For the past few months, Elvis Costello — who we’ve loved for a very long time now — has been doing things that have made him even cooler in our eyes. First, there was his fantastic cover of “Purple Rain,” which was made all the better by his choice of outfit: a metallic jacket and leopard-print hat getup. Then he made an appearance on Sesame Street, where he sang an adorable number about heartbreak alongside Elmo and Cookie Monster. Now, he’s asking his fans not to purchase The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook , the new box set he has coming out next month. Why? Because he thinks that priced at $202.64, it costs too much. We’d tend to agree.
“If you should really want to buy something special for your loved one at this time of seasonal giving, we can whole-heartedly recommend, Ambassador Of Jazz — a cute little imitation suitcase, covered in travel stickers and embossed with the name ‘Satchmo’ but more importantly containing TEN re-mastered albums by one of the most beautiful and loving revolutionaries who ever lived -– Louis Armstrong,” Costello writes in a post entitled “Steal This Record” on his website. “If on the other hand you should still want to hear and view the component parts of the above mentioned elaborate hoax, then those items will be available separately at a more affordable price in the New Year, assuming that you have not already obtained them by more unconventional means.” Perhaps there’s still some punk left in him yet. [via Boing Boing]