Low birth weight (LBW) is defined as the weight of liveborn infants less than 2,500 g, for a given time period.

LBW is closely associated with fetal and Perinatal mortality and Morbidity, inhibited growth and cognitive development, and chronic diseases later in life. At the population level, the proportion of babies with a LBW is an indicator of a multifaceted public-health problem that includes long-term maternal malnutrition, ill health, hard work and poor health care in pregnancy. On an individual basis, LBW is an important predictor of newborn health and survival and is associated with higher risk of infant and childhood mortality.

LBW is either the result of preterm birth (before 37 weeks of gestation) or of restricted fetal (intrauterine) growth, secondary to many possible factors. For example, babies with congenital anomalies or chromosomal abnormalities are often associated with LBW. Problems with the placenta can prevent it from providing adequate oxygen and nutrients to the fetus. Infections during pregnancy that affect the fetus, such as rubella, cytomegalovirus, toxoplasmosis, and syphilis, may also affect the baby's birth weight. Risk factors in the mother that may contribute to LBW include young ages, multiple pregnancies, previous LBW infants, poor nutrition, heart disease or hypertension, drug addiction, alcohol abuse, and insufficient prenatal care. With specific interest to the environmental factors, smoking, lead exposure, and other types of air pollutions.

While active maternal tobacco smoking has well established adverse perinatal outcomes such as LBW, that mothers who smoke during pregnancy are twice as likely to give birth to low-birth weight infants. Review on the effects of passive maternal smoking, also called environmental tobacco exposure (ETS), demonstrated that increased risks of infants with LBW were more likely to be expected in ETS-exposed mothers. Researches have shown that elevated blood lead levels in pregnant women, even those well below 10ug/dL can cause miscarriage, premature birth, and LBW in the offspring. With 10ug/dL as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's “level of concern”, this cut-off value really needs to arise more attentions and implementations in the future.

The combustion products of solid fuel in developing countries can cause many adverse health issues in people. Because a majority of pregnant women in developing countries, where rate of LBW is high, are heavily exposed to indoor air pollution, increased relative risk translates into substantial population attributable risk of 21% of LBW.

A correlation between maternal exposure to CO and low birth weight has been reported that the effect on birth weight of increased ambient CO was as large as the effect of the mother smoking a pack of cigarettes per day during pregnancy. It has been revealed that adverse reproductive effects (e.g., risk for LBW) were correlated with maternal exposure to air pollution combustion emissions in Eastern Europe and North America. Mercury is an known toxic heavy metal that can harm fetal growth and health, and there has been evidence showing that exposure to mercury (via consumption of large oily fish) during pregnancy may be related to higher risks of LBW in the offspring.

It was revealed that exposure of pregnant women to airplane noise was found to be associated with a decrease in the body weight of newborn babies. And aircraft noise exposure is most likely to cause adverse effects on fetal growth, raising the rates of LBW and preterm infants.

References

Category:Pregnancy and birth

Birth weight is the body weight (more technically "mass" - see mass versus weight) of a baby at its birth. It has direct links with the gestational age at which the child was born and can be estimated during the pregnancy by measuring fundal height. A baby born within the normal range of weight for that gestational age is known as appropriate for gestational age (AGA). Those born above or below that range have often had an unusual rate of development – this often indicates complications with the pregnancy that may affect the baby or its mother.

There have been numerous studies that have attempted, with varying degrees of success, to show links between birth weight and later-life conditions, including diabetes, obesity, tobacco smoking and intelligence.

Determinants

The incidence of birth weight being outside of the AGA is influenced by the parents in numerous ways, including:

Genetics

The health of the mother, particularly during the pregnancy

Environmental factors, including exposure of the mother to secondhand smoke Economic status of the parents gives inconsistent study findings according to a review on 2010, and remains speculative as a determinant.

Other factors, like multiple births, where each baby is likely to be outside the AGA, one more so than the other

Conditions

Associated conditions include:

Large for gestational age

Small for gestational age

Influence on adult life

Studies have been conducted to investigate how a person's birth weight can influence aspects of their future life. This includes theorised links with obesity, diabetes and intelligence.

Obesity

A baby born small or large for gestational age (either of the two extremes) is thought to have an increased risk of obesity in later life.

GH therapy at a certain dose induced catch-up of lean body mass (LBM). However percentage body fat decreased in the GH-treated subjects. Bone mineral density SDS measured by DEXA increased significantly in the GH-treated group compared to the untreated subjects, though there is much debate over whether or not SGA (small for gestational age) is significantly adverse to children to warrant inducing catch-up.

Diabetes

Babies that have a low birth weight are thought to have an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes in later life.

Intelligence

Some studies have shown a direct link between an increased birth weight and an increased intelligence quotient.

Epidemiology

thumb|Disability-adjusted life year for low birth weight per 100,000 inhabitants in 2002.

See also

Barker's hypothesis

MOMO syndrome

Low birth weight paradox

Prenatal nutrition and birth weight

References

External links

"Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR)" at Health System, University of Virginia

"Researchers link low birth weight to lower achievement"

"Management of Suspected Fetal Macrosomia"

"Vit D linked to baby birth weight" at BBC News, 25 April 2006

Born in Bradford - 2006 cohort study into the causes of low birth weight and infant mortality in Bradford, UK

Intrauterine Growth Restriction Help - IUGR factors and solutions

Category:Obstetrics Category:Pediatrics

ar:وزن الولادة es:Restricción del crecimiento intrauterino fr:Retard de croissance intra-utérin hi:जन्म के समय वजन it:Restrizione della crescita intrauterina nl:Geboortegewicht

White Bull (Lakota: Tȟatȟáŋka Ská) (April 1849 – June 21, 1947) was the nephew of Sitting Bull, and a famous warrior in his own right. White Bull participated in the Battle of the Little Bighorn on June 25, 1876. For years it was said White Bull boasted of killing Lt. George Armstrong Custer at the famous battle. Other sources say White Bull himself never made that claim but admitted to struggling with Custer.

