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Winterland Ballroom

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Winterland Ballroom (more commonly known as Winterland Arena or simply Winterland ) was an ice skating rink and music venue in San Francisco , California , United States. The arena was located at the corner of Post Street and Steiner Street. It was converted for exclusive use as a music venue in 1971 by concert promoter Bill Graham and became a popular performance location for many rock acts. Graham later formed a merchandising company called Winterland Productions , which sold concert shirts, memorabilia , and official sports team merchandise.

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122-521: The venue was opened on June 29, 1928, as the New Dreamland Auditorium . It served as an ice skating rink that could be converted into a seated entertainment venue. Sometime in the late 1930s the building's name was changed to Winterland , and it successfully operated through the Great Depression . It was built in 1928 for $ 1 million (equivalent to $ 17.7 million in 2023). The New Dreamland

244-528: A BAFTA award, an ASCAP Founders award and a Gemini award. In 2003, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame . In 2016, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame . From 2008 to 2010, he hosted a television show, Spectacle: Elvis Costello with... , on which he interviewed other musicians. In 2015, he published a well-received memoir, Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink . Elvis Costello

366-420: A Scottish word meaning 'course', was used as the name of a place where curling was played. As curling is played on ice, the name has been retained for the construction of ice areas for other sports and uses. Early attempts in the construction of artificial ice rinks were first made in the 'rink mania' of 1841–44. The technology for the maintenance of natural ice did not exist, therefore these early rinks used

488-503: A Whisper to a Scream " (a duet with Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze ) became the first Costello single in over four years to completely miss the chart. Costello also co-produced Squeeze's 1981 album East Side Story (with Roger Béchirian ) and performed backing vocals on the group's hit " Tempted ". October saw the release of Almost Blue , a cover album of country music including songs written by Hank Williams ("Why Don't You Love Me (Like You Used to Do?)"), Merle Haggard ("Tonight

610-550: A band that would be an important influence on him. While in Rusty, Costello wrote an early version of a song he would record in 1980 as "Ghost Train", although by then little remained of the Rusty version except the central narrative idea of a married double act making their way through the low end of show business. In 2022, Costello reunited with Mayes to record and release an EP called The Resurrection of Rust . The EP contained songs that were typical of Rusty's shows in 1972, including

732-421: A career in music, partly because his upbringing had made him aware of the potential pitfalls involved. The shock of witnessing a teenage friend's death in a traffic accident changed his mind. He would later write, "Suddenly, everything but music seemed like a waste of precious time." Costello completed his formal education in 1972 and, still living at home with his mother, set out to find a job that would earn him

854-453: A cold climate, indoors or outdoors, although both types are of frozen water. A more proper technical term is 'mechanically frozen' ice. An example of this type of rink is the outdoor rink at Rockefeller Center in New York . Modern rinks have a specific procedure for preparing the surface. With the pipes cold, a thin layer of water is sprayed on the sand or concrete to seal and level it (or in

976-581: A double bill of Jefferson Airplane and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band , Bill Graham began to occasionally rent the venue, which had an audience capacity of 5,400, for larger concerts that his nearby Fillmore Auditorium could not properly accommodate. After closing the Fillmore West in 1971, he began to hold regular weekend shows at Winterland. Various popular rock acts played there, including such bands and musicians as Bruce Springsteen ,

1098-492: A duo, with Mayes and Costello singing and playing acoustic guitars. For a little over a year, Rusty played regularly in small venues like pubs, clubs, schools, and community centres, mostly in and around Liverpool, unpaid or for small amounts of money. In Mayes's estimation, Costello was already a talented songwriter, able to quickly write songs in a variety of styles, and could sing like Neil Young or Robbie Robertson . Mayes has said he introduced Costello to Brinsley Schwarz ,

1220-572: A few weeks later, were inspired by film scores Bernard Herrmann had done for Alfred Hitchcock . Costello later called the recording of "Watching the Detectives" his first experience of "making records as opposed to recording some songs in a room". The song would be released as a non-album single in the UK and as a track on the US version of My Aim Is True . My Aim Is True received extensive, favourable coverage in

1342-673: A job as a computer operator at the Elizabeth Arden cosmetics factory in North Acton , in northwest London, similar to the one he had in Bootle and with similarly low wages. By early 1975, Costello was a husband and father and was struggling to support his family. Flip City's live engagements added little to his income, rarely paying more than the band's expenses. Costello recorded demos with Flip City at several sessions from mid-1974 until mid-1975, hoping to use them to get live bookings, secure

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1464-551: A journalist that, when Costello was 11 years old, his school entered him into a writing contest held by The Times intended for people aged 16 to 25, for which he won a prize. As he finished secondary school, he earned one A-level , in English, despite having made a firm decision to pursue a career in music a few months earlier and putting little effort into his final months of school. Although he never had any alternative career plan, Costello had previously been reluctant to commit to

1586-517: A new label founded by an associate of Jake Riviera. Riviera had split from Dave Robinson and was now Costello's sole manager. For the next year and a half, Costello's records were released on Radar in Britain. Costello recorded his second album and his first with the Attractions, This Year's Model , during short breaks from touring, from November 1977 through January 1978. Produced by Nick Lowe, it

1708-531: A professional career as a musician coincided with the rise of punk rock in England. The primitivism brought into fashion by punk led Costello to disguise his musical savvy at the beginning of his career, but his stylistic range has come to encompass R&B , country , jazz , baroque pop , Tin Pan Alley and classical music . He has released album-length collaborations with the classical ensemble The Brodsky Quartet ,

1830-458: A properly built space. This consists of a bed of sand or occasionally a slab of concrete , through (or on top of) which pipes run. The pipes carry a chilled fluid (usually either a salt brine or water with antifreeze , or in the case of smaller rinks, refrigerant ) which can lower the temperature of the slab so that water placed atop will freeze. This method is known as 'artificial ice' to differentiate from ice rinks made by simply freezing water in

