Elvis Costello arrested at The London Hilton Hotel

Elvis Costello was arrested as he performed outside a CBS Records sales conference at The London Hilton Hotel and was fined £5 on July 26, 1977.

Elvis Costello's first single for Stiff was "Less Than Zero," released on 25 March 1977.

Two months later, his debut album, My Aim Is True (1977), was released to moderate commercial success (No. 14 in the UK and, later, Top 40 in the US) with Elvis Costello appearing on the cover in what became his trademark oversize glasses, bearing some resemblance to Buddy Holly. Stiff's records were initially distributed only in the UK, which meant that Elvis Costello's first album and singles were initially available in the US as imports only. In an attempt to change this, Costello was arrested for busking outside a London convention of CBS Records executives, protesting that no US record company had yet seen fit to release his records in the United States. Elvis Costello signed to CBS's Columbia Records label in the US a few months later.

The backing for Elvis Costello's debut album was provided by American West Coast band Clover, a country outfit living in England whose members would later go on to join Huey Lewis and the News and The Doobie Brothers. Later in 1977, Costello formed his own permanent backing band, The Attractions, consisting of Steve Nieve (born Steve Nason; piano), Bruce Thomas (bass guitar), and Pete Thomas (drums; unrelated to Bruce Thomas).

Elvis Costello released his first major hit single, "Watching the Detectives," which was recorded with Nieve and the pair of Steve Goulding (drums) and Andrew Bodnar (bass), both members of Graham Parker's backing band The Rumour (whom he had used to audition for The Attractions).

On 17 December 1977, Elvis Costello and The Attractions appeared as the musical guest act on the episode of Saturday Night Live as a last minute fill-in for the Sex Pistols. Scheduled to play "Less Than Zero," he surprised the SNL crew by abruptly stopping the song mid-intro, and launching into "Radio Radio."

Retro History for July 26 The 50s 60s 70s 80s

Retro History For The Decade 1980

1988 Mike Schmidt sets NL record appearing in 2,155 games at 3rd base, as Phillies and New York Mets end that game at 2:13 AM
1987 Catfish Hunter Billy Williams and Ray Dandridge inducted in Baseball HOF
1987 Stephen Roche wins Tour de France
1986 Lebanese kidnappers released Reverend Lawrence Martin Jenco
1984 Expos Pete Rose ties Ty Cobb with his 3,052nd single
1984 Kuhn announces Vida Blue is suspended due to cocaine conviction
1984 Pitcher Vida Blue suspended for rest of 1984 due to drug use
1983 Challenger moves to Vandenberg AFB for mating for STS-8
1983 Jarmila Kratochvilova of Czechoslovakia sets 800m woman's record (1:53.28)
1983 Light flashes seen on Jupiter moon Io
1982 Canada's Anik D1 Comsat launched by U.S. Delta rocket
1982 Karen Dianne Baldwin, 18, of Canada, crowned 31st Miss Universe
1981 2 climbers fall 550 m down cliff near Angel Falls, Venezuela
1981 36th U.S. Women's Open Golf Championship won by Pat Bradley
1981 New York Mayor Ed Koch is given Heimlich maneuver in a Chinese restaurant

Retro History For The Decade 1970

1979 Estimated 109 cm (43") of rain falls in Alvin, Texas (national record)
1978 France performs nuclear Test at Muruora Island
1978 Johnny Bench hits his 300th career home run
1977 Elvis Costello was arrested as he performed outside a CBS Records sales conference at The London Hilton Hotel and was fined £5.
1977 U.S.S.R. performs underground nuclear Test
1975 Soyuz 18B returns to Earth
1974 France performs nuclear Test at Muruora Island
1974 U.S.S.R.'s Soyuz fails to dock with Salyut 3
1973 Peter Shaffers "Equus," premieres in London
1971 Apollo 15 launched (Scott and Irwin) to 4th manned landing on Moon
1970 Reds Johnny Bench hits 3 consecutive home runs of Phillies Steve Carlton

Retro History For The Decade 1960

1969 Sharon Sites Adams, 39, becomes 1st lady to solo sail the Pacific
1967 Twins beat Yankees 3-2 in 18
1966 WRLH TV channel 31 in Lebanon, New Hampshire (NBC) begins broadcasting
1965 Republic of Maldives gains independence from Britain (National Day)
1964 Clifford Ann Creed wins LPGA Cosmopolitan Women's Golf Open
1964 Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa convicted of fraud and conspiracy
1964 Train from Povoa de Varzin, Portugal derails near Oporto, 94 die
1963 Skopje, Yugoslavia, destroyed by earthquake, kills 1,000+
1963 U.S. Syncom 2, 1st geosynchronous communications satellite, launched
1962 Maria Oeljanov, 1st airship with nuclear missiles, arrives in Cuba
1962 Milwaukee Brave Warren Spahn sets home run record of 31 by a pitcher
1960 Italian government of Fanfani forms

Retro History For The Decade 1950

1959 Betsy Rawls wins LPGA Western Golf Open
1958 Army launches 4th U.S. successful satellite, Explorer IV
1957 Mickey Mantle hits career home run # 200
1957 U.S.S.R. launches 1st intercontinental multistage ballistic missile
1956 Egypt seizes Suez Canal
1955 37th PGA Championship: Doug Ford at Meadowbrook CC Detroit
1955 Last day as Test Cricket umpire for Frank Chester
1955 Ted Allen throws a record 72 consecutive horseshoe ringers
1954 WCET TV channel 48 in Cincinnati, OH (PBS) begins broadcasting
1953 Fidel Castro begins rebellion, the "26th of July Movement," against Fulgenico Batista's regime
1952 King Farouk I of Egypt abdicates [Black Saturday]
1952 Mickey Mantle hits his 1st grand-slammer
1951 Netherlands ends state of war with Germany
1950 Dodgers' Jim Russell is 1st to switch-hits home runs twice in a game
1950 KNIL (Royal Dutch East Indies Army) unites

Have a groovy vintage retro day!


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Vintage Retro Music & Retro Pop Culture is our passion and what we LOVE. We keep it going everyday for the love of producing it for you to enjoy. Thanks for viewing. Much Peace! Elvis Costello arrested The London Hilton Hotel on July 26, 1977.