The second season of "Spectacle: Elvis Costello With..." comes to a close Wednesday night in a fashion befitting the show's rarified air: host Costello meets with Bruce Springsteen for the second half of their two-part interview, resulting in a team-up performance of Springsteen's hit "Radio Silence".
On the hour-long show, taped at a nearly four-hour session in September at New York’s Apollo Theatre, the Academy Award-winning Springsteen discusses collaborations, his current inspirations and each musician's respective backing groups.
Watch a clip from the show:
The meeting of the two minds is a unique one, given the period of influence each musician has had, coupled with their resurgence in popularity in recent years. There was a period between 1975 and 1979 in which Costello and Springsteen flourished with parallel intensity, releasing signature albums including Bruce's "Born To Run" and Elvis' This Year's Model". The two address how Bruce's songwriting darkened during that period, with a humbling discovery awaiting the host:
On the darker overtones on 1978's Darkness On The Edge Of Town: "One reason it was different is there was some young English songwriter at the time who said the songs on ‘Born To Run’ were too romantic," says Springsteen. "I can’t remember his name right now, but ..."
Costello looks genuinely surprised. "Was it me?" he asks. "It wasn’t me."
"I’ve been waiting 30 years for this moment," says Springsteen with a smirk. "What do you think? Of course it was."
In addition to "Radio Silence," The Boss also performs "Galveston Bay," "The Rising" and several other classics, including Costello's "Radio Radio". Part two of their interview airs Wednesday night at 10pm EST on the Sundance Channel.