1952-463: A recording contract, or sell Costello's songs for other artists to record. All but the first of these sessions were at a small studio owned by Dave Robinson , future Stiff Records founder. Robinson later said that he thought Flip City "could not play at all" but Costello was talented and ought to "find a real band." After Costello became successful, Flip City's demos were widely bootlegged, often misleadingly labelled to imply they were outtakes from

2074-748: A rented house in southwest London with some of his bandmates. Flip City played the London pub rock circuit until the end of 1975, occasionally opening for more prominent bands such as Dr. Feelgood , but generally making little money and attracting little notice. Flip City's performances consisted of a mix of Costello's original songs and covers of rock, R&B, and country songs. Their repertoire of Costello originals included early versions of songs that would appear on his first two albums as "Pay It Back", "Miracle Man", "Living in Paradise", and "Radio Radio". Costello wrote all but one of Flip City's original songs, did most of

2196-472: A significant presence in Costello's life and the two remained close until Ross's death in 2011. Costello has said that a childhood spent watching his father work gave him an innate sense of how to be a musician but also an understanding that a career in music was a job like any other, requiring discipline and hard work. Costello's parents never insisted he take music lessons or otherwise pushed him to follow in

2318-441: A single tape to publishers, not yet realising that no publisher would have the patience to listen to so many songs. Sometimes he went to publishers' offices to perform his songs in person. None of this generated anything but rejections until he began creating "show reels" of no more than six of what he believed were his most attention-getting songs, selected to appeal to the recipient of each demo tape. By February 1976, Costello

2440-434: A solid polymer material designed for skating using normal metal-bladed ice skates. High density polyethelene (HDPE) and ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMW) are the only materials that offer reasonable skating characteristics, with UHMW synthetic rinks offering the most ice-like skating but also being the most expensive. A typical synthetic rink will consist of many panels of thin surface material assembled on top of

2562-417: A solution of glycerine with ether , nitrogen peroxide and water . The pipes were covered by water and the solution was pumped through, freezing the water into ice . Gamgee discovered the process while attempting to develop a method to freeze meat for import from Australia and New Zealand , and patented it as early as 1870. Gamgee operated the rink on a membership-only basis and attempted to attract

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2684-420: A song like ' Alison '." Even before disbanding Flip City in late 1975, Costello was writing songs he did not include in the band's repertoire. He recorded some of these as solo demos for Dave Robinson in mid-1975. For the next year, he shopped these and other solo demos to music publishers and record companies, hoping to be hired either as a songwriter or a recording artist. He sent out as many as 20 songs on

2806-565: A sparser sound than on the album. Pete Thomas , formerly of pub-rock band Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers , who were managed by Riviera, agreed to be drummer, although Thomas was then living in California and needed to be brought back to England. Steve Goulding and Andrew Bodnar , rhythm section of the Rumour , also participated in these audition sessions, so that Costello could test how

2928-520: A steady wage while he pursued a career in music. He soon took a job as a computer operator at the Midland Bank data centre , in the Merseyside town of Bootle , because, at £20 a week, it paid slightly better than other unskilled work he felt he was qualified for. According to Costello, the job consisted of essentially manual labour such as mounting tape reels and loading punched cards . Because

3050-423: A sturdy, level and smooth sub-floor (anything from concrete to wood or even dirt or grass) to create a large skating area. Periodically after the ice has been used, it is resurfaced using a machine called an ice resurfacer (sometimes colloquially referred to as a Zamboni – referring to a major manufacturer of such machinery). For curling, the surface is 'pebbled' by allowing loose drops of cold water to fall onto

3172-558: A substitute consisting of a mixture of hog's lard and various salts. An item in the May 8, 1844 issue of Eliakim Littell 's Living Age headed "The Glaciarium" reported that "This establishment, which has been removed to Grafton street East' Tottenham Court Road , was opened on Monday afternoon. The area of artificial ice is extremely convenient for such as may be desirous of engaging in the graceful and manly pastime of skating". By 1844, these venues fell out of fashion as customers grew tired of

3294-699: A wealthy clientele, experienced in open-air ice skating during winters in the Alps . He installed an orchestra gallery, which could also be used by spectators, and decorated the walls with views of the Swiss Alps . The rink initially proved a success, and Gamgee opened two further rinks later in the year: at Rusholme in Manchester and the "Floating Glaciarium" at Charing Cross in London, this last significantly larger at 35.1 by 7.6 metres (115 by 25 ft). The Southport Glaciarium opened in 1879, using Gamgee's method. In

3416-538: A young child, Costello's musical influences came from his parents' record collection, which encompassed a wide range of styles but centred on traditional pop and jazz. Ross's job with the Joe Loss Orchestra required him to sing many of the pop hits of the day for the band's weekly radio show. To learn these songs, Ross received demonstration copies of the original artists' records, which he brought home to rehearse. When Costello grew old enough to have an interest in

3538-419: Is a frozen body of water or an artificial sheet of ice where people can ice skate or play winter sports . Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The growth and increasing popularity of ice skating during the 1800s marked a rise in the deliberate construction of ice rinks in numerous areas of the world. The word "rink" is a word of Scottish origin meaning "course", used to describe

3660-518: Is critical. The popularity of the sport of hockey in Canada has led its icemakers to be particularly sought after. One such team of professionals was responsible for placing a loonie coin under center ice at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah ; as both Canadian teams (men's and women's) won their respective hockey gold medals, the coin was christened "lucky" and is now in the possession of

3782-593: Is located on the campus of Northeastern University . This American rink is the original home of the National Hockey League (NHL) Boston Bruins . The Bruins are the only remaining NHL team who are members of the NHL's Original Six with their original home arena still in existence. The Guidant John Rose Minnesota Oval is an outdoor ice rink in Roseville, Minnesota , that is large enough to allow ice skaters to play