Born in the Black Hills in South Dakota, White Bull came from a prominent Sioux family. He was the son of Makes Room, a Miniconjou chief and the brother of One Bull. White Bull's uncle was the famous Hunkpapa Sioux leader Sitting Bull, whom he joined in fleeing to Canada after the Little Bighorn battle. Young Chief Solomon "Smoke" and Chief No Neck (these two chiefs were the sons of the old Chief Smoke 1774–1864), who fled with White Bull and Sitting Bull and their bands to Canada.

White Bull surrendered to government troops in 1876. He eventually became a chief, replacing his father Chief Makes Room upon his death. He acted as a judge of the Court of Indian Offenses, and was a proponent of Lakota land claims in the Black Hills. White Bull and Wendell Smoke (Wendell was the son of Chief Solomon "Smoke") took over as the main headmen of Bald people and Short Bald people bands of the Bad Faces after Chief Solomon "Smoke" had died in 1895 at the Pine Ridge Agency in South Dakota. Chief White Bull died in South Dakota in 1947.

White Bull's relationship to his uncle made him an important contributor to Stanley Vestal's biography of Sitting Bull.

His grandson was Chief Dave Bald Eagle, who served with the U.S. 4th Cavalry and later in the 82nd Airborne.

References

Stanley Vestal, ''Warpath: The True Story of the Fighting Sioux Told in a Biography of Chief White Bull'' (University of Nebraska Press, First Bison Book printing, 1984) ISBN 0-8032-9601-0

''The Warrior Who Killed Custer: The Personal Narrative of Chief Joseph White Bull''. Translated and Edited By James H. Howard. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1968.

''Lakota Warrior: A Personal Narrative''. Edited by James H. Howard. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1998.

External links

Sioux History in Pictures (The White Bull Manuscript) at The University of North Dakota

The Man Who Killed Custer ''American Heritage Magazine''

Category:1849 births Category:1947 deaths Category:People from South Dakota Category:Lakota leaders Category:People of the Great Sioux War of 1876–77

es:White Bull fr:White Bull

name	Piano Magic
background	group_or_band
origin	London, England
genre	Indie rock, ambient pop, post-rock
years active	1996–present
label	Make Mine MusicImportant RecordsDarla RecordsGreen UFOsMonopsone Records4ADRocket Girl RecordsAcuarela RecordsMorr MusicAcetone RecordsLissy's RecordsBad Jazz RecordsStaalplaatPiao! Recordsi/Che Records
current members	Glen JohnsonJerome TcherneyanAlasdair SteerFranck Alba
associated acts	Textile RanchKlimaFuture ConditionalIcebreaker InternationalThe EavesCharles AtlasISANThe Bitter SpringsEllis Island SoundCitayMatthew Sawyer & The GhostsTarwaterVashti BunyanLife Without Buildings
website	www.piano-magic.co.uk
current members	Glen JohnsonJerome TcherneyanAlasdair SteerFranck Alba
past members	Dominic ChennellDick RancePaul TornbohmAlexander PerlsJen AdamEzra FeinbergCharles WyattCaroline PotterMiguel MarinJohn ChevesCedric Pin
notable instruments	}}

Piano Magic is a musical collective formed in the summer of 1996 by Glen Johnson, Dominic Chennell, and Dick Rance in London, England. Their sound has been described as ambient pop, post-rock, indietronica, coldwave, dark wave and ghostrock. While the most recent releases have seen them operating with a traditional band format, they originally started their career with the intention to base their recordings around their small nucleus and whoever else would like to contribute. Glen Johnson is the only remaining band member from the original trio.

History

Formation and early years: 1996–1998

Piano Magic was formed in the summer of 1996 by Glen Johnson, Dominic Chennell, and Dick Rance in London, England, as a 'bedroom-studio' project with the intention to base their recordings around their small nucleus and whoever else would like to contribute.

Originally reluctant to perform live, they gave way to label pressure when their first single proved popular on BBC Radio 1 John Peel show and was awarded Single of the Week in Melody Maker. While recruiting Paul Tornbohm to play drums at these gigs, they pointedly refused to play or sound like any of their released material.

Popular Mechanics appeared on i/Ché in 1997, a debut album which the press variously described as "ethereal electro pop atmospheric soundscapes" or "simply delighting in... making silly noises" and which the band thought of as "Small Beat, pre-chip... radiophonics". It included vocals by Hazel Burfitt and Raechel Leigh but, with Rance having quit the band, combined two previous single releases with a set of new recordings by Johnson and Chennell.

The duo then briefly recruited American music students, Alexander Perls, Jen Adam and Ezra Feinberg to complete the band, though Chennell too had departed by the time of the second album release Low Birth Weight in 1998, a record described as "dreamy, trance and organic psychedelia". It introduced the vocals of Caroline Potter who would sing on one further album.

Mid-period: 1999–2004

By 1999 only Johnson remained from the original trio and the departure of Chennell leaving him free to lead the band into a much more conventional format and sound. A line-up of Glen Johnson, Miguel Marin, John Cheves and Paul Tornbohm recorded the third album, Artists’ Rifles with John A Rivers (producer of Dead Can Dance and Felt) and showcased its guitar based sound, "a mixture of chiming guitars and processional rhythms", at the Benicassim and BAM music festivals. By now, Piano Magic was proving more popular abroad than in their homeland and the next few years' activity included mainly European tours.

The band, now minus Cheves, signed to 4AD Records in 2000 and released the soundtrack for Spanish director, Bigas Lunas' Son de Mar movie in 2001 described as "ethereal, delayed guitar lines... accompanied by various ambient sounds".

Jerome Tcherneyan then replaced Miguel Marin on drums and the second and last album with 4AD, 'Writers Without Homes' in 2002, was released with mixed press reaction; "exquisite, if a touch diffident" and "confused, unfocused, fragile." Its myriad guest artists imported talents from Cocteau Twins, The Czars, Tarwater, Life Without Buildings and Tram. It also featured the first vocal recording for thirty-three years of lost '60s/'70s folk heroine, Vashti Bunyan.

