User:DrLuthersAssistant/sandbox

User:DrLuthersAssistant/Draft

=Outline-in-progress for improved Elvis Costello article=

Top-level/summary:

Answer the question: Who is this person and why is he's significant?

Next level sections:

Family background and early life

Done.

1969-1975: Pre-fame musical efforts

Done.

1976-1977: Stiff Records and My Aim Is True

Done.

1977-1979: Peak pop stardom

Critical and commercial success of MAIT. Formation of Attractions. TYM: even more critical and commercial success. AF: Yet more. Give hard details like chart positions, sales, and contemporaneous critics poles. No personal stuff or soap opera yet. Need to say something about Columbus incident blunting the sales of AF in the US (but not elsewhere in the world). But I'd like to kick a fuller discussion, if we need it, off to a "Controversies" section or the like.

1979-1982: Diminished commercial momentum, increased musical diversity

Get Happy through Imperial Bedroom.

Explain how at this point his fortunes in the UK and US start to diverge. In the UK, he's starting to be a washed-up pop star; in the US he's settling into being a well-respected star, but not the era-defining superstar he once seemed destined to be.

Get Happy

Cover how he tried to record Get Happy as a "new wave" album and it was crap; needed another direction.

Legal problems delayed its release. Didn't tour US at all. GH sold less than AF.

Trust

Maybe time for a little soap opera here; he's feeling very burned out. Recording pre-1976 songs. Still no hit single in US. No hits in the UK, either. I think UK critics started to turn on him about here.

Almost Blue

Working with Billy Sherrill. Mention the "Good Year for the Roses" was a solid hit in the UK, even if album drew head-scratching and scorn (and low sales) in the US. Explain EC's long-standing affinity for country music (e.g., "Stranger in the House"). Also how the album got him out of a creative dead-end, according to him.

Imperial Bedroom

Working with Geoff Emerick. US critics -- and not just "rock" critics -- went all out in praising this; quote Cole Porter comparison. But it didn't sell anymore here and his other albums. If I can find a solid cite, say that it's highly beloved by US fans. Lukewarm reception in UK.

Here's the NYT review: https://www.nytimes.com/1982/06/27/arts/elvis-costello-is-he-pop-s-top.html

There was also a good one in the New Yorker, but it doesn't seem to be available online.

1983-1984: Bid for the pop charts with mixed success

Punch the Clock and Goodbye Cruel Word.

1985-1988: Hiatus and new directions

King of America and Blood and Chocolate.

1989-1991: Second commercial peak

Spike and Mighty Like a Rose.

1992-1998: Collaborations, expanding musical vocabulary, and temporary return of the Attractions

The Juliet Letters, including learning to read and write music; Brutal Youth; All This Unless Beauty; Painted From Memory.

The GBH soundtrack won a BAFTA some time around here.

1999-2008: ???

I'm not sure what my narrative for this period is. Maybe I need to chunk it up differently.

2008-2010: Television show and surprise mini-hit

That heading is a little too cute, but I want to say that, with the TV show Spectacle increasing his profile and the deal with Hear Music and Starbucks, he had a surprise minor hit with Secret, Profane, and Sugarcane. Then he tried to capitalize on that with National Ransom, which he regards as one of his best records, but that sold nothing, so that made him reconsider whether he ought to keep making records.

2010-2015: Performing artist, memoirist, and collaborator when someone talks him into it

That heading is crap, too. But here's what I want to cover: Decision to move away from recording and make a living from performing; "theme" tours he did, especially Detour; memoir; Wise Up Ghost, in how the Roots seduced him into it; mention New Basement Tapes.

2015-Present: Stage musicals and other works in progress

A Face in the Crowd. Other musicals he has been working on. Mention upcoming album, if it's really been officially announced.

Writing

Done.

Television and film appearances

Done.

Personal life

Done.

Discography

Done.

Awards

Notes

There's a lot of misinformation about Costello "sourced" all over the internet -- plenty of it in the current article -- so a separate Notes section will help the flow of the main article and keep it from getting bogged down in minutia.

References

Let's keep them high quality and be mindful of context. Even quality opinion articles (e.g., AllMusic) have a lot of factual mistakes.

Some wiki help pointers to remember
Teahouse

Manual of Style/Lead section

Manual of Style/Biographies

No_original_research

Identifying_and_using_primary_sources

Citing_sources

WikiProject Music

Record charts

https://xtools.wmflabs.org/

Some FA and GA rated bios on pop-music subjects

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courtney_Love

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Bush

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clash

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:FA-Class_biography_(musicians)_articles