Elvis' Popularity.

[Cliff]

I agree with Cliff. And I want to say yes yes Elvis was american cherokee indian, scot irish some jewish and welch. I emailed graceland along time ago on his geonology.( spelling). Anyway they have always answered anything I have asked. And I can see much indian. Cheekbones etc.

Thank you for your support. xx

[yisagirl1]

Awe, you are welcome.xx

[Raised on Rock]

It's all EPE's and RCA/BMG/Sony's fault. They still are re-selling the old 50s and 60s hit. Those songs, despite their historical value and greatness, won't win many new fans and won't give him much airplay on contemporary stations.

Sony should re-evaluate Elvis' catalogue and create albums that have a change to score (on iTunes/radio). During this process they should ignore hit positions of those songs/albums during the 50s/60s/70s. Same goes with the artwork. We all know that 'the mothers in the shopping malls' may pickup an Elvis CD with a cute Teddy Bear kinda picture of Elvis easier than one with a more modern look. But we need to get the new generation listen to Elvis. It's no wonder that among them Suspicious Minds is much better known than Hound Dog.

Get the new audience with these contemporary compilations and then sell them the (already widely available) greatest hits albums (or original albums)

Yep, you got it man. I've been thinking that since 1997!!!

[Raised on Rock]

lot of the younger generation are discovering Elvis and they are probably downloading his stuff of the net.

Now that's a big issue here, the record industry is on a crossroads right now because of the music downloading (legally or illegally) on the net. That´s a real issue right now, and its afecting CD sales in a big way. Lots of conteporary rock/indie artists will never chart to high, and they don't even care, the new record is to be downloaded and in so, get not money but fans, the ones that will give you their money in concerts. Vinyl is back among teenagers, they will buy the deluxe edition after they illegaly downloaded the regular cd and went to the bands concert and now are declared fans. The mainstream record industry on the other hand is not to sure how to deal with this.

I'm 30 years old, long time away from teenagers, but because of what I do for living, I'm in deep contact with them, I now first hand that they WON'T go to a record store and buy an Elvis album, neither a remix one like Viva Elvis neither a re-release like: From Elvis in Memphis on Legacy. Why? they won't spend their money on that, they will spend it on clothes, concerts, parties, vacations, whatever. But that does not mean they are not interested in Elvis. In fact, I do recognice a growing interest in young people in old music, I mean in the birth of the music the do love now, and interest in 50's, 60's and 70's rock and pop music. BUT THEY WON?T BUY THAT, THEY SIMPLY AND FOR FREE download it from the net. When Elvis 75 was the new thing, tons of torrents and blogs had it to share, and I know lots of teenagers downloaded the thing cause they where curious of what this Elvis is about, same thing happened with Viva Elvis (by the way I know first hand that many teenagers where more pleased with the real Elvis and disliked Viva Elvis). Anyway is hard to measure popularity just by sales, as a big chunk of the world wide population is illegaly downloading the stuff.

Now add that to many of the older fans not buying cause as you said, we have it all, well the obviously Elvis is not selling as he did early on this decade. But this is not just Elvis case, lots of artist from the past and today are having to deal with this.

To download or not to download, that is the question, by doing it, Elvis sales might be dropping, but by doing it, lots of young people that might be Elvis curious are getting lots of material beyond Viva Elvis or the big hits collection, and gettin to know better the man.

Viva Elvis lacked a bonus DVD with visuals and 5.1 surround, the remixes where perfect for that, and that is one thing that you can't download for free (well you can but its harder to find and to do), that was one chance give a more interesting product than a 10 track ordinary CD. Big mistake.

Another big mistake: the Single CD released to promo the 4 CD Elvis 75 box set, f.... retarded people, the track list they selected is almost identical to the 30 #1 hits/ second to none one. If you know those where the big sellers just a decade ago, you don't expect people buy the same thing again do you? that was another good chance to show some diffrent material wasted.

[monk37]

sure = people ran out to buy Hound Dog b/s Don't be cruel, then they ran out to buy Don't be Cruel b/w Hound Dog

Elvis started that way, so it's not surprising he's still that way

[SleepyJack]

I know a lot of younger people who play in bands and who live their lives for music...and most,if not all,of them are most impressed by Elvis` `50s recordings,as well as some of the strongers `60s tracks like "Reconsider Baby","Little Sister","Feel So Bad" etc. The music that they seem to be least interested in,and least impressed with would be the `70s Elvis tracks like "The Wonder of You", "There goes my everything"...the polished,middle-of-the-road Elvis...The Elvis of ETAs and Las vegas glitz,the huge commercial image that has become an entity unto itself. In this sense there are two Elvis`s out there on the market...the young rhythm and blues Rock`n`Roll Elvis versus the Later,all-round-entertainer superstar Elvis.One will appeal to the serious music-fans,the other to a huge global market that likes its stars big and shining.It`s just down to the people who are looking after the rights to his music what market to aim for...and with which Elvis.