With the addition of Franck Alba and Alasdair Steer, 'The Troubled Sleep Of Piano Magic' was released in 2003 on the Green Ufos label soliciting comparisons with This Mortal Coil and Durutti Column.

Recent years: 2005 to present

Cedric Pin joined Piano Magic in time for the 2005 album, ''Disaffected'' with a melodic, nearly "pop" sound, featuring more guest vocal contributions from John Grant of The Czars and Angèle David-Guillou of Klima. It appeared to confirm a return to their 'exile' status gaining significant attention abroad (including, for example, full feature in the French daily ''Liberation'') but with no coverage at all in any UK broadsheet or music magazine.

The album ''Part Monster'' was released in 2007 produced by Guy Fixsen of Laika.

In 2008, Piano Magic moved to Make Mine Music, an artist-run, artist-owned label collective and released a new EP, ''Dark Horses'', the last release to feature Cedric Pin.

In 2009, Piano Magic released their 10th official album ''Ovations'' with contributions by Brendan Perry and Peter Ulrich of Dead Can Dance.

The band's current line-up is Franck Alba, Glen Johnson, Angèle David-Guillou, Alasdair Steer and Jerome Tcherneyan.

Related projects

Glen Johnson released a solo album, ''Details Not Recorded'', under his own name in March 2009 on the Make Mine Music label.

Cedric Pin and Glen Johnson have recorded as 'Future Conditional'. Glen Johnson has recorded as 'Textile Ranch'. Dominic Chennell has recorded as 'Dominic de Nebo' and with the group 'Carphology Collective'.

Discography

Albums

''Popular Mechanics'', (i/Che, 1997)

''A Trick of the Sea'', (Darla, 1998)

''Low Birth Weight'', (Rocket Girl, 1999)

''Artists' Rifles'', (Rocket Girl, 2000)

''Son de Mar'', (4AD, 2001)

''Writers Without Homes'', (4AD, 2002)

''The Troubled Sleep of Piano Magic'', (Green UFOs, 2003)

''Disaffected'' (Darla, 2005)

''Part Monster'' (Important, 2007)

''Ovations'' (Make Mine Music, 2009)

Singles

"Wrong French", (i/Che, 1996)

"Wintersport", (i/Che, 1997)

"For Engineers", (Wurlitzer, 1997)

"Music for Rolex", (Lissy's, 1998)

"There's No Need for Us to Be Alone", (Rocket Girl, 1998)

"Fun of the Century", (Piao!, 1998)

"Mort Aux Vaches", (Staalplat, 1998)

"Music for Annahbird", (Piao!, 1998)

"Amongst the Books, an Angel", (Acetone, 1999)

"Panic Amigo", (Morr Music, 2000)

"I Came to Your Party Dressed as a Shadow", (Acuarela, 2001)

"Speed the Road, Rush the Lights", (Green UFOs, 2003)

"Saint Marie EP", (Green UFOs, 2003)

"The Opencast Heart EP", (Important Records, 2005)

"Never It Will Be the Same Again" [Limited Edition of 100 copies], (EN/OF, 2006)

"Incurable EP", (Important Records, 2006)

"Dark Horses EP", (Make Mine Music, 2008)

Related releases

''Bird Heart In Wool'', Textile Ranch (Very Friendly, 2005)

''Klima'', Klima (Peacefrog, 2007)

''We Don't Just Disappear'', Future Conditional (LTM, 2008)

''Brave New Wales'', Various Artists (Fourier Transform, 2008)

''Details Not Recorded'', Glen Johnson (Make Mine Music, 2009)

References

External links

Piano Magic official site

4AD Records">Piano Magic at 4AD Records

Rocket Girl">Piano Magic at Rocket Girl

Piano Magic on myspace.com

Piano Magic community on livejournal.com

Piano Magic archive on livejournal.com

Glen Johnson on myspace.com

Category:British indie rock groups Category:English post-rock groups Category:4AD artists Category:Musical collectives

it:Piano Magic pl:Piano Magic

name	Elvis Costello
background	solo_singer
birth name	Declan Patrick MacManus
alias	D.P. CostelloThe ImposterLittle Hands of ConcreteNapoleon DynamiteD.P.A. MacManusDeclan Patrick Aloysius MacManus
born	August 25, 1954Paddington, London, England
instrument	Vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass, drums
genre	Singer-songwriterPunk rockPub rockNew Wave
occupation	Musician, singer-songwriter, record producer
years active	1970–present
label	Stiff, Radar, F-Beat, Demon, Columbia, Warner Bros., Mercury, Island, Deutsche Grammophon, Lost Highway, Verve, HearMusic, Rykodisc, Rhino, Hip-O
associated acts	The Attractions, The Imposters, Diana Krall, Burt Bacharach, Brodsky Quartet, Nick Lowe, Madness
website	Elvis Costello.com
notable instruments	Fender JazzmasterFender Telecaster }}

Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader than that of most popular songs. His music has drawn on many diverse genres; one critic described him as a "pop encyclopedia," able to "reinvent the past in his own image".

Early life

Costello was born Declan Patrick MacManus in St Mary's Hospital, London, the son of Lillian Ablett and Ross MacManus, a musician and bandleader. He is of Irish heritage. Costello lived in Twickenham, attending Hounslow Secondary Modern School, which is now St Mark's Catholic Secondary School, in neighbouring Hounslow. With a musically inclined father (who was a jazz trumpeter and sang with The Joe Loss Orchestra), Costello's first broadcast recording was alongside his dad in a television commercial for R. White's Lemonade (''I'm a Secret Lemonade Drinker''). His father wrote and sang the song; Costello provided backing vocals. The advertisement won a silver award at the 1974 International Advertising Festival.

Costello moved with his Liverpool-born mother to Birkenhead in 1971. There, he formed his first band, a folk duo called Rusty, with Allan Mayes. After completing secondary school at St. Francis Xavier's College, he moved back to London where he next formed a band called Flip City, which had a style in the pub rock vein. They were active from 1974 through to early 1976. Around this time, Costello adopted the stage name D.P. Costello. His father had performed under the name Day Costello, and Elvis has said in interviews that he took this name as a tribute to his father.

