Elvis Costello to fans: my label is gouging you on my new box set; don't buy it. Buy Louis Armstrong music instead, and download my stuff by "unconventional means"
Elvis Costello addresses his fans in an editorial called "Steal This Record," in which he notes the absurdity of the price set by his label on "The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook," a live CD and DVD combination priced at $262.46 ("either a misprint or a satire"). He laments that his label has refused to budge on the price, and recommends that his fans not buy this, referring would-be gift-givers instead to a fine-looking Louis Armstrong gift box called Ambassador of Jazz ("Frankly, the music is vastly superior."). Mr Costello concludes:
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.
Steal This Record (Thanks, Glennf!)
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