I do loves me some Elvis Costello, particularly when he stretches himself by mixing genres, going symphonic or starting a talk show that looks to be much more in-depth and interesting than your average gabfest. I may have to bump the DirecTV subscription a level on the basis of this show alone. And the upcoming episode with Lou Reed may well make my head explode with fanboy glee.

Preview videos of episode 1 with Sir Reginald:

Meeting Martha of the Vandellas:

On changing his name:

On being covered by Frank Sinatra:

Elvis makes “Border Song” his own with an assist from Alan Toussaint:

A duet:

(And yes, I am padding to test out the new blog / theme / etc.)