WE STAND CORRECTED

Some context, from music writer/Elvis Costello obsessive Steve Pick, on the stupid-ass preview printed in the RFT last week: "KSHE never touched any Costello music until a month before that (1979) concert, when they started rotating several cuts from My Aim Is True. In those days, radio sucked, but at least a station could dig in and play more than just singles. Anyway, somebody obviously got to Elvis that night and told him that KSHE had been very late at jumping on his records, and probably that they weren't touching anything else left of the Cars, either. So, for his last song of the night, he announced, 'This next one is for all the bastard radio stations that won't play our records. This one's for KSHE.' In 1982, Costello returned to the Opera House, but the show was promoted by somebody in Chicago. This was the first time I saw him be brilliant, and he's never been less than that in the several times I've seen him since, whether he sang my favorite song or not. (As if I could imagine picking one to like more than about 70 others.) He was back again in 1984, but never again until now. Somewhere in there, Elvis appeared on David Letterman, and David asked him if he disliked any place in America, and he said something about having a twinge of fear about St. Louis. Somebody once told me that had something to do with a groupie, but I can't confirm that. At any rate, he never publicly vowed to avoid St. Louis, though I suspect ticket sales could not have supported most of his later tours."

We stand corrected, embarrassed and amused.