The Right Spectacle: the Very Best Of Elvis Costello (2005)

That's right, we're talking DVDs now! It probably goes without saying that at least most of my favourite singer/songwriters have an essential DVD of their collected promo videos to hunt down (usually without too much trouble if you live anywhere near an HMV or whatever) as a bare necessity alongside the full of extent of their discography. For example, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds have the Videos, David Bowie has the easter egg-laden Best Of David Bowie, or whatever. This is basically the DVD you should look for as an Elvis Costello fan.

There are, of course, a few good reasons for this, but first let's look at the whole package. The material covered as far as music videos go is everything Costello released with the Attractions up to and including Brutal Youth and all that came in between; it covers 1978-94 then. That's basically 25-30 videos, many of which those harsh bastards who go by the name of WMG have had taken down from youtube over the years. On the flipside of that particular coin, each video comes with the option of a commentary from the man himself about the various stories behind each video. Besides all those little goodies, as a bonus a selection of about 15 (I keep using the word 'about' as I don't actually have the DVD itself to refer to at the minute...it's early on this side of the Atlantic too) live TV performances.

A pretty tasty little package then and, given how hard a good 90% of the contents are to find online, definitely one that's worth your time. Regarding the promos themselves, like the vast majority of promos by the vast majority of artists, a lot of them are just nice to have at hand as a fan and are otherwise fairly forgettable. The exceptions are the oddball Don Letts-directed clip for Everyday I Write the Book and the superb, song-enhancingly-good videos for Veronica and the otherwise pretty lame I Wanna Be Loved. A lot of the TV performances that make up the extras make for good viewing too (the one embedded below being one of the highlights), but the main thing that makes this DVD a winner are the video commentaries, which actually brings me on to something I've admired about Costello from day one; the very hands-on approach he always takes to the re-releasing of his material. With the commentaries on each video, not to mention all re-releases of his earlier albums coming with a similar kind of self-penned essay about them and a wealth of bonus material, it all makes for a bit more of an experience, or at least so for me.

So, yeah, if you're a fan of the guy and haven't already got it., you should make a priority out of this. If you already have, I like your style