[Brian Quinn]

Interesting topic. Sony (UK) held a survey with the general public and it emerged that they preferred the non-jumpsuit Elvis image. That is why Sony use the non-jumpsuit Elvis on the covers of their main releases. I suspect the public's perception was coloured by the sad state of some of the Elvis Impersonators and even Elvis himself in the last few years of his life. Elvis dressed in the Sundial Suit is hardly likely to attract teenagers to the fold. However, the 1969 image is really cool as far as I am concerned.

It is also interesting to note that only a handful of entertainers bothered to wear jumpsuits and the vast majority did not follow Elvis' trend. On the other hand they appeared to prefer the unkempt, down on luck image with such artists as Neil Young etc.

Perhaps the world prefers the underdog to those who have it all? Perhaps they feel it is cynical to sing about 'The Ghetto' when dressed as a King and living the lifestyle of one?

I feel that at present we are now witnessing the final demise of the CD. Only today, HMV have announced they are closing 60 of their shops over the next 12 months in the UK and I have no doubt that 'downloading' is part of the reason. The recording industry is in dire straits at present and will need to think of new 'gimmicks' if they wish to continue selling music.

Brian

[monk37]

perhaps the music companies and the movie studios should just sell a monthly subscription to their entire catalog - beat the pirates

but, more than likely, what we're seeing is the demise of the music companies - band can direct release to fans from their websites or licensed sellers.

lowers the cost, every niche market filled

[Raised on Rock]

In the days around the end of the music industry empire, the value of the artist/music, is not how many records are being sold (billboards old style) but in its circulation.

You just got to take a look at torrents sites and music sharing blogs on the net to be surprised by the amount of Elvis stuff circulating either on the illegallly download music sharing area or in the educational pourposes preview one. Also the amount of Elvis music circulating on sites like youtube is impresive. Now that might be affecting Elvis as a product owned by the dying record companies, but does really affect badly on Elvis legacy beyond the record company? the demand and cirulation of his music is right there and in an impresive way for a long time dead guy.

Now we got to remember that a 80% of the people into uploading/downloding music on the net, are not the old original fans that got all the original vinyls, but younger people interested in Presley so, is his popularity decaying? I once try to discuss this issue on a thread but got banned, hmmm... I think is still there stucked at the off topic forum on the phylosophycal debate thread. As I said, I'm not promoting illegal downloads, just saying is there, and its important to see how does affect Elvis.

I think the "flop" of Viva Elvis does not says anything about a decay in Elvis popularity, but a decay of the record industry. For being a novelty record of (shitty) remixes on the music of another era, presented as a boring ordinary Cd, and in the era of the dead of the CD! Viva Elvis actually did pretty good.

[Cliff]

In the days around the end of the music industry empire, the value of the artist/music, is not how many records are being sold (billboards old style) but in its circulation.

You just got to take a look at torrents sites and music sharing blogs on the net to be surprised by the amount of Elvis stuff circulating either on the illegallly download music sharing area or in the educational pourposes preview one. Also the amount of Elvis music circulating on sites like youtube is impresive. Now that might be affecting Elvis as a product owned by the dying record companies, but does really affect badly on Elvis legacy beyond the record company? the demand and cirulation of his music is right there and in an impresive way for a long time dead guy.

Now we got to remember that a 80% of the people into uploading/downloding music on the net, are not the old original fans that got all the original vinyls, but younger people interested in Presley so, is his popularity decaying? I once try to discuss this issue on a thread but got banned, hmmm... I think is still there stucked at the off topic forum on the phylosophycal debate thread. As I said, I'm not promoting illegal downloads, just saying is there, and its important to see how does affect Elvis.

I think the "flop" of Viva Elvis does not says anything about a decay in Elvis popularity, but a decay of the record industry. For being a novelty record of (shitty) remixes on the music of another era, presented as a boring ordinary Cd, and in the era of the dead of the CD! Viva Elvis actually did pretty good.