To support himself, he worked at a number of office jobs, most famously at Elizabeth Arden – immortalised in the lyrics of "I'm Not Angry" as the "vanity factory" – where he worked as a data entry clerk. He worked for a short period as a computer operator at the Midland Bank computer centre in Bootle. He continued to write songs, and began actively looking for a solo recording contract. On the basis of a demo tape, he was signed to independent label Stiff Records. His manager at Stiff, Jake Riviera, suggested a name change, combining Elvis Presley's first name and Costello, his father's stage name.

Career

1970s

Costello's first single for Stiff was "Less Than Zero," released on 25 March 1977. Two months later, his debut album, ''My Aim Is True'' (1977), was released to moderate commercial success (No. 14 in the UK and, later, Top 40 in the US) with Costello appearing on the cover in what became his trademark oversize glasses, bearing some resemblance to Buddy Holly. Stiff's records were initially distributed only in the UK, which meant that Costello's first album and singles were initially available in the US as imports only. In an attempt to change this, Costello was arrested for busking outside a London convention of CBS Records executives, protesting that no US record company had yet seen fit to release his records in the United States. Costello signed to CBS's Columbia Records label in the US a few months later.

The backing for Costello's debut album was provided by American West Coast band Clover, a country outfit living in England whose members would later go on to join Huey Lewis and the News and The Doobie Brothers. Later in 1977, Costello formed his own permanent backing band, The Attractions, consisting of Steve Nieve (born Steve Nason; piano), Bruce Thomas (bass guitar), and Pete Thomas (drums; unrelated to Bruce Thomas). Growing antipathy between Costello and Bruce Thomas contributed to the Attractions' first split in 1986, and the rift was exacerbated by what Costello felt was his unflattering portrayal in Thomas' 1990 book ''The Big Wheel''. Despite this, the original group reunited for the 1994 album ''Brutal Youth'' and toured together over the next two years, but split for good in 1996, although Nieve and Pete Thomas continued to back Costello through various touring and recording lineups and as of 2011 are still members of his current backing group The Imposters. The split between Costello and Bruce Thomas appears permanent, however; Bruce made a brief appearance with his former bandmates when the group was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2003, but when Costello was asked why Bruce did not play with them at the event, he reportedly replied, "I only work with professional musicians."

Costello released his first major hit single, "Watching the Detectives," which was recorded with Nieve and the pair of Steve Goulding (drums) and Andrew Bodnar (bass), both members of Graham Parker's backing band The Rumour (whom he had used to audition for The Attractions).

On 17 December 1977, Costello and The Attractions appeared as the musical guest act on the episode of ''Saturday Night Live'' as a last minute fill-in for the Sex Pistols. Scheduled to play "Less Than Zero," he surprised the SNL crew by abruptly stopping the song mid-intro, and launching into "Radio Radio." Following a whirlwind tour with other Stiff artists – captured on the ''Live Stiffs'' album, notable for Costello's recording of the Burt Bacharach/Hal David standard "I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself" – the band recorded ''This Year's Model'' (1978). Some of the more popular tracks include the British hit "(I Don't Want to Go To) Chelsea" and "Pump It Up." His U.S. record company saw Costello as such a priority that his last name replaced the word Columbia on the label of the disc's original pressing. The Attractions' first tour of Australia in December 1978 was notable for controversial performance at Sydney's Regent Theatre when, angered by the group's failure to perform an encore after their brief 35-minute set, audience members destroyed some of the seating.

A tour of the U.S. and Canada also saw the release of the much-bootlegged Canadian promo-only ''Live at the El Mocambo'', recorded at a Toronto rock club, which finally saw an official release as part of the ''2½ Years'' box set in 1993. It was during the ensuing United States tour that Costello met and developed a relationship with former ''Playboy'' model Bebe Buell (mother of Liv Tyler and later the partner of Todd Rundgren). Their on-again-off-again courtship would last until 1984 and would allegedly become a deep well of inspiration for Costello's songwriting.

In 1979, he released his third LP ''Armed Forces'' (originally to have been titled ''Emotional Fascism'', a phrase that appeared on the LP's inner sleeve). Both the album and the single "Oliver's Army" went to #2 in the UK, and the opening track "Accidents Will Happen" gained wide television exposure thanks to its innovative animated music video, directed by Annabel Jankel and Rocky Morton. Costello also found time in 1979 to produce the debut album for 2 Tone ska revival band, The Specials.

Costello's standing in the U.S. was bruised for a time when in March 1979, during a drunken argument with Stephen Stills and Bonnie Bramlett in a Columbus, Ohio Holiday Inn bar, the singer referred to James Brown as a "jive-ass nigger", then upped the ante by pronouncing Ray Charles a "blind, ignorant, nigger". Costello apologised at a New York City press conference a few days later, claiming that he had been drunk and had been attempting to be obnoxious in order 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!!'', Costello writes that some time after the incident he had declined an offer to meet Charles out of guilt and embarrassment, though 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. The incident inspired his ''Get Happy!!'' song "Riot Act."

Costello is also an avid country music fan and has cited George Jones as his favourite country singer. In 1977, he appeared in Jones' duet album ''My Very Special Guests'', contributing "Stranger in the House," which they later performed together on an HBO special dedicated to Jones.

1980s

The soul-infused ''Get Happy!!'' would be the first, and—along with ''King of America'' – possibly most successful, of Costello's many experiments with genres beyond those he is normally associated with. The single, "I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down" was an old Sam and Dave song (though Costello increased the tempo considerably). Lyrically, the songs are full of Costello's signature word play, to the point that he later felt he had become something of a self-parody and toned it down on later releases; he has mockingly described himself in interviews as "rock and roll's Scrabble champion." His only 1980 appearance in North America was at the Heatwave festival in August near Toronto.

