But today we're focused on his life. (Does anybody out there remember the commemorative CD that RCA released five years ago in honor of what would have been Elvis' 80th birthday???)
(A bit tacky maybe???)
As we typically do on Elvis' birthday, we're going to feature a few of our favorites that don't often receive much airplay but represent the wide range of his vocal talent.
We'll kick it off with this track from his 1960 film "G.I. Blues," appropriately marking The King's return from The Army.
These next two tracks are among my all-time Elvis favorites. Both were recorded earlier and then released as singles in 1964 / 1965 during a period where Elvis' chart success was being hampered by The British Invasion. Both are outstanding examples Elvis' range of style. "Easy Question" was also used in the film "Tickle Me" at the time, a low-budget soundtrack made up of "recycled" tracks from years before ... while "Such A Night" was later used as the closing vamp in the film "3000 Miles To Graceland," featuring Kurt Russell, who also portrayed The King in a TV movie several years earlier. (That end-title sequence is, without question, the highlight of the entire movie!!!)
This one is no stranger to the radio ... it is still one of Elvis' best known and most loved tracks ... and how "Can't Help Falling In Love" failed to reach #1 remains one of the greatest mysteries in rock and roll history. (It was held to the #2 spot by "Peppermint Twist" in early 1962!)
And finally, a commentary on our current state of mind ...
Since Elvis is gone, all we're feeling is A Mess Of Blues.
We have bitched on and on about Billboard Magazine's recent position of only keeping track of the hit records that made their Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart after it was officially unveiled on August 4th, 1958 ... this despite the fact that Billboard had already been publishing top music charts for over fifty years by this point.
As such, this new qualification has completely eliminated Elvis' first 32 hits from the radar, which include Eleven #1 Records. (That's better than half of his eighteen #1 hits.) Many of these ("Heartbreak Hotel," "Don't Be Cruel," "Hound Dog," "Love Me Tender," "Jailhouse Rock," "All Shook Up" and "Teddy Bear") not only launched but also DEFINED The Rock And Roll Era. This new position and way of thinking effectively rewrites history as it exists. No Elvis, No Beatles ... No Beatles, nothing that has followed them since. Bottom line ... No Elvis and No Beatles = no need for Billboard Magazine ... they likely would have ceased to exist decades ago.
The way the charts are measured today hold no relation whatsoever to the way this music has been calculated in the past. I understand that the times change ... look at all the various waves of technology we have had to adapt to over the years just to listen to our music. But let's not forget where it all began. Let's not compare Mariah Carey's or Drake's chart stats to the ones established years ago by artists like Elvis Presley and The Beatles ... when every track on an album WASN'T available to chart thanks to downloads and YouTube and streaming plays ... when people used to have to physically get out of their homes and drive their cars or ride their bikes to the record store and BUY the music they wanted to hear and own ... and then could only purchase what the record companies saw fit to release as singles.
As recently as the 1990's a group like N*Sync could release a new album and sell two and a half million copies the very first week. Today, a number one album might have sold 5000 copies that week!!! So PLEASE don't compare how many weeks THAT record stayed at #1 to an album like "Rumours" or "Thriller" or "Dark Side Of The Moon" that brought people out of their homes and out to the stores for YEARS to purchase.
We'll never seen another artist like Elvis or The Beatles ... they changed music forever ... and we, The Forgotten Hits Community, remember. There may not be a lot of "forgotten hits" recorded by these artists because their impact was so great ... but Forgotten Hits ALSO acts as a reminder of an era when this music mattered to us ... it affected our lives ... and odds are if you're reading this right now, you know EXACTLY what I'm talking about. (kk)