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3904-440: Is typically played on a tarmac tennis court that has been flooded with water and allowed to freeze. The sports of broomball, curling, ice stock sport, spongee, Moscow broomball, and the game of crokicurl, do not use ice skates of any kind. While technically not an ice rink, ice tracks and trails , such as those used in the sport of speed skating and recreational or pleasure skating are sometimes referred to as "ice rinks". Rink ,

4026-496: The My Aim Is True sessions or otherwise affiliated with Stiff Records. The only Flip City recording to have been officially released is Costello's song "Imagination (Is a Powerful Deceiver)", recorded in early 1975, which appeared as a bonus track on the 1993 and 2001 reissues of My Aim Is True . In the liner notes to the 2001 reissue, Costello wrote that, in retrospect, the song sounded to him like "a very early attempt to write

4148-553: The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics' poll, with This Year's Model and Imperial Bedroom (1982) voted the best album of their respective years. His biggest US hit single, " Veronica " (1989), reached number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100. Born into a musical family, Costello was raised with knowledge and appreciation of a wide range of musical styles and an insider's view of the music business. His opportunity to begin

4270-506: The Billboard chart but spent fewer weeks on the chart than My Aim Is True . "Radio Radio" was released as a non-album single in the UK in October 1978, where it reached number 29. This Year's Model was highly praised by critics in Britain and the US. Melody Maker called it an "achievement so comprehensive, so inspired, that it exhausts superlatives." The NME review read similarly, saying

4392-480: The Hockey Hall of Fame after having been retrieved from beneath the ice. In bandy , the size of the playing field is 90–110 m (300–360 ft) x 45–65 m (148–213 ft). For internationals, the size must not be smaller than 100 m × 60 m (330 ft × 200 ft). The variety rink bandy is played on ice hockey rinks . The size of figure skating rinks can be quite variable, but

4514-500: The International Skating Union prefers Olympic-sized rinks for figure skating competitions, particularly for major events. These are 60 by 30 m (197 by 98 ft). The ISU specifies that competition rinks must not be larger than this and not smaller than 56 by 26 m (184 by 85 ft). Although there is a great deal of variation in the dimensions of actual ice rinks, there are basically two rink sizes in use at

4636-528: The Motown Chartbusters compilation series. By the time Costello reached his mid-teens, Joni Mitchell had become an important and enduring influence on him. When Costello moved to Liverpool, he found he did not enjoy much of the progressive rock that was popular with his peers, so, casting around for music he might like, he developed an interest in the Grateful Dead and other folk rock groups like

4758-549: The New Orleans R&;B songwriter and producer Allen Toussaint and the hip-hop group The Roots . Costello has written more than a dozen songs with Paul McCartney and had a long-running songwriting partnership with Burt Bacharach . Costello has had hits with covers of songs, including Sam & Dave 's " I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down ", Jerry Chesnut 's " Good Year for the Roses " and Charles Aznavour 's "She" . One of

4880-464: The R. White's "Secret Lemonade Drinker" commercial jingle. Ross sang the lead vocal while Costello played guitar and sang backing vocals. In the second half of 1973, Costello formed a band called Flip City with several slightly older men who, like him, were fans of Brinsley Schwarz and other pub rock bands. The members of Flip City also shared Costello's enthusiasm for The Band , the Grateful Dead , and Clover . For most of 1974, Costello shared

5002-529: The Stop & Shop , to write a song about the historical Art Deco building he rode past every day. Although he did not record it until 1980, Costello regarded this song, "Hoover Factory", as an artistic breakthrough. In the period just prior, he had been trying to imitate songwriters Randy Newman and John Prine . "Hoover Factory", he later recalled, got him "through the door to a different, less ingratiating way of speaking" in his songwriting. The next song he wrote

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5124-491: The UK Singles Chart , becoming Costello's first single to chart in any country. This was the first of an unbroken streak of eight Costello singles to reach the UK top 30. When Costello began touring the US in mid-November, he received prominent coverage in the US press, even though he played venues holding fewer than a thousand people. By this time, Costello had signed to Columbia Records , who released My Aim Is True in

5246-599: The winter in climates where the surface freezes thickly enough to support human weight. Rinks can also be made in cold climates by enclosing a level area of ground, filling it with water, and letting it freeze. Snow may be packed to use as a containment material. An example of this type of "rink", which is a body of water converted into a skating trail during winter, is the Rideau Canal Skateway in Ottawa, Ontario . In any climate, an arena ice surface can be installed in

5368-563: The "Secret Lemonade Drinker" jingle featured in a series of advertisements for R. Whites , with Costello on backing vocals. Ross's father, Patrick Matthew McManus, known as Pat, was also a professional musician. Pat was raised in an orphanage from age eight, where he learned to play trumpet. He later played trumpet as an army bandsman, a ship's musician for the White Star Line , and an orchestra musician in music halls and in theaters showing silent films. Costello has said that Pat, being

5490-596: The 'smelly' ice substitute. It wasn't until thirty years later that refrigeration technology developed to the point where natural ice could finally be feasibly used in the rink. The world's first mechanically frozen ice rink was the Glaciarium , opened by John Gamgee , a British veterinarian and inventor, in a tent in a small building just off the Kings Road in Chelsea, London , on 7 January 1876. Gamgee had become fascinated by

5612-714: The 1960s. Even after she no longer worked selling records, Lillian maintained a keen interest in a wide variety of music, including the popular music of the day. Costello's father, Ross MacManus (1927–2011), was a professional trumpet player and singer, born and raised in Birkenhead , across the River Mersey from Liverpool. He began his career in music in the late 1940s, playing trumpet in bebop bands in Birkenhead and Liverpool. He segued to playing trumpet and singing in modern jazz bands after moving to London in 1951. By 1954, he

5734-454: The Attractions , helped define the new wave genre. From late 1977 until early 1980, each of the eight singles he released reached the UK Top 30. His biggest hit single, " Oliver's Army " (1979), sold more than 500,000 copies in Britain. He has had more modest commercial success in the US, but has earned much critical praise. From 1977 until the early 2000s, Costello's albums regularly ranked high on

