchange for an honest review.… (más)

As Richard Crouse, the host of the independant film channels Reel to Reel describes his book, The 100 Best Movies You’ve Never Seen, as a list of movies “that I always turn to in my off hours”. Films in the book range from Cult classics like Killer Clowns from Outer Space to French films like Brotherhood of the Wolf and Delicatessen. Crouse doesn’t write long tedious essays on the films, but rather short musings intended to spark interest.

rel="nofollow" target="_top">Read the rest of my review at my blog… (más)