How I became an Elvis-head

I had been living in a really crummy basement flat in a cool part of town in Toronto's Annex neighbourhood. I was just out of university, working a dead-end retail job, and wondering what I was going to do with my life. Since I had no TV, I listened to a lot of radio. One afternoon, I switched on the CBC and they were featuring the album King of America, by Elvis Costello. And from that record, they played this song "Brilliant Mistake".

I had known about Costello previous to this, obviously. He'd had radio hits with "Pump It Up" and "Everyday I Write the Book". But, I had no idea of his range. They interviewed him, and he talked about his background, and I learned a lot about a gifted songwriter that also is a massive music fan himself. But it was this tune that really turned my head. The song is kind of like the Byrds, but with really smart-alecky lyrics:

"She said she'd been working for the ABC news/It was as much of the alphabet as she knew how to use/Her perfume was unspeakable, it lingered in the air/Like her artificial laughter and mementos of affairs".

Nasty, and brilliant too.

I decided to investigate Costello's impressive body of work, which was no small task given it's depth and sheer volume. And I haven't turned back. As a bonus, Costello's music made me braver about investigating a lot of other music I might not have considered. Basically, I owe a debt to this tune for making me into the music fan I am today. And I got out of that flat too, which was nice