If you were thinking of reserving a copy of Elvis Costello 's "The Return of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook" online before its Tuesday release, don't. Costello, in a note on his website this week, said the $202 price tag for what Amazon.com describes as a "super deluxe" package is "either a misprint or a satire, " and fans would be better served buying a Louis Armstrong collection instead.
"Frankly, the music is vastly superior, " Costello's note said of Armstrong's "Ambassador of Jazz." Satchmo's comes, he said, in "a cute little imitation suitcase containing 10 remastered albums by one of the most beautiful and loving revolutionaries who ever lived ... for under 150 American dollars and includes a number of other tricks and treats."
Costello's "Songbook" collection consists of a CD, DVD, 10-inch vinyl EP, an autographed card, a 40-page book, a tour diary written by the performer and a poster. Amazon.com's description notes that only 1,500 of the boxes would be produced worldwide, but Costello's note didn't mention that.
Instead, the note continued: "If you should still want the component items in the above mentioned elaborate hoax, they will be available separately at a more affordable price in the new year, unless you are one of those pirates who imagines they are evangelists or that other people's rights absolve their own thievery, in which case this is between you and your dim conscience."
In another note posted on his website, Costello -- whose birth name is Declan MacManus -- acknowledged the death of his father: "It is with profound sorrow that we announce the passing of Ross MacManus at the age of 84."
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