Editing Elvis Costello (section)

== Public image and controversies ==

Costello revealed little about his background and gave few interviews in the first five years of his career, so the few widely published interviews he gave played a large role in forming his early public image.<ref name="Paumgartner" /> In a widely quoted August 1977 interview with [[Nick Kent]], Costello said the only things that mattered to him were "revenge and guilt".<ref name="Marcus1982" /><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Kent |first=Nick |date=27 August 1977 |title=D. P. Costello of Whitton, Middlesex, it is your turn to be The Future of Rock & Roll |magazine=New Musical Express}}</ref> This phrase would be associated with him throughout his career.<ref name="Paumgartner"/>

=== 1977 ''Saturday Night Live'' appearance ===

On 17 December 1977, Costello and the Attractions appeared on ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' as last-minute replacements for the [[Sex Pistols]].<ref name="Houghton Mifflin Harcourt"/>{{Sfn|Thomson|2004|p=108-109}} One of the songs Costello was scheduled to perform, at the request of his record company, was "[[Less than Zero (Elvis Costello song)|Less Than Zero]]", a song Costello wrote in reaction to seeing British fascist [[Oswald Mosley]] being treated with what Costello felt was undeserved deference during an interview on British television.{{Sfn|Thomson|2004|p=108-109}}<ref name="Marcus1982" /> Costello did not want to play the song because he thought the subject was too obscure for American audiences and the song was too low-key to make a strong impression.<ref name="Costello-2001" />{{Sfn|Costello|2015|p=307}} Instead, he wanted to play the then-unrecorded song, "Radio Radio". During the live broadcast, Costello played a few bars of "Less Than Zero" and then told the Attractions to play "Radio Radio", which they played in its entirety.{{Sfn|Thomson|2004|p=109}} This angered the show's producer, [[Lorne Michaels]], because Michaels was not prepared for the change and because "Radio Radio" had not been cleared by [[NBC]]'s censors.<ref name="Guccione">{{Cite magazine|last=Guccione|first=Bob Jr|date=February 1993|title=Lorne Michaels [interview]|magazine=Spin}}</ref><ref name="Untreed Reads">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rkUn4S_OlngC|title=Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live|last1=Hill|first1=Doug|last2=Weingrad|first2=Jeff|publisher=Untreed Reads|year=2011|isbn=978-1-61187-218-7|chapter=15: You Can't give Noogies to the Virgin Mary|orig-date=1986}}</ref>{{efn|Many sources assert without evidence that Lorne Michaels or others associated with ''Saturday Night Live'', rather than Costello's record company, had told Costello not to play "Radio Radio", or that the supposedly anti-corporate nature of the song's lyrics was the reason he was told not to play it, or both. This is not supported by Costello's account, nor by Micheals' account, nor the accounts of others directly involved with the show.{{Sfn|Costello|2015|p=307}}<ref name="Guccione"/><ref name="Untreed Reads"/>}} When asked about the incident on NBC's ''[[The Tomorrow Show|Tomorrow Show]]'' three years later, Costello said he was told he would never appear on American television again.<ref name="Tomorrow Show-2006">{{Cite AV media|title=The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder – Punk & New Wave|type=DVD|language=English|year=2006|at=Interview with Costello, air date 3 February 1981}}</ref> He appeared as musical guest on ''Saturday Night Live'' again in 1989 and 1991.<ref name="Houghton Mifflin Harcourt"/> Although the incident provoked little comment at the time, by 1999 it had become so well known that ''Saturday Night Live'' invited Costello to perform a parody of it with the [[Beastie Boys]] on the show's 25th anniversary special.{{Sfn|Costello|2015|p=|pp=307–308}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://consequenceofsound.net/2010/03/youtube-live-elvis-costello-plots-to-sabotage-beastie-boys-on-snl/|title=Video Rewind: Elvis Costello plots to "Sabotage" Beastie Boys on SNL|last=Coplan|first=Chris|date=5 March 2010|website=Consequence of Sound|access-date=4 August 2018}}</ref>