In 1981, the band released ''Trust'' amidst growing tensions within the band, particularly between Bruce and Pete Thomas. In the U.S., the single "Watch Your Step" was released and played live on Tom Snyder's ''Tomorrow'' show, and received airplay on FM rock radio. In the UK, the single "Clubland" scraped the lower reaches of the charts; follow-up single "From a Whisper to a Scream" (a duet with Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze) became the first Costello single in over four years to completely miss the charts. Costello also co-produced Squeeze's popular 1981 album ''East Side Story'' (with Roger Bechirian) and also performed backing vocals on the group's hit single "Tempted".

Following ''Trust'', Costello released ''Almost Blue'', an album of country music cover songs written by the likes of Hank Williams ("Why Don't You Love Me (Like You Used to Do?)"), Merle Haggard ("Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down") and Gram Parsons ("How Much I Lied"). The album was a tribute to the country music he had grown up listening to, especially George Jones. It received mixed reviews. The first pressings of the record in the UK bore a sticker with the message: "WARNING: This album contains country & western music and may cause a radical reaction in narrow minded listeners." ''Almost Blue'' did spawn a surprise UK hit single in a version of George Jones' "Good Year for the Roses" (written by Jerry Chesnut), which reached #6.

''Imperial Bedroom'' (1982) marked a much darker sound, due in part to the production of Geoff Emerick, famed for engineering several Beatles records. ''Imperial Bedroom'' remains one of his most critically acclaimed records, but again failed to produce any hit singles. Costello has said he disliked the marketing pitch for the album. The album also featured Costello's song "Almost Blue"; jazz singer and trumpeter Chet Baker would later perform and record a version of this song.

In 1983, he released ''Punch the Clock'', featuring female backing vocal duo (Afrodiziak) and a four-piece horn section (The TKO Horns), alongside The Attractions. Clive Langer (who co-produced with Alan Winstanley), provided Costello with a melody which eventually became "Shipbuilding," which featured a trumpet solo by Chet Baker. Prior to the release of Costello's own version, a version of the song was a minor UK hit for former Soft Machine drummer Robert Wyatt.

Under the pseudonym The Imposter, Costello released "Pills and Soap," an attack on the changes in British society brought on by Thatcherism, released to coincide with the run-up to the 1983 UK general election. ''Punch the Clock'' also generated an international hit in the single "Everyday I Write the Book," aided by a music video featuring lookalikes of the Prince and Princess of Wales undergoing domestic strife in a suburban home. The song became Costello's first Top 40 hit single in the U.S. Also in the same year, Costello provided vocals on a version of the Madness song "Tomorrow's Just Another Day" released as a B-side on the single of the same name.

Tensions within the band - notably between Costello and bassist Bruce Thomas—were beginning to tell, and Costello announced his retirement and the break-up of the group shortly before they were to record ''Goodbye Cruel World'' (1984). Costello would later say of this record that they had "got it as wrong as you can in terms of the execution". The record was poorly received upon its initial release; the liner notes to the 1995 Rykodisc re-release, penned by Costello, begin with the words "Congratulations!, you've just purchased our worst album". Costello's retirement, although short-lived, was accompanied by two compilations, ''Elvis Costello: The Man'' in the UK, Europe and Australia, and ''The Best of Elvis Costello & The Attractions'' in the U.S.

In 1985, he appeared in the Live Aid benefit concert in England, singing the Beatles' "All You Need Is Love" as a solo artist. (The event was overrunning and Costello was asked to "ditch the band".) Costello introduced the song as an "old northern English folk song," and the audience was invited to sing the chorus. In the same year Costello teamed up with friend T-Bone Burnett for the single "The People's Limousine" under the moniker of The Coward Brothers. That year, Costello also produced ''Rum Sodomy & the Lash'' for the Irish punk/folk band The Pogues.

By 1986, Costello was preparing to make a comeback. Working in the U.S. with Burnett, a band containing a number of Elvis Presley's sidemen (including James Burton and Jerry Scheff), and minor input from the Attractions, he produced ''King of America'', an acoustic guitar-driven album with a country sound. Around this time he legally changed his name back to Declan MacManus, adding Aloysius as an extra middle name. Costello retooled his upcoming tour to allow for multiple nights in each city, playing one night with The Confederates (James Burton et al.), one night with The Attractions, and one night solo acoustic. In May 1986, Costello performed at Self Aid, a benefit concert held in Dublin that focused on the chronic unemployment which was widespread in Ireland at that time.

Later that year, Costello returned to the studio with the Attractions and recorded ''Blood and Chocolate'', which was lauded for a post-punk fervour not heard since 1978's ''This Year's Model''. It also marked the return of producer Nick Lowe, who had produced Costello's first five albums. While ''Blood and Chocolate'' failed to chart a hit single of any significance, it did produce what has since become one of Costello's signature concert songs, "I Want You." On this album, Costello adopted the alias Napoleon Dynamite, the name he later attributed to the character of the emcee that he played during the vaudeville-style tour to support ''Blood and Chocolate''. (The pseudonym had previously been used in 1982, when the B-side single "Imperial Bedroom" was credited to Napoleon Dynamite & The Royal Guard, and was later appropriated by the 2004 film ''Napoleon Dynamite''). In 1989, Costello, with a new contract with Warner Bros., released ''Spike'', which spawned his biggest single in America, the Top 20 hit "Veronica," one of several songs Costello co-wrote with Paul McCartney in that period (see Collaborations).

1990s

In 1991, having grown a long beard, Costello released ''Mighty Like a Rose'', which featured the single "The Other Side of Summer." He also found time to co-compose and co-produce, with Richard Harvey, the title and incidental music for the mini-series ''G.B.H.'' by Alan Bleasdale. This entirely instrumental, and largely orchestral, soundtrack garnered a BAFTA, for Best Music for a TV Series for the pair.