Why can't they stop the illegal downloads? The best way to stop anything is at it's source. You go to You Tube and you can find all the illegal stuff you want. I was amazed that there are clips there showing you how to hack into someone elses profile or account.Stupid thing is, if you upload a music clip you've made and the music is covered by copyright they won't let you use it.
As far as I'm concerned the music industry only has it's self to blame for their down fall. I feel this all started back in the day when they bought out the twin cassette decks on stereos. Did they honestly think that people were not going to use this as a form of copying? Duh. Oh , that's right, it was for dubbing. Again . . .Duh.
Everything is out there for people to do these things and I don't see a move being made to stop it. Perhaps a lot of lip service, but that's all.

[Raised on Rock]

Why can't they stop the illegal downloads? The best way to stop anything is at it's source. You go to You Tube and you can find all the illegal stuff you want. I was amazed that there are clips there showing you how to hack into someone elses profile or account.Stupid thing is, if you upload a music clip you've made and the music is covered by copyright they won't let you use it.
As far as I'm concerned the music industry only has it's self to blame for their down fall. I feel this all started back in the day when they bought out the twin cassette decks on stereos. Did they honestly think that people were not going to use this as a form of copying? Duh. Oh , that's right, it was for dubbing. Again . . .Duh.
Everything is out there for people to do these things and I don't see a move being made to stop it. Perhaps a lot of lip service, but that's all.

But do they need to stop it? or should they offer something more interesting that what's there circulating on the net so people actually want to go from mp3 to what's on the store? Elvis music is everywhere, from older fans that won't buy a thing cause we got it all, from young people interested in Elvis getting it all from the web. And they expect to sell a CD with the same old hits repacked over and over?

But again, in the middle of a music industry crisis, should we measure Elvis popularity just based on records selling? in the middle of this music industry crisis, Elvis music is heavly circulating via other channels, and many young people are getting to know Elvis and becoming fans even, via those channels. Is the p2p sharing, the labels biggest enemy becoming Elvis music legacy best friend?

P.S. Sony/Legacy is wasting chances not comming with From Elvis in Memphis/Back in Memphis and the On Stage/In Person on Vinyl. FTD is starting to explore that market.

[TCE]

Cliff I agree with you. Especcially the last part about the young kids today. I wish that they realize the meaning of good values. For if the young kids nowadays are our future, then I think the future will not be good. Ofcourse there are still many kids raised with good values (and I'm glad for that) and nobody knows what future will bring..



Christel (TCE)

Cristel, what [U]is[U]the tuth and what is the half truth. There have been so many conflicting stories over the years none of which is clear. I remember when Charlie Hodge was trying to get his book about he and Elvis published, no one would touch it because there was not enough dirt in it. So Charlie had to publish it himself. It is one of the best books I have read. It shows the real side of Elvis. A very loving, caring and generous man, with a fantastic sense of humour.
We must also remember that Col. Parker created a myth about Elvis. I saw one of these myths mentioned in a forum here recently. Some one said that the Presleys were dirt poor. They weren't. Sure, they weren't rich by any means, but Vernon had a job. They had enough money too own a car. I guess today they would be classed as middle income, but by no means poor.Something else that contradicts the 'truth' is that Vernon went to Memphis to set up a new home for Gladys and Elvis but did not return as promised to take Gladys and Elvis back there.So, after a period of time Gladys had to pack up and go looking for him. Now, with Vernon's record I'm inclined to believe this. But, as I say, what is the truth, and what is the half truth.I'd like to think that the person who told me this back in the sixties was a reliable source (she new some of the boys). My reason for saying this is that she also told me that the boys told her that Elvis had Indian blood in him. I have since read this in the many books that I have read when seeking the truth. At the time it was never mentioned.
I'm afraid Cristel, that years from now, when the older Elvis fans have long passed on there may not be that support for Elvis. Oh, it will still be there, but ifeel, not as strong.
I'm pleased that you say Elvis had his faults. There are still some who feel he was a Saint, or the new Messiah.My feeling is, that is why he was more accepted after his death, because people did see that he had feet of clay. You see, this is all due to the myth that Parker built around Elvis, that he was an All American Boy, who loved mom's apple pie. In many ways this was not a bad thing as it gave people of my generation a good role model to follow, and gave us good values that we carried into our latter years. Look at what the young kids of today have got.

[Raised on Rock]

Cliff I agree with you. Especcially the last part about the young kids today. I wish that they realize the meaning of good values. For if the young kids nowadays are our future, then I think the future will not be good. Ofcourse there are still many kids raised with good values (and I'm glad for that) and nobody knows what future will bring..
Christel (TCE)

Although in a way I do agree with you. Well they kind of said the same and worst about Elvis and the teens that followed him, wasn't that way?

