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English singer/songwriter/musician Elvis Costello has been in the business a long time. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer just released his 26th studio album, The Boy Named It.
His second album (with the Attractions), This Year’s Model, includes the 1978 hit song ‘Pump It Up,’ which is still heard on pop radio stations 45 years later. Take a look and listen below.
Costello has said that ‘Pump It Up’ was inspired by Bob Dylan’s 1965 song ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues,’ which Dylan has said was inspired by “Chuck Berry, a bit of ‘Too Much Monkey Business’ and some of the scat songs of the ’40s.”
When former Disney child star Olivia Rodrigo released her single ‘Brutal,’ some heard a similarity to Costello’s ‘Pump It Up.’ (‘Brutal’ is on Rodrigo’s debut album, Sour, which was released in 2021.)
When Costello shared the photo below, of him with the 19-year-old pop star, he wrote: “Great to finally meet Olivia Rodrigo.”
While some Costello fans disapprove of Rodrigo (“When she stole that lick, she didn’t even bother to change the key”), others are charmed by Costello not being bothered with such accusations. More than one replied to Costello: “She is meeting you – she’s the lucky one.”
Fun fact: Costello released the album ‘Brutal Youth’ in 1994.