In 1993, Costello experimented with classical music with a critically acclaimed collaboration with the Brodsky Quartet on ''The Juliet Letters''. During this period, Costello wrote a full album's worth of material for Wendy James, and these songs became the tracks on her 1993 solo album ''Now Ain't the Time for Your Tears''. Costello returned to rock and roll the following year with a project that reunited him with The Attractions, ''Brutal Youth''. In 1995, Costello released ''Kojak Variety'', an album of cover songs recorded five years earlier, and followed in 1996 with an album of songs originally written for other artists, ''All This Useless Beauty''. This was the final album of original material that he issued under his Warner Bros. contract. In the spring of 1996, Costello played a series of intimate club dates, backed only by Nieve on the piano, in support of ''All This Useless Beauty''. An ensuing summer and fall tour with the Attractions proved to be the death knell for the band. With relations between Costello and bassist Bruce Thomas at a breaking point, Costello announced that the current tour would be the Attractions' last. The quartet performed their final U.S. show in Seattle, Washington on 1 September 1996, before wrapping up their tour in Japan. To fulfill his contractual obligations to Warner Bros., Costello released a greatest hits album titled ''Extreme Honey'' (1997). It contained an original track titled "The Bridge I Burned," featuring Costello's son, Matt, on bass. In the intervening period, Costello had served as artistic chair for the 1995 Meltdown Festival, which gave him the opportunity to explore his increasingly eclectic musical interests. His involvement in the festival yielded a one-off live EP with jazz guitarist Bill Frisell, which featured both cover material and a few of his own songs.

In 1998, Costello signed a multi-label contract with Polygram Records, sold by its parent company the same year to become part of the Universal Music Group. Costello released his new work on what he deemed the suitable imprimatur within the family of labels. His first new release as part of this contract involved a collaboration with Burt Bacharach. Their work had commenced earlier, in 1996, on a song called "God Give Me Strength" for the movie ''Grace of My Heart''. This led the pair to write and record the critically acclaimed album ''Painted From Memory'', released under his new contract in 1998, on the Mercury Records label, featuring songs that were largely inspired by the dissolution of his marriage to Cait O'Riordan. Costello and Bacharach performed several concerts with a full orchestral backing, and also recorded an updated version of Bacharach's "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" for the soundtrack to ''Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me'', with both appearing in the film to perform the song. He also wrote "I Throw My Toys Around" for ''The Rugrats Movie'' and performed it with No Doubt. The same year, he collaborated with Paddy Moloney of The Chieftains on "The Long Journey Home" on the soundtrack of the PBS/Disney mini-series of the same name. The soundtrack won a Grammy that year.

In 1999, Costello contributed a version of "She," released in 1974 by Charles Aznavour and Herbert Kretzmer, for the soundtrack of the film ''Notting Hill'', with Trevor Jones producing. For the 25th anniversary of ''Saturday Night Live'', Costello was invited to the program, where he re-enacted his abrupt song-switch: This time, however, he interrupted the Beastie Boys' "Sabotage," and they acted as his backing group for "Radio Radio".

2000 to present

In 2000, Costello appeared at the Town Hall Theatre, New York, in Steve Nieve's opera ''Welcome to the Voice'', alongside Ron Sexsmith and John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants.In 2001, Costello was artist in residence at UCLA and wrote the music for a new ballet. He produced and appeared on an album of pop songs for opera singer, Anne Sofie von Otter. He released the album ''When I Was Cruel'' in 2002 on Island Records, and toured with a new band, the Imposters (essentially the Attractions but with a different bass player, Davey Faragher, formerly of Cracker). He appeared as himself in the "How I Spent My Strummer Vacation" episode of ''The Simpsons''. On 23 February 2003, Costello, along with Bruce Springsteen, Steve Van Zandt, and Dave Grohl, performed a version of The Clash's "London Calling" at the 45th Grammy Awards ceremony, in honour of Clash frontman Joe Strummer, who had died the previous December. In March, Elvis Costello & The Attractions were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He announced his engagement in May to Canadian jazz singer and pianist Diana Krall, whom he had seen in concert and then met backstage at the Sydney Opera House in Australia. That September, he released ''North'', an album of piano-based ballads concerning the breakdown of his former marriage, and his falling in love with Krall. Also that year, Costello made an appearance in the television show ''Frasier'' as a folk singer in the Cafe Nervosa, sending Frasier and Niles on a search for a new coffee bar.

The song "Scarlet Tide" (co-written by Costello and T-Bone Burnett and used in the film ''Cold Mountain'') was nominated for a 2004 Academy Award; he performed it at the awards ceremony with Alison Krauss, who sang the song on the official soundtrack. Costello co-wrote many songs on Krall's 2004 CD, ''The Girl in the Other Room'', the first of hers to feature several original compositions. In July 2004 Costello's first full-scale orchestral work, ''Il Sogno'', was performed in New York. The work, a ballet after Shakespeare's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', was commissioned by Italian dance troupe Aterballeto, and received critical acclaim from the classical music critics. Performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas, the recording was released on CD in September by Deutsche Grammophon. Costello released the album ''The Delivery Man'', recorded in Oxford, Mississippi and released on Lost Highway Records, in September of the same year, and it was hailed as one of his best albums.

A CD recording of a collaboration with Marian McPartland on her show ''Piano Jazz'' was released in 2005. It featured Costello singing six jazz standards and two of his own songs, accompanied by McPartland on piano. In November, Costello started recording a new album with Allen Toussaint and producer Joe Henry. ''The River in Reverse'' was released in the UK on the Verve label the following year in May.

A 2005 tour included a gig at Glastonbury that Costello considered to be so dreadful that he said "I don't care if I ever play England again. That gig made up my mind I wouldn't come back. I don't get along with it. We lost touch. It's 25 years since I lived there. I don't dig it, they don't dig me....British music fans don't have the same attitude to age as they do in America, where young people come to check out, say Willie Nelson. They feel some connection with him and find a role for that music in their lives."

In a studio recording of Nieve's opera ''Welcome to the Voice'' (2006, Deutsche Grammophon), Costello interpreted the character of Chief of Police, with Barbara Bonney, Robert Wyatt, Sting and Amanda Roocroft, and the album reached #2 in the ''Billboard'' classical charts. Costello later reprised the piece on the stage of the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris in 2008, with Sting, Joe Sumner of Fiction Plane (Sting's son) and Sylvia Schwartz. Also released in 2006 was a live recording of a concert with the Metropole Orkest at the North Sea Jazz Festival, entitled ''My Flame Burns Blue''. The soundtrack for ''House M.D.'' featured Costello's interpretation of "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera, with the song appearing in the second episode of Series 2.

