Episode Ep 887 March 16, 2026 42 min 36s

Steve Nieve looks back at Costello, Stiff tours and the magical sound of pianos

From Word In Your Ear Mark Ellen, David Hepworth and Alex Gold

At the age of four, Steve Nieve drew pictures of piano keys and pretended to play them. He joined Elvis Costello & the Attractions when he was 19, the start of a life that involves having to find a flight case for a Steinway Grand. He talks to us here from his Paris apartment about Stiff package tours, recording remotely, his upcoming shows with the French singer Kessada and …

… being a teenager as fond of Stravinsky as Alice Cooper and the Carpenters

… playing in a mid-‘70s Top Forty covers band

… the ad for a “rockin’ pop combo” that changed his life

… touring with Costello and Ian Dury and how he got his stage name

… playing the Thunderbirds theme as a chat show bandleader on the Last Resort

… a giant Klavins piano “that has stairs leading up the seat”

… working on Morrissey’s Kill Uncle

… the 40,000 audience that watched his online Lockdown shows

… unreliable stage pianos and the story of Keith Jarrett’s Köln Concert.

Tickets here: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/westhampsteadartsclub/2059256

The “About Love” album: https://music.apple.com/gb/album/about-love/1834791707

Steve’s new album: https://stevenieve.hearnow.com/piano-night-2026