[SleepyJack]

It`s kind of hard to feel sorry for the big music companies,they made vast fortunes over the years out of the record-buying public and out of the artists themselves...it might very well be that we are witnessing the end of those days..but who can they blame? Yes,the illegal downloads are costing them millions...there is an argument both for and against that...but surely they must accept some responsibility themselves? Is it any surprise really that loads of Elvis` music is being downloaded for free?...we`ve had years of sub-standard attempts and releases..anything even relatively rare gets a big price-tag slapped on it...of course people will take it for free if they can. Maybe the easy-cash option has finally caught up with the industry?...a huge portion of todays music charts is just blatantly that..money-making schemes,tailor-made artists to milk as much money from their genre as possible.I don`t think I would mourn the loss of all that. Maybe,at the end of the day,the music industry did make its` product more precious than they thought...and in the end killed every goose that every layed a golden egg?
Maybe it is just time that music left the hands of these huge global companies and went back to the people...it doesn`t look like they are as neccessary as they once were,artists can produce,record,release and publicise their work now without the backing of a huge commercial monster behind them..and much of the music is all the better for it...maybe the days of the Big Record Deal are over,along with the greedy managers and all the middle-men.
Oh..and as far as Elvis goes...i`m 100% certain that he will be still in there...maybe i`m crazy or over-optimistic...but would you bet against it?... He`s got to 2011 without too much help and despite a lot of factors going against him...but you can`t change the fact that he`s great to listen to and great to watch on screen...and that ain`t changing anytime soon.

[Jungleroom76]

You can not force respect, nor recognition of any person or thing.
Elvis has been given little respect for the last 20 years by the bulk of the younger generations and they are influenced by people who now write the pop music and rock music magazines who do not seem to hold Elvis in the same esteem and standing as the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton etc.......they see him as more performer than real true creative artist-because IMO he did not write songs and was not a total master of the guitar. He is seen as having wasted his talents from 1961-62 into 1968 by way of concentrating on his movie career which let his musical career languish as new artists took over.
They do see his rebirth in 68-69 but then see decline after 1973 and unfortunately see him as a parody until his death.
It is so hard to make unseeing people realise the impact of Elvis in 1954, see the world before his explosion and the consequences of that explosion which were worldwide in all forms of culture and art.
Some of this is Elvis's fault for not being more attentive to his growth, but Parker did not encourage artist growth he encouraged profit growth and Elvis trusted the Colonels show business savvy for the bulk of his career-toward the end he was starting to see that Colonel may not always have the correct answer and approach to his career-IMO
But instead of understanding how Elvis was manipulated-todays young see him as weak and uncaring about what he did..........so respect does not come forth.
Before Elvis the music was so middle of the road, in the main-yet many young people today think Elvis was just that- "in the main.... in the middle of the road"
The young ones who see and hear the magic of Elvis....get it right away......the others will probably never get it...IMO it can not be forced.

Once again Ken, I have to agree with you 100%!!!

I have collected Elvis music since I was 5 years old and as I got older, I always thought about how nice it would be for my children someday to love Elvis as much as I do. So far, I'm not doing so well. My oldest daughter, who just turned 14, really has no interest in Elvis' music at all, despite growing up in a house where Elvis' music was played all the time and she was more or less surrounded by Elvis. Same goes for my son who is 8....he LOVES music, just not Elvis'. My son is definitely developing his own musical tastes...tastes which unfortunately I have a hard time stomaching at times...

I had always hoped that as the kids grew up with Elvis' music being played throughout their early childhood that they would just develop a love for Elvis...unfortunately it appears that didn't work out so well. Oh well....hopefully my youngest daughter (who is 3) will buck the trend of the other 2 kids. 1 for 3 wouldn't be so bad, right??

So basically, what I'm saying here is that if today's generation can't get hooked on Elvis' music by being exposed to it as much as my kids were in my house, how can we expect the younger generation to catch on to Elvis' music in a world where radio stations won't play Elvis' music and CD compilations are always released with the same songs over and over again??? Clearly whatever has been done up to this point to try and get Elvis' music/image out there hasn't been very effective in capturing the younger generations. There have been moments where some things (the A LITTLE LESS CONVERSATION remix) have worked better than others (just about everything else)...but there has been no real consistency. So what is the answer...