5856-515: The Attractions , would be Costello's touring and recording band for the next seven years. Costello used the time with Goulding and Bodnar to arrange and rehearse " Watching the Detectives ". He recorded the song with them at Pathway a few days later. Costello had written the song a few weeks earlier, partly inspired by the Clash 's newly released debut album . Some of the musical ideas, which Nieve fleshed out when he overdubbed his piano and organ parts

5978-678: The Beatles as his biggest musical influence. Costello was also deeply impressed by the songs of his future collaborator Burt Bacharach , which he knew through the hits British artists Cilla Black and Dusty Springfield had with them. As Costello grew into his teens, his favourites included British beat groups the Kinks , Small Faces and the Who , Jamaican rocksteady and reggae acts who were popular in Britain, and especially Motown artists, who he knew mainly through their British hit singles and through

6100-494: The Bottle Let Me Down"), Gram Parsons ("How Much I Lied") and George Jones ("Brown to Blue"). The album received mixed reviews. The first pressings of the record in the UK bore a sticker with the message: "WARNING: This album contains country & western music and may cause a radical reaction in narrow minded listeners". Almost Blue did spawn a surprise UK hit single with a version of Jerry Chesnut 's " Good Year for

6222-689: The Byrds and the Band , and through them, country music . Costello was a well-behaved if sometimes argumentative student, but not generally an academically outstanding one. Not having scored well enough on his eleven-plus exams to go on to grammar school , he attended Archbishop Myers secondary modern school in Hounslow and then a comprehensive school in Everton, Liverpool , for sixth form . Costello did, however, show an early talent for writing. His mother told

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6344-618: The E Street Band . Springsteen's December 15 show was broadcast on local radio station KSAN-FM . Winterland closed on New Year's Eve 1978 / New Year's Day 1979 with a concert by the Grateful Dead , New Riders of the Purple Sage , and The Blues Brothers . The show lasted for over eight hours, with the Grateful Dead's performance—documented on DVD and CD as The Closing of Winterland —lasting nearly six hours, beginning at midnight with Bill Graham's favorite Dead tune, Sugar Magnolia. After

6466-984: The Rolling Stones , the J. Geils Band , the Who , Black Sabbath , James Gang , Kansas , Mahogany Rush , Quicksilver Messenger Service , UFO , REO Speedwagon , Queen , Slade , Boston , Cream , Yes , Fleetwood Mac , Kiss , the Doors , Jimi Hendrix , Steppenwolf , Lynyrd Skynyrd , Styx , Van Morrison , the Allman Brothers Band , Grateful Dead , the Band , Big Brother and the Holding Company (with Janis Joplin ), Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks, Neil Young, Jethro Tull , Pink Floyd , Ten Years After , Wishbone Ash , Rush , Electric Light Orchestra , David Bowie , Genesis , Santana , Jefferson Airplane , Sons of Champlin , Sex Pistols , Traffic , Golden Earring , Grand Funk Railroad , Humble Pie , Bob Seger and

6588-474: The Rolling Stones' " Stupid Girl ". Most of the songs on This Year's Model were written while Costello was still working a full-time office job, before his first album was released. Among them was " (I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea ", which was released as the album's first single in early March 1978, reaching number 16 on the UK Singles Chart. The second single, "Pump It Up" , which reached number 24,

6710-626: The Roses ", which reached number 6. Costello had long been an avid country music fan and has cited George Jones as his favourite country singer. He had appeared on Jones' duet album My Very Special Guests , contributing " Stranger in the House ", which they later performed together on a 1981 HBO special dedicated to Jones. Imperial Bedroom (1982) featured lavish production by Geoff Emerick , engineer of several Beatles records. It remains one of his most critically acclaimed records, but again it failed to produce any hit singles—" You Little Fool " and

6832-808: The Silver Bullet Band, Robin Trower , Emerson, Lake & Palmer , Sha Na Na , Loggins and Messina , Lee Michaels , Heart , Journey , Deep Purple , J.J. Cale , Spirit , the Chambers Brothers , Alice Cooper , Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention , Foghat , Mountain , B.B. King , Montrose , George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers and Elvis Costello . Led Zeppelin first performed their song " Whole Lotta Love " there. The Tubes headlined New Year's Eve 1975 with Flo and Eddie . Many of

6954-549: The UK Singles Chart and number 65 on Billboard Hot 100. Costello's 1980 Get Happy!! album featured a sound based on vintage American soul music . Some songs marked a distinct change in mood from the angry, frustrated tone of his first three albums to a more upbeat, happy manner. The single, " I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down ", was a rendition of a Sam and Dave song. Lyrically, the songs are full of Costello's signature wordplay. His only 1980 appearance in North America

7076-512: The UK music press through a combination of effective publicity stunts , such as Costello busking in front of the London hotel hosting the CBS Records business convention, and genuine enthusiasm for his music among music journalists. The album reached number 14 on the UK Albums Chart within a few weeks of its release. "Watching the Detectives", released in mid-October, reaching number 15 in

7198-496: The UK, Europe, Canada and the US. Released in early January 1979, Armed Forces debuted at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart, and spent 28 weeks on the chart. In the US, it spent 25 weeks on the Billboard chart, peaking at number 10 in mid-March. The US release replaced "Sunday's Best" with Costello's cover of Lowe's " (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding ". Costello's best-selling single, " Oliver's Army ",

7320-540: The US in early November. The album gradually climbed to number 32 on the US Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart and was named among the best albums of the year by US music critics. In mid-December, Costello and the Attractions appeared on Saturday Night Live , where they angered the show's producer by unexpectedly playing the then-unrecorded song " Radio Radio " during the live broadcast. By late 1977, Costello had moved from Stiff Records to Radar Records ,

7442-748: The United States opened in 1894, the North Avenue Ice Palace in Baltimore, Maryland , and the Ice Palace in New York City . The St. Nicholas Rink , ( a.k.a. "St. Nicholas Arena"), was an indoor ice rink in New York City which existed from 1896 until its demolition in the 1980s. It was one of the earliest American indoor ice rinks made of mechanically frozen ice in North America and gave ice skaters