Costello was commissioned to write a chamber opera by the Danish Royal Opera, Copenhagen, on the subject of Hans Christian Andersen's infatuation with Swedish soprano Jenny Lind. Called ''The Secret Songs'' it was unfinished. In a performance in 2007 directed by Kasper Bech Holten at the Opera's studio theatre (Takelloftet), finished songs were interspersed with pieces from Costello's 1993 collaborative classical album ''The Juliet Letters'', featuring Danish soprano Sine Bundgaard as Lind. The 2009 album ''Secret, Profane & Sugarcane'' includes material from ''Secret Songs''.

On 22 April 2008, ''Momofuku'' was released on Lost Highway Records, the same imprint that released ''The Delivery Man'', his previous studio album. The album was, at least initially, released exclusively on vinyl (with a code to download a digital copy). That summer, in support of the album, Costello toured with The Police on the final leg of their 2007/2008 Reunion Tour. Costello played a homecoming gig at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall on 25 June 2006. and, that month, gave his first performance in Poland, appearing with The Imposters for the closing gig of the Malta theatre festival in Poznań.

In July 2008, Costello (as Declan McManus) was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Music from the University of Liverpool.

From late 2008 into 2010, Costello hosted Channel 4/CTV's series ''Spectacle'' in which Costello talked and performed with stars in various fields, styled similarly to ''Inside the Actors Studio''. Between its two seasons, the show compiled 20 episodes, including one where Costello was interviewed by actress Mary-Louise Parker.

Costello was featured on Fall Out Boy's 2008 album ''Folie à Deux'', providing vocals on the track "What a Catch, Donnie", along with other artists who are friends with the band.

Costello appeared in Stephen Colbert's television special ''A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All''. In the program, he was eaten by a bear, but later saved by Santa Claus; he also sang a duet with Colbert. The special was first aired on 23 November 2008. Costello released ''Secret, Profane & Sugarcane'', a collaboration with T-Bone Burnett, on 9 June 2009. Burnett previously worked with Costello on ''King of America'' and ''Spike''. It was his first on the Starbucks Hear Music label and a return to country music in the manner of ''Good Year for the Roses''.

Costello appeared as himself in the finale of the third season of ''30 Rock'' and sang in the episode's celebrity telethon, ''Kidney Now!''. The episode references Costello's given name when Jack Donaghy accuses him of concealing his true identity: "Declan McManus, international art thief."

In May 2009, Costello made a surprise cameo appearance on-stage at the Beacon Theater in New York as part of Spinal Tap's ''Unwigged and Unplugged'' show, singing their fictional 1965 hit "Gimme Some Money" with the band backing him up.

On 15 May 2010, Costello announced he would withdraw from a concert performed in Israel in opposition to Israel's treatment of Palestinians. In a statement on his website, Costello wrote, "It has been necessary to dial out the falsehoods of propaganda, the double game and hysterical language of politics, the vanity and self-righteousness of public communiqués from cranks in order to eventually sift through my own conflicted thoughts."

Also in 2010 Elvis Costello appeared as himself in David Simon's television series, ''Treme''. Costello released the album ''National Ransom'' in autumn of 2010.

Personal life

Costello has been married three times, the first time to Mary Burgoyne in 1974, with whom he had a son.

In 1985, Costello became involved with Cait O'Riordan, former bassist for the English/Irish group The Pogues, while he was producing The Pogues' album ''Rum Sodomy and the Lash''. They married in 1986 and split up by the end of 2002.

Costello became engaged to singer Diana Krall in May 2003, and married her at the home of Elton John on December 6 that year. Krall gave birth to twin sons, Dexter Henry Lorcan and Frank Harlan James, on 6 December 2006 in New York City.

A vegetarian since the early 1980s, Costello says he was moved to reject meat after seeing the documentary ''The Animals Film'' (1982), which also helped inspire his song "Pills and Soap" (from ''Punch the Clock'', 1983).

Humanitarian causes

Costello sits on the Advisory Board of the Board of Directors of the Jazz Foundation of America. Costello began working with the Jazz Foundation in 2001, and has been a featured performer in their annual benefit A Great Night in Harlem since 2006. Costello has donated his time working with the Jazz Foundation of America to save the homes and the lives of America's elderly jazz and blues musicians, including musicians who survived Hurricane Katrina.

Collaborations

In addition to his major recorded collaborations with Bacharach, the Brodsky Quartet, and von Otter, Costello has frequently been involved in other collaborations.

In 1987, Costello began a long-running songwriting collaboration with Paul McCartney. They wrote a number of songs together, including:

"Back On My Feet", the B-side of McCartney's 1987 single "Once Upon A Long Ago", later added as a bonus track on the 1993 re-issue of McCartney's ''Flowers in the Dirt''

Costello's "Veronica" and "Pads, Paws and Claws" from ''Spike'' (1989) (Also, McCartney plays Hofner bass but does not have a writing credit for "This Town" - the opening song for the album.)

"So Like Candy" and "Playboy to a Man" from ''Mighty Like a Rose'' (1991)

McCartney's "My Brave Face", "Don't Be Careless Love", "That Day Is Done" and "You Want Her Too" from ''Flowers in the Dirt'' (1989)

"The Lovers That Never Were" and "Mistress and Maid" from ''Off the Ground'' (1993).

"Shallow Grave" from ''All This Useless Beauty'' (1996).

Costello talked about their collaboration:

}}

In 1987, he appeared on the HBO special ''Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night'', which featured his long-time idol Roy Orbison, and was invited back to ''Saturday Night Live'' for the first time since 1977.

In 1988, Costello co-wrote "At the Other End (of the Telescope)" with Aimee Mann; this song appears on the Til Tuesday album ''Everything's Different Now''.