TCB!
Mike

[KPM]

I really do not think there is an answer that will suddenly make Elvis seem "hip" or "current" to young folks. Elvis has got all kinds of added exposure in the last 10 years starting in 2000 and much of it has been good.
ALLC hitting worldwide big, his RIAA ranking for solo artists album sales being being traded back and forth with G.Brooks, more and more use of his music in movie soundtracks, a couple of prime time network specials on him, the release of TTWIISE and the EOT release just this last year .....all have helped keep his name and image afloat-but none of it suddenly turned him into "hip" not even ALLC which was truely a global hit-people really liked it and wanted to buy it......but IF he had been alive and kicking it would have been a different story, young people would have said "I need that album to see what else new I might like from this guy"
But everyone including the young people......knew the story-"it was a remix" which actually had more to do with who remixed the song than Elvis singing lead. Unless the same guy was remixing a whole bunch of obscure Elvis songs-there was nothing new to be coming out-
30#1s included ALLC because it topped the British charts and many other countries top singles lists-but the rest of the music although remastered digitally was not new.
ALLC is a hard act to follow-because it was just a perfect storm (as I have said before) it was in all the right places at the right time (25th anniversary year)
Rubberneckin was not as strong, it just did not have the same hook (or perfect circumstances)
It is hard to compete with "touring living breathing acts" the fact that he at times makes a good showing with a record or single is amazing in itself-I am happy for that.

[Raised on Rock]

Young people will search for what is new, that is just natural, and they will only look at the past if there is a rich resourse in creating something new.

Isn't that what Elvis did?

Maybe EPE/SONY is trying to much in make Elvis hip and current until it makes him look phoney, artificial, a total commercial gimmick, VIVA ELVIS; while they have done little to present him as the rich art resourse he is from the past. (VIVA ELVIS destroyed the positive musical press covering Elvis was getting with the recent legacy releases: From Elvis in Memphis, On Stage. That seed of credibility is gone under the Big Fat Joke Elvis is again in Viva Elvis).

Again, is Money vs. Art. Sony and even EPE cares little about Elvis art, they care about keep making money, and they believe presenting him as current and hip is the answer, that's the short view answer. Remember Sillerman plans to make of Graceland Tours, the next Disneyland, excuce my language but ***??? Sure, that in short term will be a success as big as Blue Hawaii, but 25 from now, it will be as cheap as Clambake into the eyes of younger generations.

Guess history repeats itself.

[KPM]

A couple times in his career Elvis was written off as over the hill, or not relevant-and he came back-but "he was the one who came back", with great songs, a change in image, a healthier look and performances.
His own charisma was a great part of that ability to resurrect himself..... but he was here to shine that charisma, sing those songs and to change the image.
No amount of illusion can duplicate that-even in his films and taped performances it did not really convey the presense he projected live in person.
I do not want to kick EPE or Sony too much-they are like every company-profit/loss and overhead are their main concerns and everything else is second.
Elvis left little in the vaults to try and continue his recording legacy after death-he was worn down by terrible music in the 60s and songs which had to go thru the publishing maze which Parker insisted was necessary. When his life began to unravel in the 70s he just was not worried about making music in the studio, it was just more stress more work which he obviously no longer enjoyed.
I truely think that had he left a couple hundred quality masters in the vaults..... the story we see 33 years later may have been much much different-at least it would have left open another avenue for all involved to possibly take, sadly except for concerts recordings really nothing was in the vaults except a few items which were exhausted early on.
Trying to make Elvis as exciting in 2010 as living acts is just not possible IMO you can try and remind people of what he was, and the greatness he had-but if they do not see it its hard without his presense to make them change their minds. Sadly they are the losers when they do not.

[Wendy56]

Elvis is popular no matter what... But I still think the Sonny, BMG, RCA, etc. are focusing their sellings into a new audience. Hits and hits... they do get new fans. But people who have been a fan since long have nothing new. That's a huge marketing failure. But still gives money to EPE.
Elvis image and sound is famous and it goes beyond any marketing tactic for die-hard fans.

[Raised on Rock]

It's all EPE's and RCA/BMG/Sony's fault. They still are re-selling the old 50s and 60s hit. Those songs, despite their historical value and greatness, won't win many new fans and won't give him much airplay on contemporary stations.

Sony should re-evaluate Elvis' catalogue and create albums that have a change to score (on iTunes/radio). During this process they should ignore hit positions of those songs/albums during the 50s/60s/70s. Same goes with the artwork. We all know that 'the mothers in the shopping malls' may pickup an Elvis CD with a cute Teddy Bear kinda picture of Elvis easier than one with a more modern look. But we need to get the new generation listen to Elvis. It's no wonder that among them Suspicious Minds is much better known than Hound Dog.

Get the new audience with these contemporary compilations and then sell them the (already widely available) greatest hits albums (or original albums)

I consider its time to repost Albert's suggestion once again in this conversation.