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7564-506: The album was "so ridiculously good that one's immediate inclinations are to clamber effusively over the top, superlative peaking superlative." The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics' poll voted it the best album of 1978. Rolling Stone named it among the best five albums of 1978. For the seven months following the completion of This Year's Model , Costello and the Attractions continued touring Britain, Europe and North America, playing larger venues and debuting new songs that Costello

7686-463: The album's influences came from the music Costello and the Attractions listened to while touring, from the Berlin-era records of David Bowie and Iggy Pop to ABBA and Kraftwerk . Costello later said that Armed Forces was his first album of songs he wrote with an awareness of having an audience. The album's lyrics reflected his experiences on the road in the US, as well his continued concern over

7808-526: The backing band. Starting in late November or early December, Costello travelled to Headley Grange in East Hampshire , where Clover were living, to spend the day rehearsing and working out arrangements for a batch of his songs and then recording the songs with the band the next day at Pathway. Costello still held a full-time office job, so the sessions were spaced over several weeks to accommodate his work schedule and Stiff's tight finances. My Aim Is True

7930-538: The best-known rock acts from the 1960s and 1970s played at Winterland or played two blocks away across Geary Boulevard at the original Fillmore Auditorium . Peter Frampton recorded parts of the fourth-best-selling live album ever, Frampton Comes Alive! , at Winterland. The Grateful Dead made Winterland their home base, and The Band played their last show there on Thanksgiving Day 1976. That concert, featuring numerous guest performers including Neil Young , Eric Clapton , Bob Dylan , Joni Mitchell , and many others,

8052-416: The case of concrete, to keep it from being marked). This thin layer is painted white or pale blue for better contrast; markings necessary for hockey or curling are also placed, along with logos or other decorations. Another thin layer of water is sprayed on top of this. The ice is built up to a thickness of 19 to 38 mm ( 3 ⁄ 4 to 1 + 1 ⁄ 2  in). Synthetic rinks are constructed from

8174-512: The concert venues. After a concert in Columbus, Ohio, on 15 March, Costello got into a drunken argument at a hotel bar with members of the Stephen Stills band and entourage. The argument culminated in Costello disparaging James Brown and Ray Charles with racially charged insults, in comments he would later call "the exact opposite of my true feelings". When Costello's comments were reported in

8296-474: The critically acclaimed " Man Out of Time " both failed to reach the Top 40 in the UK. Costello collaborated with Chris Difford , also of Squeeze, to write the song "Boy With a Problem". Costello has said he disliked the marketing pitch for the album. Imperial Bedroom also featured Costello's song " Almost Blue ", inspired by the music of jazz singer and trumpeter Chet Baker . Baker later recorded his own version of

8418-416: The current pop hits, Ross began giving him five or six of these demonstration records per week. Costello has said, "That's why I know so many songs." Chief among Costello's early favourites among the hit-makers of the day were the Beatles . Costello has said that, having turned nine years old in 1963, he was exactly the right age to experience the full force of Beatles fandom as he grew up. He has described

8540-516: The early version of "Ghost Train", then called "Maureen and Sam". By early 1973, Costello had determined that the music scene in Liverpool was too small to support his ambition to have a career in music, so he arranged to transfer from his job as a computer operator in the Midland Bank data centre in Bootle to a position as a clerk at the bank's Putney branch. Returning to London, Costello moved into

8662-429: The family business. Instead, they raised him in a home filled with music, encouraged his musical curiosity, and supported his efforts to find his own way toward a career in music. Lillian told journalists that she knew before he was born he would have a career in music and that she listened to a broad range of music while she was pregnant with him with the intention of giving him an early start in music appreciation. As

8784-702: The far west side of London. This meant Costello's commute to work in North Acton took him past the Hoover Building in Perivale . Around the same time, he was starting to become aware of the nascent punk movement, although he would not hear any of the British punk bands until they began releasing records. He was, however, inspired by the Modern Lovers ' song " Roadrunner ", with its reference to such quotidian landmarks as

8906-680: The fastest. Stiff had been founded by Jake Riviera , who managed several acts Costello admired, and Dave Robinson. Nick Lowe , whom Costello was on friendly terms with because he had attended so many performances by Lowe's band Brinsley Schwarz, was the label's first artist and soon became its in-house producer. Following a successful test-session in mid-September at Pathway Studios , an inexpensive studio in North London , Stiff agreed to finance more sessions for Costello with Clover , an American country-rock band from Marin County, California , as

9028-490: The first in the family to make a career in music, is the reason he himself is a musician. Costello spent most of his childhood in Twickenham , in west London, before moving to Liverpool with his mother in 1970. Costello was raised Roman Catholic and served as an altar boy until he was 14. Costello's parents had separated by the time Costello was ten years old, after which he was raised by his mother. Ross continued to be

9150-471: The former would become one of his best-regarded and best-known songs. However, Costello was receiving increasingly prominent, positive coverage in the British music press. My Aim Is True had been completed since the end of January but its release was delayed, first because Stiff had wanted to release records by other artists who seemed more tied to transient music trends and then because of legal difficulties with Stiff's distributor, Island Records . It

9272-560: The game is played), causing the water body to freeze and then stay frozen. There are also synthetic ice rinks where skating surfaces are made out of plastics. Besides recreational ice skating, some of its uses include: ice hockey, sledge hockey ( a.k.a. "Para ice hockey", or "sled hockey"), spongee ( a.k.a. sponge hockey), bandy , rink bandy , rinkball , ringette , broomball (both indoor and outdoor versions), Moscow broomball , speed skating , figure skating , ice stock sport , curling, and crokicurl . However, Moscow broomball

