All this talk about Elvis Costello, SNL and “Radio Radio” got me searching for the relevant clips, which, in this glorious era of instant YouTube gratification, I found quite handily. Watching them was a revelatory experience — in that they very precisely revealed what went wrong with Elvis Costello in the last 25 years. In the first clip, we see a desperate, angry young man singing a desperately angry song about the desperate state of the music industry and just how angry it makes him.

In the second, Elvis is a smug, self-referen/reverential turd in designer eyewear who clearly has lost every bit of the plot, thinking that just being on stage with a bunch of occasionally angry young men makes him, somehow, by extension, angry as well. Pshaw.

But check out the two clips for yourself, and tell us what *you* think.

I look forward to your responses.

HVB

Sometimes I have it up to here with “heavy” love songs, you know, those I’ll rip my heart out and stomp it into the floorboards for you, baby types. I like the feeling of being in love as much as the next guy, but love shouldn’t be a burden and love songs shouldn’t be a set up for heartbreak. No, I can’t go for that.

I typically like my love songs light and breezy. I was listening to The Zombies song “I Want Her, She Wants Me”. That’s a sentiment I can get behind. Colin Blunstone is so sweet and innocent. The backing musicians are just as tender. It’s no wonder the girl wants him. He’s a teddy bear in horn-rimmed specs! Dionne Warwick’s “You’ll Never Get to Heaven if You Break My Heart” – there’s another light love song.

I’m no teddy bear – don’t think I’m fooling myself – but if the love song’s not about outright gettin’ it on, then let my love open the door after politely knocking, you know what I mean? With rare exceptions (eg, “Don’t Let Me Down” and other, similar Lennon psychodramas), I have little desire to meditate on how downright emotionally dependent I am on the love of my life. Do you prefer your love songs heavy or light?