Chaperoned in the back of a hire car, taking in the sights, partaking in entertaining chit-chat about the industry with fellow passengers, I shouldn't feel this damned uneasy. But impending duties weigh heavy and a sizeable part of me is getting more and more dispirited about the deal I've gotten into.

The brief was simple enough: an interview with Costello was all that was required by the firm, the only problem being the subject had spent the past year making it plain to the world's press that he didn't wish to converse whatsoever, to the point where recourse to physical violence had not been uncommon as a final solution in nailing the point home. Manager Jake Riviera once defined a potent side of the Costello personality when he pinpointed that line from The Talking Heads' "Psycho Killer"—"Say something once, why say it again"—as being his protegexs essential credo. Thus, when the obstreperous, over-zealous Jimmy Olsens of this world have found their way backstage at an E.C. gig and ignored that first denial for a quick quote from the star, the outcome has turned distinctly ugly, with fists flying and subsequent reportage of the contretemps making for depressing reading.