=== 1979 Columbus incident ===

In March 1979, during a drunken argument with [[Bonnie Bramlett]] and other members of the [[Stephen Stills]] band, at a [[Holiday Inn]] bar in [[Columbus, Ohio]], Costello referred to [[James Brown]] as a "jive-ass [[nigger]]",{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} then pronounced [[Ray Charles]] a "blind, ignorant nigger".<ref>{{cite book |first=Greil |last=Marcus |title=In The Fascist Bathroom |year=1993 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=London |isbn=0-14-014940-6 |page=229}}</ref> At a New York City press conference a few days later, Costello said he had been drunk and had been attempting to be obnoxious to bring the conversation to a swift conclusion, not anticipating that Bramlett would bring his comments to the press. According to Costello, "It became necessary for me to outrage these people with about the most obnoxious and offensive remarks that I could muster".

In his liner notes for the expanded version of ''[[Get Happy!! (Elvis Costello album)|Get Happy!!]]'' Costello writes that some time after the incident he had declined an offer to meet Charles out of guilt and embarrassment, although Charles himself had forgiven Costello, saying "Drunken talk isn't meant to be printed in the paper". Costello worked extensively in Britain's [[Rock Against Racism]] campaign both before and after the incident. In an interview with [[Questlove]] (drummer for [[the Roots]], with whom Costello collaborated in 2013), he stated: "It's upsetting because I can't explain how I even got to think you could be funny about something like that" and further elaborating with, "I'm sorry. You know? It's about time I said it out loud."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Courtney E. |title=Elvis Costello Opens Up About 1979 Racial Slurs in Interview With ?uestlove |url=http://radio.com/2013/10/17/elvis-costello-opens-up-about-1979-racial-slurs-in-interview-with-uestlove/ |website=Radio.com |access-date=10 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150916121400/http://radio.com/2013/10/17/elvis-costello-opens-up-about-1979-racial-slurs-in-interview-with-uestlove/ |archive-date=16 September 2015 }}</ref>

=== 2010 cancelled Tel Aviv concerts ===
In early 2010, Costello was invited to play his first concert in Israel, on 30 June of that year, at the Caesarea Amphitheater north of Tel Aviv.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://igoogledisrael.com/elvis-costello-is-coming-to-israel/|title=Elvis Costello is coming to Israel!|date=15 February 2010|website=igoggledisrael.com|access-date=17 March 2019}}</ref> Due to high demand for tickets, a second concert was added for 1 July.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/culture/1.5104950|title=The bitch, and others, are back|last=Kohavi|first=Noya|date=22 April 2010|website=Haaretz|access-date=17 March 2019}}</ref> At first, Costello seemed resolved to resist political pressure on artists to refrain from performing in Israel due to the country's controversial treatment of Palestinians. In early May, Costello told Israel's largest daily newspaper, ''[[Yedioth Ahronoth]]'', "As soon as you play you are going to get criticised". Costello told the newspaper he did not agree with organisations that "think that they need to boycott Israel to pressure it", saying he thought "culture is the only way in which humanity shares experiences, and that is why I need to come and perform here".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/bowing-to-his-conscience-20100524-w7vx.html|title=Bowing to his conscience|last=Koutsoukis|first=Jason|date=25 May 2010|work=Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=17 March 2019}}</ref> Two weeks later, he announced on his website that he had cancelled the concerts because of what he called the "grave and complex" sensitivities of the [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=19 May 2010 |title=Elvis Costello cancels Israel concerts |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-costello-israel-idUSTRE64I30E20100519}}</ref> He told ''[[The Jerusalem Post]]'' his decision was part of a "30-year conundrum" that he had been dealing with regarding playing in Israel. He also told the ''Post'' that he had not been threatened or coerced, but that he "woke up one day and realised [he] couldn't go on with the shows". The promoters of the concerts expressed shock. Israeli Culture Minister [[Limor Livnat]], a member of right-wing [[Likud Party]], denounced the decision. The organisation [[Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel]] praised it.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Brinn |first=David |date=20 May 2010 |title=Elvis Costello cancels upcoming show |work=The Jerusalem Post |url=https://www.jpost.com/Arts-and-Culture/Entertainment/Elvis-Costello-cancels-upcoming-show |access-date=2 August 2023}}</ref>