9394-624: The highest levels of ice hockey . Historically, earlier ice rinks were smaller than today. Official National Hockey League rinks are 26 m × 61 m (85 ft × 200 ft). The dimensions originate from the size of the Victoria Skating Rink in Montreal, Quebec , Canada. Official Olympic and International ice hockey rinks have dimensions of 30 m × 60 m (98.4 ft × 197 ft). Sledge hockey ( a.k.a. "Para ice hockey", or "sled hockey"), uses

9516-571: The ice and freeze into rounded peaks. Between events, especially if the arena is being used without need for the ice surface, it is either covered with a heavily insulated floor or melted by allowing the fluid in the pipes below the ice to warm. A highly specialized form of rink is used for speed skating ; this is a large oval (or ring ) much like an athletic track. Because of their limited use, speed skating ovals are far less common than hockey or curling rinks. Those skilled at preparing arena ice are often in demand for major events where ice quality

9638-401: The ice surface used in the sport of curling , but was kept in use once the winter team sport of ice hockey became established. There are two types of ice rinks in prevalent use today: natural ice rinks , where freezing occurs from cold ambient temperatures, and artificial ice rinks (or mechanically frozen), where a coolant produces cold temperatures underneath the water body(on which

9760-946: The job involved frequent periods of waiting for the mainframe computers to complete their tasks before beginning them on the next one, it gave Costello time to write songs while at work. Except for a few months in 1973 when he worked as a clerk at the Midland Bank Putney branch, he continued to work full-time as a computer operator until a few weeks before his first album was released in July 1977. Costello began writing songs and teaching himself to play guitar by age 14. To test his songs in front of an audience, he performed them in folk clubs that permitted amateur musicians to perform unpaid. He played these clubs regularly in London and continued in similar clubs when he moved to Liverpool at age 16, although folk music venues that welcomed original songs were scarcer in Liverpool than in London. By 17, he

9882-413: The lanes surround the exterior of an ice rink. The sport requires the use of a special type of racing skate, the speed skating ice skate . Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus OBE (born 25 August 1954), better known by his stage name Elvis Costello , is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to Rolling Stone , Costello "reinvigorated

10004-512: The largest artificial outdoor refrigerated sheet of ice in North America. It is a world-class facility that is primarily used for ice sports such as ice skating, ice hockey, speed skating, and bandy. The oval hosts several national and international competitions throughout the year, including the USA Cup in bandy. The first building in Canada to be electrified was the Victoria Skating Rink which opened in 1862 in Montreal , Quebec, Canada. The rink

10126-521: The literate, lyrical traditions of Bob Dylan and Van Morrison with the raw energy and sass that were principal ethics of punk ", noting the "construction of his songs, which set densely layered wordplay in an ever-expanding repertoire of styles." His first album, My Aim Is True (1977), spawned no hit singles, but contains some of Costello's best-known songs, including the ballad " Alison ". Costello's next two albums, This Year's Model (1978) and Armed Forces (1979), recorded with his backing band

10248-614: The marshlands of The Fens , skating was developed early as a pastime during winter where there were plenty of natural ice surfaces. This is the origin of the Fen skating and is said to be the birthplace of bandy . The Great Britain Bandy Association has its home in the area. In Germany, the first ice skating rink opened in 1882 in Frankfurt during a patent exhibition. It covered 520 m (5,600 sq ft) and operated for two months;

10370-450: The measurements of an ice hockey rink , though may be slightly larger due to the sport having originated in Europe where the bandy field influenced the size and development of smaller ice rinks. Tracks and trails are occasionally referred to as ice rinks in spite of their differences. Ice skating tracks and ice skating trails are used for recreational exercise and sporting activities during

10492-568: The musicians auditioning played as part of a band. Chosen were bassist Bruce Thomas (no relation to Pete), who was 28 years old and had ten years' experience in professional bands, the most successful being the Sutherland Brothers and Quiver ; and keyboardist Steve Nieve (then Steve Nason), a 19-year-old student at the Royal College of Music who had formal musical training but no experience in any kind of pop group. The band, soon named

10614-438: The only winter activities or sports whereby ice skaters use tracks and lanes designed to include bends rather than using a simple straightway. Some ice rinks are constructed in a manner allowing for a speed skating rink to be created around its outside perimeter. Speed skating tracks or "rinks" can either be created naturally or artificially and are made either outdoors or inside indoor facilities. Tracks may be created by having

10736-493: The opportunity to enjoy an extended skating season. The rink was used for pleasure skating, ice hockey , and ice skating , and was an important rink involved in the development of the sports of ice hockey and boxing in the United States . The oldest indoor artificial ice rink still in use in the United States is Boston, Massachusetts 's, Matthews Arena (formerly Boston Arena) which was built between 1909 and 1910. The rink

10858-439: The press a few weeks later, the bad publicity was sufficiently severe and widespread to be regarded, including by Costello himself, as the reason he never achieved the top-level commercial success in the US that had been predicted for him. In June, Costello had a hit as a songwriter when Dave Edmunds released his recording of " Girls Talk ", a song Costello had written but not yet recorded. Edmunds' version reached number 4 on

10980-436: The refrigeration system was designed by Jahre Linde, and was probably the first skating rink where ammonia was used as a refrigerant. Ten years later, a larger rink was permanently installed on the same site. Ice skating quickly became a favorite pastime and craze in several American cities around the mid 1800s spawning a construction period of several ice rinks. Two early indoor ice rinks made of mechanically frozen ice in

11102-409: The refrigeration technology he encountered during a study trip to America to look at Texas fever in cattle. In March of that same year it moved to a permanent venue at 379 Kings Road, where a rink measuring 12.2 by 7.3 metres (40 by 24 ft) was established. The rink was based on a concrete surface, with layers of earth, cow hair and timber planks. Atop these were laid oval copper pipes carrying

11224-494: The rink dimensions defined by a standard Canadian ice hockey rink . The sport of spongee , a.k.a. "sponge hockey", does not use ice skates. A skateless outdoor winter variant of ice hockey, spongee has its own rules codes and is played strictly within the Canadian city of Winnipeg as a cult sport. The sport generally uses the rink dimensions defined by a standard Canadian ice hockey rink . Rinkball rinks today typically use

