DeniseWe are lucky enough to have Sundance and DVR, and last night I saw the premiere episode of Spectacle.
I am an Elvis Costello fan, thanks to my friend TJ. TJ loves many things: whiskey sours, chocolate labs, New York City, but his biggest obsession for as long as I’ve known him is always Elvis, and with TJ I watched Elvis videos, listened to many a b-side, and have even met Elvis on several different occasions and seen him in concert in four cities.
Du and Elvis in Minneapolis, 1999
Elvis is an incredible singer, songwriter, entertainer, jokester, and a talk show host whose skills aren’t too shabby (as he showed the American public when he filled in for David Letterman several years ago when Letterman was down with shingles). The first episode, which first aired last night, featured Sir Elton John (who is also a producer of the show). Part Inside the Actors Studio, part Oprah, part Late Night, part VH1 documentary, Spectacle is an unusual mix of chatting, singing, and clips (but chopped together in self-aware, albeit somewhat awkward, edits).
Sir Elton and Elvis ruminated on their name choices and favorite musicians, sharing clips and memories of such artists as Laura Nyro and Leon Russell. Elvis and Elton even performed together (a tune by David Ackles).
Future episodes will feature Bill Clinton, Jakob Dylan, Rufus Wainwright (who received a mention last night), Smokey Robinson, Kris Kristofferson, Roseanne Cash, She and Him (Zooey Deschanel & M. Ward), Lou Reed, Jenny Lewis, James Taylor, and many other people I’m not quite as excited about, but imagine I will come away from the show with more appreciation for (such as Costello’s wife Diana Krall, John Mellencamp). I simply don’t understand where Elvis got his reputation as “difficult.” He is nothing but charming, warm, and funny as all get out.
