ALMOST ELVIS: Elvis Costello is a name...

ALMOST ELVIS: Elvis Costello is a name whose time has come--and almost gone as well. In a fascinating interview in the March issue of Musician magazine, Costello explains that he has legally changed his name back to Declan Patrick McManus, and added yet another name--Aloysius--to his lengthy new moniker. (Elvis will continue performing under his Costello stage name, though his songs are now credited to McManus.)

As he put it: “I’m always going to be known as Elvis Costello. Columbia (his record label) is never going to stand for me abruptly abandoning the name. . . . I mean, it’s a simple thing. I want my life back. . . . But I’ve tried to play down the whole thing. I want it to be gradually assimilated. Otherwise, the trash press in England, the Daily Mirror and the Sun, will make a gimmick story out of it. I’ve been an oddball to them for 10 years. I’ll be even more of an oddball for changing from one stupid name back to the stupid name I was born with.

“I don’t know why I ever changed it in the first place. Maybe it had something to do with actually believing the myth. . . . It happened too quickly to think of the implications. There was only my parents saying, ‘That’s a bit odd.’ I can’t see escaping it too easily. When people write about me there’ll always be a dash between the names.”