http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv_and_radio/ ... 86,00.html
The first word Elvis Costello ever said was "skin". He had heard it often enough, on Sinatra's I've Got You Under My Skin, for it to be his first utterance, he told Mariella Frostrup on Elvis Costello - Sold on Song (Radio 2), "before 'Daddy' or anything. It sounds a little cute," he added, "but it's true".
This anecdote makes sense with Costello, a singer-songwriter whose best work - whether songs of twisted, broken love, or bitter political visions - has always had the power to creep under your skin. Reviews of his latest album, North, may have been tepid, but this song-and-chat performance was a blistering showcase for his distinctive voice and vision.
The snippets of interview were a little gushing and light, and there were moments when Costello and Frostrup appeared to be having entirely different conversations. As she stepped up on stage for the first time, he mimicked a This is Your Life moment. "Eamonn, Eamonn," he cried, obviously meaning Andrews, "you've changed terribly." Frostrup struggled to be heard. "Yes, I thought I'd shave off my beard," she eventually said. Whose beard would that be?
Later, she asked her best - or at any rate, oddest - question. "Do you think it's hard to be angry when you're sitting down?" Costello at least seemed to know what she was on about. "You'd be surprised," he said with a meaningful little laugh to himself.