In 2000, Costello wrote lyrics to "Green Song", a solo cello piece by Svante Henryson; this song appears on the Anne Sofie von Otter album ''For the Stars''.

In 2005, Costello performed with Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong. They played both Costello and Green Day songs together, including "Alison", "No Action", "Basket Case" and "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)".

In 2007, Costello collaborated with the Argentinean/Uruguay an electro-tango band Bajofondo on the song "Fairly Right" from the album ''Mar Dulce''.

In 2008, Costello collaborated with Fall Out Boy on the track "What A Catch, Donnie" from their album ''Folie a Deux''.

In Jenny Lewis' 2008 release, ''Acid Tongue'', Costello provided vocals for the song "Carpetbaggers".

In November 2009, Costello appeared live with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at Madison Square Garden and performed the Jackie Wilson song, Higher and Higher.

In December 2009, it was announced that Costello would be portraying The Shape in the upcoming album ''Ghost Brothers of Darkland County'', a collaboration between rock singer John Mellencamp and novelist Stephen King.

In February 2010, Costello appeared in the live cinecast of Garrison Keillor's ''Prairie Home Companion'', singing some of his own songs, and participating in many of the show's other musical and acting performances.

In March 2011, played with Phil Lesh, and Bob Weir and Furthur in New York City.

In April 2011, played the song "Taken For A Fool" with The Strokes in Madison Square Garden.

On April 30, 2011, played the song "Pump it Up" with The Odds before the start of a Vancouver Canucks playoff game at Rogers Arena in Vancouver BC.

Artistic significance

Costello has worked with Paul McCartney, Tony Bennett, Lucinda Williams, Kid Rock, Lee Konitz, Brian Eno, and Rubén Blades.

Costello is also a music fan, and often champions the works of others in print. He has written several pieces for the magazine ''Vanity Fair'', including the summary of what a perfect weekend of music would be. He has contributed to two Grateful Dead tribute albums and covered Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter tunes such as Ship of Fools, Friend of the Devil, It Must Have Been the Roses, Ripple and Tennessee Jed in concert. His collaboration with Bacharach honoured Bacharach's place in pop music history. Costello also appeared in documentaries about singers Dusty Springfield, Brian Wilson, Wanda Jackson, and Memphis, Tennessee-based Stax Records. He has also interviewed one of his own influences, Joni Mitchell.

In 2004, ''Rolling Stone Magazine'' ranked him #80 on their list of the ''100 Greatest Artists of All Time''.

==Discography==

Costello has released over 30 studio albums on his own and with the Attractions, the Imposters, or others. He has also released five live albums: ''Live at the El Mocambo'', ''Deep Dead Blue'', ''Costello & Nieve'', ''My Flame Burns Blue'', and ''Live at Hollywood High''. There have also been numerous compilations, box sets, and reissues by labels such as Rykodisc, Demon, Rhino, and Universal Music Enterprises.

Filmography

Actor

1979 film debut as "The Earl of Manchester" in ''Americathon''

1984 as "Henry Scully" in the UK TV series, ''Scully''

1984 as "Stone Deaf A&R; Man" in "The Bullshitters", a Comic Strip film first aired on Channel 4.

1985 as inept magician "Rosco de Ville" in the Alan Bleasdale film, ''No Surrender''

1987 as "Hives the Butler" in the Alex Cox film, ''Straight to Hell'', starring Joe Strummer and Courtney Love

1994 as himself on ''The Larry Sanders Show'' in the episode "People's Choice"

1997 as a barman in ''Spice World''.

1999 as himself performing "I'll Never Fall In Love Again" with Burt Bacharach in ''Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me''

1999 as a younger version of himself in ''200 Cigarettes''

2001 as himself performing "Fly me to the Moon" on the series finale of ''3rd Rock From the Sun''

2002 as himself on the episode "How I Spent My Strummer Vacation" of ''The Simpsons''

2003 as Ben on ''Frasier'', one episode

2004 as himself in the UK TV ''Dead Ringers'' New Year Special, apparently and reportedly having serendipitously entered a filming venue 2004 as himself in ''Two and a Half Men'' - Season 2, Episode 1

2006 as himself in ''Delirious''

2006 as himself in ''Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby''

2008 as himself in "A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!"

2009 as himself on the episode of ''30 Rock'', "Kidney Now!"

2010 as himself on ''Treme''

Soundtrack

2003 Academy Award nomination for best original song, "The Scarlet Tide", in ''Cold Mountain''

Bibliography

Costello, Elvis. ''A Singing Dictionary''. London: Plangent Visions Music; New York, N.Y.: Exclusive selling agent for the United States and Canada, Warner Bros. Publications, 1980. ISBN 0-7692-1505-X. Sheet music, chords, and lyrics for works 1977–1980.

References

External links

ElvisCostello.com

Official Elvis Costello Lost Highway Records Artist Page

The Elvis Costello Home Page Wiki

Category:1954 births Category:Living people Category:Columbia Records artists Category:Elvis Costello & the Attractions members Category:English buskers Category:English expatriates in the United States Category:English male singers Category:English New Wave musicians Category:English rock guitarists Category:English rock keyboardists Category:English rock singers Category:English singer-songwriters Category:English people of Irish descent Category:English vegetarians Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Lost Highway Records artists Category:Musicians from London Category:People from Paddington Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees‎ Category:Warner Bros. Records artists

br:Elvis Costello ca:Elvis Costello cs:Elvis Costello da:Elvis Costello de:Elvis Costello et:Elvis Costello es:Elvis Costello fa:الویس کاستلو fr:Elvis Costello ga:Elvis Costello gv:Elvis Costello gl:Elvis Costello id:Elvis Costello it:Elvis Costello he:אלביס קוסטלו la:Elvis Costello nl:Elvis Costello ja:エルヴィス・コステロ no:Elvis Costello pl:Elvis Costello pt:Elvis Costello ru:Элвис Костелло simple:Elvis Costello sl:Elvis Costello fi:Elvis Costello sv:Elvis Costello tr:Elvis Costello