SIX DEGREES OF KISS: ELVIS COSTELLO

Joey Haynie I accept your challenge and will connect Elvis Costello to KISS in six steps or less.

Elvis Costello (real name Declan McManus) is a brilliant British singer-songwriter who once got so shit-faced that he actually called Ray Charles a “blind, ignorant [N word]” just to offend sixties icon Bonnie Bramlett from Delaney and Bonnie, with whom he was having an argument.

Bonnie Bramlett’s daughter Bekka later dated Jani Lane and was in a Lindsey-less, Stevie-less version of Fleetwood Mac from 1992 to 1995.

Back to the topic at hand, for your listening pleasure here are three of my personal favorite Elvis Costello songs:

So how am I going to connect this once drunkenly racist but very gifted (and very British) artist to KISS in six steps or less? Like this:

1. Elvis Costello’s 1996 album All This Useless Beauty (his 17th studio album and the last album he would make with his iconic backing band The Attractions) was co-produced by Geoff Emerick.

2. Twenty-six years earlier Geoff Emerick had co-produced Badfinger’s brilliant second album for Apple Records called No Dice which featured the top ten hit “No Matter What” and a song called “Without You” that would become a number one hit for Harry Nilsson in 1972.

Badfinger were a brilliant band. Below are some of my favorite Badfinger songs for your listening enjoyment:

3. For our purposes it is of great significance that Badfinger’s excellent seventh album Head First, which was recorded for Warner Brothers in 1974 but went unreleased until the year 2000, was produced by Kenny Kerner and Richie Wise.

4. This is of great significance because Kenny Kerner and Richie Wise produced the first two KISS albums, Kiss and Hotter Than Hell.

And there you have it:

SIX DEGREES OF KISS: ELVIS COSTELLO

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