Elvis

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(puh!- someone had to mention him, didn't they)

I hope by posting this I don't attract uptenth fanatics and incite tales of how they traveled 3,000 miles to bid in an auction for his most infamous cotton bud, and stood in an alton towers-type queue to see a napkin with his tea stain on, but i suppose what i'm asking is Mr Presley-classic or dudd? The bare bones of Elvis, aside from all the hysteria. He's hardly timeless. Although is this just sinicism. I anticipate a bunch of resentful; yes he's classic responses. Would it be naive to think he is considered the king of rock and roll because he was hyped to the degree that he became an genre in himself, therefor ensuring a longeivity? Does he just stand for when iconism begain, along with the recognition of mainstream culture etc post-post war times and therfor lengendary for the wrong reasons?

Or is this all just mumbo jumbo? Or am I just lonesome tonight.

― chris, Friday, 16 August 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago)

...yes he's danced kinda geekily which could be considered endearing but so does Bruce Forsyth in his own way

― Chris, Friday, 16 August 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Hmmm, let's see... CLASSIC.

― Sean, Friday, 16 August 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Pure musical talent + great image = first rock star. Classic as all hell. "That's all right" should be our national anthem. Oh yeah, and happy 25th everyone.

― Mary, Friday, 16 August 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Of all the '50s icons (Brando, Dean, Monroe) Elvis is the one who seems the least archaic today. It's because there were really two Elvises in the public mind: one of them sang "Hound Dog" and moved in an incredibly violent, outrageous way onstage (don't laugh - take a look at some of the old clips, you'll see what I mean. I used to think Pete Townshend smashing his guitar was as rock'n'roll as it gets, but it seems to pale next to what Elvis did WITHOUT a guitar.) and the other made bad movies and sang "It's Now Or Never." The questions raised by Elvis's existence have never really been settled - we can't even agree on whether he was really a serious artist - and I think that's part of the reason he's still such a potent icon. I think of Elvis as being sort of the human equivalent of "Blue Velvet." He's half corny and half menacing. Both Elvis fans and Elvis haters often forget that the young Presley had more in common with Johnny Rotten than he did with Frank Sinatra. And as for the later years, Lester Bangs once rightly pointed out that Elvis singing "Do The Clam" is a FAR better joke than Sid doing "My Way."

Predictably, almost none of the recent coverage of the silver anniversary of Elvis's death has anything to say about this (i.e., why anyone still cares about him at all). When it's not sentimental tripe - "If only he hadn't taken all those drugs!" - it's just a different version of the current Eminem line - "Is he a good role model for today's kids?" It's the same old crap you hear about every single other celebrity. Not once have I heard anyone ask why Elvis was different.

― Justyn Dillingham, Saturday, 17 August 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago)

He ends up on top of the charts this year with a full vocal take rather than a sample = he still means SOMETHING. What, though, is another question.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 17 August 2002 23:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Anything on that wonderful Nike ad would go number 1. Anything

― Chupa-Cabras (vicc13), Sunday, 18 August 2002 23:38 (twenty-two years ago)

god, the video for that song is shit. hype williamsishness + jailhouse rock 'homage' = torture tools. i really wanted to like it, too.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 19 August 2002 05:11 (twenty-two years ago)

This is why, as Chupa has wisely noted, you concentrate on the Gilliam-directed Nike ad instead.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 19 August 2002 14:59 (twenty-two years ago)

I actively hate Elvis with a firey passion. It's the whole racist asshole thing.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 19 August 2002 15:01 (twenty-two years ago)

(I also cannot spell "fiery".)

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 19 August 2002 15:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Elvis's asshole was not racist. It was black. And brown. And sometimes yellow when the bananas went straight through. Which wasn't often, cos the constipation from the downers used to block up most of his upper intestine.

― Queen G of the flaming asshole coctail outfits, Monday, 19 August 2002 15:59 (twenty-two years ago)

Between Dan and Queen G, the world is now a better place. :-)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 19 August 2002 16:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Well i supose he's quite endearing at times, but, but, but.....

"Not once have I heard anyone ask why Elvis was different"
It seems people express just their opinion on how mighty mi' he is/was.

― chrisb (chrisb), Thursday, 22 August 2002 01:19 (twenty-two years ago)

six years pass...

i relistened to his greatest hits last month and realized, yes, he is CLASSIC for a reason.

i do a pretty decent karoke elvis - he's got a range of like half an octave, suits me to a t, and his vocal mannerisms are esy to imitate (thus the legions of amature elvis impersonators, and comparative scarcity of robert plant-alikes)

i'm hoping to get an answer to this via a different question, but just for the record, what's his best album? (comps don't count)

― messiahwannabe, Monday, 1 September 2008 17:40 (sixteen years ago)

Y'know, I don't have a comp to recommend, but I think about Elvis lots these days, in no small part due to a friend who as much as confessed that he ignored some of the big names in music seemingly forever (Beatles, Elvis, Michael Jackson, etc...) precisely b/c they were so over-hyped...and then upon actually LISTENING to them, he ended up grokking what they were all about.

I guess I've gone through a similar trajectory-- indifference---> cognizance of their respective genii.

Elvis was an amazingly charismatic figure; there is a reason why 5,000,000 Elvis fans were not wrong. If you can listen to "Suspicious Minds" or "Burning Love" and not be moved, then, I dunno...

― dell, Monday, 1 September 2008 19:19 (sixteen years ago)

Y'know, I don't have a comp to recommend

I totally ignored and misread yr post. I don't have an album to recommend. I got nuthin'.

― dell, Monday, 1 September 2008 19:21 (sixteen years ago)

I actively hate Elvis with a firey passion. It's the whole racist asshole thing.

pffffft

― J.D., Monday, 1 September 2008 20:10 (sixteen years ago)

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