Like a lot of people my age, I first heard Elvis Costello singing “Watching the detectives” on the radio. I was pretty ambivalent about the song and Elvis and it stayed that way till I was about 19 or 20 at which point I listened to his “Armed Forces” album and it really started growing on me. There’s no doubt Elvis’ natural talent for the craft of songwriting is a major factor in the length of his career and the huge volume of work he’s produced over that time.