With his thick, black-rimmed glasses and plain looks, Elvis Costello has always been the antithesis of the pretty-boy pop star, the kind of guys whose images grace the walls of sighing adorers. But Costello was always a rock star at heart, belting out angry, smart lyrics to jangly rock. He’s also been living proof to love-lorn geeks everywhere that you don’t need to be a pretty-boy to make girls sigh.Before he had a rock star persona, Elvis Costello was Declan MacManus –a less marketable name, but the one he proudly bore while growing up in Liverpool, England. His father was a bandleader, and brought home records for his son to listen and play along to. In time, young Declan would set off on his own, playing in pubs and clubs, eventually under the name D.P. Costello, using his mother’s maiden name as a last name. He began developing his own voice. He supported himself by working as a computer operator, working on his songwriting and performing at night.After sending out several demo tapes, he got a bite in 1977 with Stiff records. Looking to increase his name recognition, Costello’s manager suggested borrowing the King’s name. Voila: Elvis Costello was born. He was paired up with a backing band called Clover, which would later be known as The News (minus Huey Lewis). In the future, most of his work would be produced with a backing band called the Attractions, and the Imposters after them.His debut album, My Aim is True, became curiously pegged as a punk act (and later the New Wave label would be stuck to him), but not much about Costello’s music suggests the English punk scene, which was just breaking into the public light at that time. It’s certainly angry—as the ironically titled “I’m Not Angry” attests to—and there are plenty of cynical barbs to be found in the lyrics. At heart, though, its good old-fashioned rock, with some sad songs like “Alison” mixed in for good measure.That was just the beginning, though. Over the next 30 years he would release more than two dozen albums, dabbling in various styles of rock, reggae, and even classical music. If there’s anything that sets Elvis Costello apart, it’s how far and wide his influences have taken him, and how they mix together to create altogether original songs with a distinctive sound you can’t hear anywhere else.