Editing Elvis Costello (section)

=== 1976–1977: ''My Aim Is True'' ===

In mid-August 1976, Costello included "Mystery Dance" and "Radio Sweetheart" on a demo tape he gave to [[Stiff Records]], a new independent label that had just released its first single.{{sfn|Balls|2014|p=|pp=36, 41, 78}}{{sfn|Costello|2015|p=226, in the photo gallery of deluxe ebook edition, "List of demos sent to record labels"}} Partly due to the airplay received from Gillett around the same time, Costello was soon evaluating offers from several record companies, including Gillett's own Oval Records.<ref name="Doggett-1995" />{{sfn|Thomson|2004|p=67}} Costello chose to work with Stiff Records because they seemed prepared to move the fastest.<ref name="Doggett-1995" /> Stiff had been founded by [[Jake Riviera]], who managed several acts Costello admired, and Dave Robinson.{{sfn|Balls|2014|p=|pp=22–23, 28, 80}}<ref name="Doggett-1995" /> [[Nick Lowe]], whom Costello was on friendly terms with because he had attended so many performances by Lowe's band Brinsley Schwarz, was the label's first artist and soon became its in-house producer.{{sfn|Costello|2015|pp=124, 224}}{{sfn|Balls|2014|p=36}}

Following a successful test-session in mid-September at [[Pathway Studios]], an inexpensive studio in [[North London]],{{sfn|Costello|2015|pp=226-227}}{{sfn|Costello|2015|pp=183, 225, 226–227}} Stiff agreed to finance more sessions for Costello with [[Clover (band)|Clover]], an American [[Country rock|country-rock]] band from [[Marin County, California]],{{Sfn|Balls|2014|p=80}}{{Sfn|Costello|2015|p=223}} as the backing band.{{sfn|Costello|2015|p=229}} Starting in late November or early December, Costello travelled to [[Headley Grange]] in [[East Hampshire]], where Clover were living, to spend the day rehearsing and working out arrangements for a batch of his songs and then recording the songs with the band the next day at Pathway.{{Sfn|Costello|2015|p=231}} Costello still held a full-time office job,<ref name="Costello-2001" /> so the sessions were spaced over several weeks to accommodate his work schedule and Stiff's tight finances.<ref>{{Cite AV media|title=The First 10 Years Podcast Series|date=11 June 2007|last=Costello|first=Elvis|type=podcast|language=English|at=episode 1, at 5 minutes}}</ref> ''My Aim Is True'' was recorded and mixed in six four-hour sessions for a total cost of about £1,000.<ref name="Costello-2001" /> The final mix was completed in late January 1977.{{Sfn|Balls|2014|p=82}} Producer Nick Lowe, recording engineer Barry Farmer and Clover bassist John Ciambotti have all said they found Costello confident, well-prepared, and mature beyond his years during the making of the album.{{Sfn|Thomson|2004|p=|pp=72, 74}}{{Sfn|Balls|2014|p=82}}

By February 1977, Riviera and Robinson, who were now Costello's managers, had given him his new stage name, Elvis.<ref>{{Cite magazine|date=26 February 1977|title=Island gets Stiff in deal allowing dual sales plan|magazine=Billboard}}</ref> The reference to [[Elvis Presley]], who was still alive at the time, was simply intended to get attention.{{Sfn|Thomson|2004|p=|pp=78-80}} Costello neither particularly liked nor disliked Presley.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Fewer 'mean songs' for Elvis Costello|last=Campbell|first=Mary|date=9 November 1986|work=Spartanburg Herald-Journal}}</ref> Because Costello had seen his father, Ross, work under a variety of stage names, he gave little thought to the name change.{{Sfn|Costello|2015|p=|pp=206–207}} Riviera and Robinson also helped give Costello a distinctive appearance that contrasted with the contemporaneous ideas how pop stars looked;{{Sfn|St. Michael|1986|p=|pp=21–22}} they swapped the unobtrusive rimless glasses Costello had worn to correct astigmatism since he was a teenager for a pair with large black frames.{{sfn|Thomson|2004|p=80}}<ref name="Rambali1983" />

Costello's first single, "[[Less than Zero (Elvis Costello song)|Less than Zero]]", was released at the end of March 1977.{{Sfn|Thomson|2004|p=|pp=78}} It received a few brief, mixed reviews in the British music press and sold very few copies.{{Sfn|Thomson|2004|p=89}} Two further singles, "[[Alison (song)|Alison]]" and "[[(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes]]", also sold poorly; the former would become one of his best-regarded and best-known songs.{{Sfn|Balls|2014|p=|pp=84, 97}}{{Sfn|Costello|2015|p=256}} However, Costello was receiving increasingly prominent, positive coverage in the British music press.{{Sfn|Thomson|2004|p=|pp=88–89}}

''[[My Aim Is True]]'' had been completed since the end of January but its release was delayed, first because Stiff had wanted to release records by other artists who seemed more tied to transient music trends and then because of legal difficulties with Stiff's distributor, [[Island Records]].<ref name="Costello-2001" />{{Sfn|Balls|2014|p=84}} It was released on 22 July 1977.{{Sfn|Thomson|2004|p=95}} Two weeks earlier, Costello had left his job as a computer operator at [[Elizabeth Arden, Inc.|Elizabeth Arden]] on the condition that Stiff pay him, as an advance on future royalties, a regular stipend equal to the wages he had been earning at his job.<ref name="Costello-2001" />{{Sfn|Thomson|2004|p=91}}