Elvis Costello and Thatcherism
Subtitle: A Psycho-Social Exploration
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group; Routledge
Published: 2013
Language: eng
Number of pages: 222
ISBN-13: 9781409449621
Subjects: Musicians, great britain; Music; Great britain, history, 20th century; Great britain, politics and government, 1979-1997
Description: The emergence of Thatcherism around 1980, which ushered in a period of neo-liberalism in British politics that still resonates today, led musicians, like other artists, to respond to their context of production. The book uses the early work of Elvis Costello to explore the relationship between popular music and politics in one historical period. Throughout the book examples are provided of Costello's songs and how they work musically to illustrate or stimulate the contextual discussion. The book will be of interest to musicologists, sociologists and social-pyschologists.