11346-498: The rise of far-right political groups in the UK; the album was originally to be called Emotional Fascism . Just before the album's completion in late September, Costello and the Attractions played to an audience of 150,000 in Brockwell Park , south London, as part of the second Rock Against Racism music festival. A few weeks later, they began six months of touring that included, for the first time, Japan and Australia, as well as

11468-498: The same Twickenham flat where he had lived with his mother a few years earlier, by then occupied by his father (Ross), Ross's second wife, and their infant son. When booking himself into London clubs, he began using the name Declan Costello, adopting a family name that Ross had once made a record under, because it was easier to spell and understand than MacManus when he spoke on the phone. Around this time, Costello accompanied Ross to Costello's first professional recording session, for

11590-790: The same rink dimensions used by ice hockey rinks . Ringette utilizes most of the standard ice hockey markings used by Hockey Canada , but the ringette rink uses additional free-pass dots in each of the attacking zones and centre zone areas as well as a larger goal crease area. Two additional free-play lines (one in each attacking zone) are also required. A ringette rink is an ice rink designed for ice hockey which has been modified to enable ringette to be played. Though some ice surfaces are designed strictly for ringette, these ice rinks with exclusive lines and markings for ringette are usually created only at venues hosting major ringette competitions and events . Most ringette rinks are found in Canada and Finland . Playing area, size, lines and markings for

11712-461: The show, the crowd was treated to a hot, buffet-style champagne breakfast. The final show was simulcast live on radio station KSAN-FM and the local PBS TV station KQED . Winterland was eventually razed in 1985 and replaced by apartments. A number of films and recordings were made in whole or in part at the Winterland Arena. Ice skating rink An ice rink (or ice skating rink )

11834-442: The singing, and chose the cover songs they played. A friend from those days later told a journalist, "It wasn't so much that he imposed the ideas; he was the one who had the ideas." None of the other members of Flip City shared Costello's commitment to pursuing a career in music and some disapproved of his desire to make money from his music. Costello became engaged to marry a former schoolmate in late 1973. By then he had found

11956-567: The song. Imperial Bedroom placed first on the Village Voice' s annual Pazz & Jop poll. In 1983, he released Punch the Clock , featuring female backing vocal duo ( Afrodiziak ) and a four-piece horn section ( the TKO Horns ), alongside the Attractions. Clive Langer (who co-produced with Alan Winstanley ), provided Costello with a melody which eventually became " Shipbuilding ", which featured

12078-533: The songs he is best known for, " (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding ", was written by Nick Lowe and recorded by Lowe's group Brinsley Schwarz in 1974, but remained obscure until Costello released his version in 1979. Costello's own songs have been recorded by artists including Linda Ronstadt , George Jones , Roy Orbison , Johnny Cash , Dave Edmunds , Chet Baker and Alison Krauss . Costello has won two Grammy awards, two Ivor Novello awards, four Edison awards, an MTV Video Music Award ,

12200-594: The sport of bandy . Its perimeter is used as an oval speed skating track. The facility was constructed between June and December 1993. It is the only regulation-sized bandy field in North America and serves as the home of USA Bandy and its national bandy teams. The $ 3.9 million renovation project planned for the Guidant John Rose Minnesota Oval was set to be completed before the opening of the rink's 29th season on November 18, 2022. The oval measures at 400 meters long and 200 meters wide, which makes it

12322-454: The standard Canadian ringette rink are similar to the average ice hockey rink in Canada with certain modifications. Early in its history, ringette was played mostly on rinks constructed for ice hockey, broomball , figure skating , and recreational skating, and was mostly played on outdoor rinks since few indoor ice rinks were available at the time. The organized format of broomball uses

12444-410: The unobtrusive rimless glasses Costello had worn to correct astigmatism since he was a teenager for a pair with large black frames. Costello's first single, " Less than Zero ", was released at the end of March 1977. It received a few brief, mixed reviews in the British music press and sold very few copies. Two further singles, " Alison " and " (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes ", also sold poorly;

12566-511: The winter season including distance ice skating. Ice trails are created by natural bodies of water such as rivers, which freeze during winter, though some trails are created by removing snow to create skating lanes on large frozen lakes for ice skaters. Ice trails are usually used for pleasure skating, though the sport and recreational activity of Tour skating can involve ice skaters passing over ice trails and open areas created by frozen lakes. To date, speed skating and ice cross downhill are

12688-570: Was "Radio Sweetheart", which would become the B-side of his first single. In mid-August 1976, Costello included "Mystery Dance" and "Radio Sweetheart" on a demo tape he gave to Stiff Records , a new independent label that had just released its first single. Partly due to the airplay received from Gillett around the same time, Costello was soon evaluating offers from several record companies, including Gillett's own Oval Records. Costello chose to work with Stiff Records because they seemed prepared to move

12810-509: Was at the Heatwave festival in August near Toronto. In January 1981, Costello released Trust amidst growing tensions within the Attractions. The single " Watch Your Step " was released in the US only and played live on Tom Snyder 's Tomorrow show, and received airplay on FM rock radio. In the UK, the single " Clubland " scraped the lower reaches of the UK Singles Chart; follow-up single " From

12932-444: Was booking himself into clubs as a solo act under the name D.P. Costello, D.P. being his initials and a nickname he was sometimes called by his family. While working as D.P. Costello, he learned to sing and play guitar very loudly and developed a forceful stage presence, although he was still playing to small audiences for very little money. Few of the songs he had played with Flip City were included in these performances. Instead, he

13054-557: Was born Declan Patrick MacManus, on 25 August 1954, at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington , West London, the only child of a record shop worker and a jazz musician. Both parents were from the Liverpool area and had moved to London together a few years earlier. Costello's father was Catholic and of Irish descent, while his mother is English and was raised a Congregationalist . Costello's mother, Lillian MacManus (née Ablett, 1927–2021),

