Dangerous Amusements: the Elvis Costello playlist – Details, episodes & analysis

On Elvis Costello's 70th birthday, we reach the finale of the 70@70 series.

Best-selling author, musician and actor Mark Billingham joins me to discuss the top 10 in my countdown of 70 essential Costello songs.

Author Libby Cudmore joins me for the penultimate episode of the Elvis Costello 70@70 series.

We've reached the top 20 now in my rundown of 70 essential Elvis Costello songs to celebrate his 70th birthday.

Libby offers her take on the tracks I've chosen from 20-11.

Jeremy Dylan is a film maker, record producer, artist manager and journalist. He's also a huge fan of Elvis Costello. We chat about Jeremy's love of Elvis's music and his experience of interviewing the man himself for a documentary film. Along the way, Jeremy shares fascinating insights into working with a host of key Costello associates, including Pete Thomas, Davey Faragher, Nick Lowe, Jim Lauderdale and Jim Keltner. Jeremy also hosts the terrific My Favourite Album podcast.

BBC broadcaster Becky Want has interviewed a host of illustrious names during her career in radio and television, including her hero, Elvis Costello.

In this episode, Becky recalls her experiences of interviewing Elvis and having the opportunity to ask him about her favourite album, Painted From Memory.

She tells me about some of her favourite Costello gigs and picks six terrific EC tracks to add to my playlist.

Singer/songwriter and musician Jeff Slate joins me ahead of the release of his new album, The Last Day of Summer.

We chat about his love of Elvis Costello's music and its influence on his own songwriting. Jeff recalls the many and varied Costello gigs he's attended over the years and picks out some of his favourite EC songs.

Jeff tells me about recording Imposters and Attractions, his album of music inspired by Elvis, which also featured a couple of Costello covers.

Also an acclaimed music writer and broadcaster, Jeff looks back on his different Costello interviews and features for Rolling Stone and Esquire, among others.

Check out Jeff's new single (Broken) Without You and look out for his new album in May 2024.

My guest is writer, editor and podcaster, Courtney E Smith.

The host of Songs My Ex Ruined discusses her love of Elvis Costello’s music and selects some of her favourite EC tracks for the playlist.

Courtney recalls meeting Elvis during her time at MTV and shares her memories of some incredible Costello gigs, including VH1’s Decades Rock Live and his performance with the Roots at the Brooklyn Bowl.

Something a bit different to kick off 2024.

This is a mini episode reflecting on how a stunning duet by Elvis Costello and Elton John introduced me to the wonderful music of David Ackles.

They performed a beautiful version of Ackles' Down River on Spectacle, backed by James Burton, Allen Toussaint, Pete Thomas and Davey Faragher.

In this episode, I look back at that performance and the career of David Ackles, who released four fine albums between 1968 and 1973.

Kenton Hall is a man of many talents: songwriter, musician, actor and director. He’s also a huge Elvis Costello fan.

In this episode, Kenton tells me how he discovered Costello’s music, what it means to him and how it has influenced his own songwriting.

We chat about some of his favourite Elvis records, memorable gigs and how Steve Nieve came to record a track for Kenton’s recent album Omniopath.

Make sure you check out Kenton’s brilliant audio drama, London After Midnight, which he has adapted from the Tod Browning movie and in which he stars alongside Art Malik and others.

Music writer Tim Riley is the author of acclaimed books about the Beatles, John Lennon and Bob Dylan, among others.

He’s also closely followed the career of Elvis Costello and tells me about the impact the early Elvis records had on him.

We discuss memorable Costello gigs, Elvis’s talent for interpretation, his collaboration with Paul McCartney and the EC song that should have appeared in the Barbie movie.

Tim also picks out six of his favourite Costello songs for the Powder and Perfume playlist.

Check out Tim’s website to find out more about his music writing.

Writer and editor Jorge Farah describes Elvis Costello’s music as “the soundtrack to my life”.

In this episode, we discuss how he came to be a Costello fan, chat about some of his favourite records and how he came to be one of the author’s of the popular Trunkworthy feature, The Elvis Costello Song of the Week.

In addition, Jorge recommends some of his favourite artists from his adopted homeland of Argentina whose music he thinks will appeal to Costello fans. You can check out the featured tracks below:

Barbi Recanati – Que No

Emily And – Flasheando Amor

Maria Pien – Una Pelicula

Mariana Michi – Admiracion

Nahuel Briones – Bases y Condiciones