Less than Zero (Elvis Costello song)
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"Less than Zero" is the debut single by
Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...
, released in 1977 on
Stiff Records Stiff Records is a British independent record label formed in London, England, by Dave Robinson and Jake Riviera. Originally active from 1976 to 1986, the label was reactivated in 2007. Established at the outset of the punk rock boom, Stiff ...
. It is the eighth track on Costello's debut album, ''
My Aim Is True ''My Aim Is True'' is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, originally released in the United Kingdom on 22July 1977 through Stiff Records. After years of little success performing in Britain, Costello was signed t ...
''. Written about British fascist
Oswald Mosley Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980) was a British politician during the 1920s and 1930s who rose to fame when, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, he turned to fascism. He was a member ...
, the song features what ''
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
'' described as a "slow, slinky ndsinister" melody.


Background

The song expressed Costello's anger after seeing former British Union of Fascists leader
Oswald Mosley Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980) was a British politician during the 1920s and 1930s who rose to fame when, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, he turned to fascism. He was a member ...
interviewed on television, attempting to deny his racist past. In the liner notes to the
Rhino A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...
edition of the album, Costello writes: On his first visit to the United States, Costello found that American audiences did not understand the song, writing in his 2015 autobiography, ''Unfaithful Music and Disappearing Ink'': "I'm not sure if anyone in Cleveland had ever heard of Oswald Mosley or gave a damn about him when we played 'Less Than Zero' that night. It was just some rock and roll music with a fashionable-sounding title". Later, he substantially rewrote the lyrics to refer to
Lee Harvey Oswald Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963) was a U.S. Marine veteran who assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, on November 22, 1963. Oswald was placed in juvenile detention at the age of 12 fo ...
. This was a reference to the common misconception among American fans that this was the "Mr. Oswald" referred to in the original lyrics. This version is usually referred to as the "
Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
version" and is available as a bonus track on the ''My Aim is True'' reissue, and a live version can be found on '' Live at the El Mocambo''.


Lyrics and music

"Less than Zero" fits in with a number of others on early Costello albums that deal with themes of fascism and
totalitarianism Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and reg ...
, which also include "Night Rally" from ''
This Year's Model ''This Year's Model'' is the second studio album by the English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, released on 17March 1978 through Radar Records. After being backed by Clover for his debut album '' My Aim Is True'' (1977), Costello formed t ...
'' and "Goon Squad" from ''
Armed Forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
''. In this case, a racist and totalitarian movement is seen in terms of
sub rosa ''Sub rosa'' (New Latin for "under the rose") denotes secrecy or confidentiality. The rose has an ancient history as a symbol of secrecy. History In Hellenistic and later Roman mythology, roses were associated with secrecy because Cupid ga ...
teenage sex: "Turn up the TV...even your mother won't detect it/So your father won't know."
Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
critic Mark Deming describes the
melody A melody (from Greek language, Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a Linearity#Music, linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most liter ...
as "slow, slinky ndsinister". Deming also suggests that the melody shows some
reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
influences, even though the
rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular recu ...
does not incorporate reggae
syncopation In music, syncopation is a variety of rhythms played together to make a piece of music, making part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of rhythm": a "place ...
s. Deming describes the song as "controversial, audacious, and highly effective" as well as "a truly remarkable debut."


Release

In addition to its release on ''My Aim Is True''. "Less than Zero" was released as Costello's first single. The single featured the non-album
B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...
, "Radio Sweetheart", which later appeared on the second Stiff Records various artists sampler, ''
Hits Greatest Stiffs ''Hits Greatest Stiffs'' is a various artists compilation album, drawn from ten of the first eleven Stiff Records singles, BUY 1 to BUY 11. The tracks follow the numerical order of the singles, but feature mostly the B-sides, although several si ...
''. A song with both country and psychedelic elements, it's been noted as a song more experimental than the tracks on his early albums. The single did not chart. "Less than Zero" also appears on the first Stiff Records compilation ''
A Bunch of Stiff Records ''A Bunch of Stiff Records'', also known as ''A Bunch of Stiffs'', is a various artists album to promote some of the first acts to be signed by Stiff Records. It is subtitled ''Undertakers to the Industry – If They're Dead - We'll Sign 'Em''. ...
''.


''Saturday Night Live'' Incident

The song was also involved in Costello's infamous performance on ''
Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
'' on 17 December 1977. Following pressure from his record company to play the song on the show, Costello began to play the song, but he stopped after only a few bars, saying that "there's no reason to do this song here". He then launched into an unannounced performance of "
Radio Radio "Radio Radio" is a song written by Elvis Costello and performed by Elvis Costello and the Attractions. The song originated as a Bruce Springsteen-inspired song called "Radio Soul" that Costello had written in 1974. In 1977, Costello reworked ...
", a song he had promised not to play. As a result, he was banned from the series until 1989. In 2015, Costello wrote of having seen his appearance on ''Saturday Night Live'' as an opportunity equivalent to
The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
’ first live US television performance on ''
The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television program, television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in Septembe ...
'': " Columbia insisted that the second song should be 'Less Than Zero'. The song had already proven to be obscure to many American ears, and if this was supposed to be our ''I Want to Hold Your Hand'' moment, I thought the song was too low-key". He had then come up with the plan to switch songs, inspired by a live performance on the BBC's '' The Lulu Show'' in 1969 in which Jimi Hendrix had scrapped a performance of "
Hey Joe "Hey Joe" is an American song from the 1960s that has become a rock standard and has been performed in many musical styles by hundreds of different artists. The lyrics tell of a man who is on the run and planning to head to Mexico after shooting ...
" after a few bars, to instead play an impromptu tribute to
Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...
, who had broken up just days before.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Less than Zero (song) 1977 songs 1977 debut singles Elvis Costello songs British punk rock songs Songs written by Elvis Costello Protest songs Songs about politicians Song recordings produced by Nick Lowe Stiff Records singles Cultural depictions of Oswald Mosley