13176-591: Was born and raised in Toxteth , Liverpool, the daughter of a gas-main layer and a mother who became increasingly disabled by rheumatoid arthritis as Lillian grew up. Responsible for caring for her younger brother and sick mother, Lillian left school at 13 and took the first of a series of jobs at music stores. After moving to London with her future husband Ross in 1951, she took a job in the record department in Selfridges department store and continued selling records through

13298-794: Was built on the site of the Dreamland Rink (midway on the west side of Steiner between Post and Sutter) and Sid Grauman 's National Theatre (on the corner of Post and Steiner). In 1936, Winterland began hosting the Shipstads and Johnson Ice Follies . Impresario Clifford C. Fischer staged an authorized production of the Folies Bergère , the Folies Bergère of 1944 , at the Winterland Ballroom in November 1944. The Ballroom hosted opera , boxing and tennis matches. Starting on September 23, 1966, with

13420-435: Was created using natural ice . At the start of the twentieth century it had been described as "one of the finest covered rinks in the world" and was used during winter for pleasure skating, ice hockey, and skating sports. In summer months, the building was used for various other events. Many ice rinks consist of, or are found on, open bodies of water such as lakes, ponds, canals, and sometimes rivers; these can be used only in

13542-575: Was debuting some of the songs that would start to get the attention of the music industry, such as "Mystery Dance" and "Wave a White Flag". Costello included both songs on a six-track demo tape he sent to London radio presenter Charlie Gillett , who thought "Wave a White Flag" was the best of the six. Gillett played several songs from the tape on his radio show later that year, the first time any Costello song received airplay. Sometime in 1976, lack of money forced Costello, his wife and their toddler son to move in with relatives near Heathrow Airport , on

13664-597: Was filmed by Martin Scorsese and released in theaters and as a soundtrack under the name The Last Waltz . Winterland also hosted the Sex Pistols ' final show, on January 14, 1978. During Winterland's final month of existence, shows were booked nearly every night. Acts included the Sex Pistols , The Tubes , Ramones , Smokey Robinson , Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers , and on December 15–16, 1978, Bruce Springsteen &

13786-403: Was occasionally being paid a little money. On the eve of the release of his debut album in 1977, Costello told a journalist that by that time he had written hundreds of songs. At the beginning of 1972, Costello was invited to join a folk-rock band called Rusty by the band's founder, an 18-year-old veteran of the Liverpool music scene named Allan Mayes. As other members left, Rusty soon became

13908-498: Was recorded and mixed in six four-hour sessions for a total cost of about £1,000. The final mix was completed in late January 1977. Producer Nick Lowe, recording engineer Barry Farmer and Clover bassist John Ciambotti have all said they found Costello confident, well-prepared, and mature beyond his years during the making of the album. By February 1977, Riviera and Robinson, who were now Costello's managers, had given him his new stage name, Elvis. The reference to Elvis Presley , who

14030-423: Was recorded at Eden Studios , in west London, in eleven days. Inspirations for the album's sound included 1960s beat groups like the Who, the Kinks and Small Faces, as well as contemporary acts like Talking Heads , but the biggest influence was the Rolling Stones ' album Aftermath (1966). Costello himself called This Year's Model "a ghost version of Aftermath " and "This Year's Girl" an answer song to

14152-618: Was released in Britain in February. Costello has said he wrote the song after his first visit to Northern Ireland and was inspired by seeing young British soldiers on the streets of Belfast as a part of the Troubles . The song reached number 2 on the UK Singles Chart. It was also his biggest hit single in Ireland , reaching number 4 on the Irish singles chart. The second single, " Accidents Will Happen ",

14274-658: Was released in early May. According to Costello, the song was written in response to his own marital infidelities. The song reached number 28 in the UK. In the US, it reached number 101, missing the Billboard Hot 100 but charting higher than any previous Costello single. The concert tour promoting Armed Forces was marked by bad publicity. Costello and the Attractions played some shows that audiences considered too brief and refused to return for encores. Audiences in Sydney, Australia, and Berkeley, California, responded by vandalising

14396-403: Was released on 22 July 1977. Two weeks earlier, Costello had left his job as a computer operator at Elizabeth Arden on the condition that Stiff pay him, as an advance on future royalties, a regular stipend equal to the wages he had been earning at his job. In mid-June 1977, Costello held auditions for a bassist and keyboardist for a backing band for a tour to promote My Aim Is True , wanting

14518-406: Was still alive at the time, was simply intended to get attention. Costello neither particularly liked nor disliked Presley. Because Costello had seen his father, Ross, work under a variety of stage names, he gave little thought to the name change. Riviera and Robinson also helped give Costello a distinctive appearance that contrasted with the contemporaneous ideas how pop stars looked; they swapped

14640-723: Was sufficiently well known for his son's birth to be announced in the New Musical Express . From 1955 to 1968, he was a featured singer in Joe Loss Orchestra , one of Britain's most popular big bands . Ross had a solo cabaret act from 1969 through the 1990s, playing workingmen's social clubs in the North of England, Scotland, and Wales. Ross recorded for small record labels under a variety of aliases, including Day Costello – Costello being Ross's paternal grandmother's maiden name. He also recorded advertising jingles. In 1973, he sang

14762-553: Was writing for his next album. In July 1978, Costello performed at the Danish Roskilde Festival , topping the bill with three other artists, premiering the song " Oliver's Army " that would become his biggest hit in the UK. Costello and the Attractions recorded his third album, Armed Forces , at Eden Studios in six weeks from August and September 1978. It was again produced by Nick Lowe, but Costello himself provided greater creative control. Like This Year's Model ,

14884-599: Was written later, while Costello was on tour with other Stiff acts, in reaction to what he later called his "first exposure to idiotic rock and roll decadence." Upon release in March, This Year's Model entered the UK Albums Chart at number 4. The US version of the album dropped "(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea" and "Night Rally", a song written in response to the rise of the British National Front , and replaced them with "Radio Radio". The US release reached number 30 on

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