Interview with Elvis

Paddy Shennan, Liverpool Echo, May 17 2002

ELVIS Costello didn't have to think for too long before agreeing to play at this year's Summer Pops.

He just had to cast his mind back to Thursday, July 12, 2001, and a night he will never forget - the night Bob Dylan rocked the Kings Dock.

"I went to see Dylan at last year's Pops and I thought the atmosphere was fantastic," recalls 'converted Scouser' Elvis, whose mum, Lillian, still lives in Liverpool.

"It was my mum's birthday and she'd never seen Dylan before. I went with her, my wife, Cait, and a few pals. We had a great time and I thought the venue really worked.

"Despite what people might think about tents and marquees, the sound was very, very good. And although it can hold a lot of people - 4,500 - I thought it had a really intimate feel."

Elvis will be appearing on Monday, July 22, just six days before his famous friend and collaborator, Burt Bacharach, brings his own magical melodies to town (the pair worked together on 1998's Painted From Memory album).

"Is Burt playing? I didn't know that. It's a shame, but I don't think we'll have the time to hang around in Liverpool and see him."

Elvis, who will be 48 in August, is setting out on a world tour to promote his latest album When I Was Cruel, in which he returns to rock and pop territory after the ballads and classical compositions of recent years.

Young Aigburth-based musician Steven Kennedy sings backing vocals on three album tracks. As the ECHO revealed last summer, Steven spent a weekend recording with Elvis at Dublin's Windmill Studios (Elvis has lived a few miles south of Dublin for the last 12 years).

Elvis says: "Steven's got a great voice and is as good a singer as you will hear.

"Steven and Elvis had appeared - in their own right - on the EMI compilation Mersey Boys And Liverpool Girls, which was put together by Steven's manager, Stephen Done ( Liverpool FC's Museum And Tour Centre curator and a friend of Elvis's).

It was released in April of last year and Elvis then joined Steven on stage for three numbers at the launch gig held at Liverpool John Moores University's Haigh Building in Maryland Street.

Perhaps the pair can cook up a reunion for July 22 . . .

"I'm certainly looking forward to the show," says Elvis, who is back working again with former Attractions Steve Nieve (keyboards) and Pete Thomas (drums).

"I always like playing Liverpool," says the diehard Reds fan, aka Declan MacManus.

Although born in Paddington, his mum comes from Smithdown Road and his dad, Ross, a trumpeter and vocalist with the Joe Loss Orchestra, from Birkenhead.

And, as a 16-year-old, Declan, who had happy memories of school holidays in Birkenhead, moved with his mum from London to West Derby, when his parents separated.

He explains: "Liverpool is as close to a home town gig as I'm ever going to have. And I feel equally at home on both sides of the river - I was actually christened in Birkenhead.

"The Summer Pops show happens when we're not long back from Australia. The world tour is still taking shape. So far it's America, Japan, Australia - and Liverpool!"

But Elvis is still trying to get his head around the idea that Everton FC could, in a few years time, be playing on the very spot where he will be performing on July 22.

"What a horrifying thought!" he says, before adding: "I'm only teasing."

The success of the Pops - and the fact that they take place on the site which has been earmarked for a showpiece arena - has fuelled the debate on whether or not the city needs a venue to attract the Kylies and Robbies of the music world.

Elvis, who recalls bunking off school to see the Rolling Stones at the Empire, isn't so sure.

"I think Liverpool needs to first concentrate on venues like the Picket on Hardman Street and others of a similar size. That, I think, would be more valuable to the city and its own music scene.

"We should be looking at venues right across the city, rather than simply investing in one big venue. And it's not just about music. The city, for example, has some great little theatres, which aren't used enough.

"Then there's St George's Hall, a really incredible venue which nobody seems to use. I don't know what the story is there. And perhaps they could cover over Goodison Park and use that as a music venue!"

Don't worry, Blues. He's teasing, again.

Although he, personally, is never one to stand still or, God forbid, look back, Elvis's angry late 1970s mug can currently be found in a host of ' Golden Jubliee Of Punk ' publications.

"I wasn't even aware of them," he says, dismissively. "I'm too busy to be looking back. Maybe people should spend more time writing about the current music scene; I don't

Come off it, Elvis. What about Watching The Detectives, (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea, Oliver's Army, Accidents Will Happen and so on. And so on. And so on?

I wonder if he'll do requests at the Pops?