ELVIS COSTELLO RETIRES FROM PERFORMING ‘OLIVER’S ARMY’, ASKS RADIO STATIONS TO STOP PLAYING IT:
Elvis Costello has revealed that he will no longer perform “Oliver’s Army”, one of his most popular songs, and has also urged radio stations to stop playing it.
Written about the conflict in Northern Ireland, the song contains the lyrics: “Only takes one itchy trigger/ One more widow, one less white n*****.”
The 67-year-old singer defended his use of the slur in the song due to a historical “fact”. But he said he will stop performing it before anyone “accuses” him of “something he didn’t intend”.
“If I wrote that song today, maybe I’d think twice about it,” Costello told The Telegraph. “That’s what my grandfather was called in the British army – it’s historically a fact – but people hear that word go off like a bell and accuse me of something that I didn’t intend.
“On the last tour, I wrote a new verse about censorship, but what’s the point of that?” he continued. “So I’ve decided I’m not going to play it. [Bleeping the word] is a mistake. They’re making it worse by bleeping it for sure. Because they’re highlighting it then. Just don’t play the record!”
Elvis was some piece of work back in his early days: That Time Elvis Costello Incited a Brawl With Racist Remarks.
It started out with slight insults between bands. Members of the old rock guard (the Stephen Stills Band) and the new wave (Elvis Costello and the Attractions) converged in the Holiday Inn bar in Columbus, Ohio, after playing separate gigs on March 15, 1979.
Costello was already drunk when Stills and friends walked in. As he got drunker, his words got nastier in a desperate attempt to inflame the sensibilities of his elders. Stills soon left to go to his room. Backing singer Bonnie Bramlett (of Delaney & Bonnie fame) continued to engage Costello, who kept disparaging America and its most hallowed rock stars. After 2AM he described James Brown as a “jive-arsed n——” and Ray Charles as a “blind, ignorant n——.” In response, Bramlett backhanded the 24-year-old up-and-comer. It all ended in a brawl, quickly broken up by the bartender.
Exit quote: “When asked about the controversy, Ray Charles said, ‘Drunken talk isn’t meant to be printed in the paper.’ In the meantime, members of the American chapters of Rock Against Racism picketed Costello’s remaining concerts. The irony was that some of the pictures of Costello on the picket signs were from a Rock Against Racism gig Costello had played in Europe in 1978.”