Elvis Costello has found himself in the unenviable position of being “unable to recommend” his new box set to fans.
Elvis Costello. Photo by Ros O'Gorman
It’s not the musical content that he’s unhappy with, nor the artwork. In fact, both of them seem to make him swell with pride. What he and his crew at ElvisCostello.com don’t like is the hideously expensive price tag.
“We at www.elviscostello.com find ourselves unable to recommend “The Return of the Spectacular Spinning Songbook” as the price appears to be either a misprint or a satire.”
That’s right, if you want to spend your hard earned cash on a box set of music this year, Costello’s site is suggesting Ambassador of Jazz, which is “a cute little imitation suitcase containing ten re-mastered albums by one of the most beautiful and loving revolutionaries who ever lived – Louis Armstrong.
“The box should be available for under one hundred and fifty American dollars and includes a number of other tricks and treats. Frankly the music is vastly superior,” the post claims.
Amazon has “The Return of the Spectacular Spinning Songbook” box set available for $US202.66 ($AU201.29). It contains one CD, one DVD and one 10” vinyl EP. In other words, Costello and co are right, it’s a rip off. In contrast, Amazon also has ‘Ambassador of Jazz’ on sale for $US149.99, but unfortunately it is out of stock.
Alternatively, you could walk into your local independent record store and buy some records there.
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