Elvis was first sighted in a 7-Eleven in central London, sneering at the staff while purchasing cigarettes and condoms, looking for all the world like the new king of rock'n'roll, shabbily dressed and sharp-tongued, a man with a mission. It seems such a long time ago, now. The Stranglers are marketing their greatest bits on daytime TV, a Boomtown Rat saved the world and met the Queen, the sixties came back again and all's well in Disneyland. And Elvis, well, you heard about him. He joined Jethro Tull and went off to raise pigs in Ireland... didn't he?

Has punk rock's answer to the sensitive singer songwriter turned out to be just another rock'n'roll eccentric? On 'Invasion Hit Parade' he sounds under attack by the style armies of the new, sneering about the liberation forces making *movies of their own. Playing their Doors records and pretending to be stoned*. Pop references abound, from musical sixties steals to stinging throwaway slags aimed at stars, groupies, fans and fashions. But who is the perpetual sucker at the receiving end of al the scorn in 'How To Be Dumb'? *Now you're masquerading as a pale powdered genius whose every bad intention has been purged/You would have walked out any time you wanted but face it you didn't have the courage/I guess that makes you a full-time hypocrite or some kind of twisted dilettante...* Could it be Elvis himself, ready to take his place in *the modern museum of mistakes*? It's just a thought.

Elvis Costello still doesn't yield up his secrets easily. I wonder does he chuckle over rock rag reviews like this one? Or does his acerbic treatment of the pop business reflect unease at being a grown-up talent in a young person's playground? There was a time when each of his albums seemed to be stepping stones on a path to greater glory but somewhere in the mid-80's Elvis either lost his way or recognised his limitations.