30th Anniversary of the King’s Death- Elvis Presley Lives On

You know I couldn’t let the day go by without posting about Elvis Presley. I wish I could be in Graceland with the rest of the Elvis Fans, and on the other hand I’m a private enough person that I would rather enjoy Graceland at my leisure and alone.

I’m certainly not an obsessed Elvis fan, but I do have a picture of him (alongside other dead celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe & James Dean) in my office bathroom, kind of ironic it’s near the toilet… I can tell you what my favorite Elvis movie is and my favorite songs- and that’s about the extent of my love (yes love) of Elvis.

Follow that Dream is my favorite Elvis movie. A must see for any Elvis fan- Follow that Dream is actually hilarious and has a great plot line. It’s Elvis’ best movie and if he would have made more like it- people might have actually thought he was actor material and not a joke on the big screen. Poor Elvis, I don’t go along with blaming the Colonel for the abundance of crappy film roles, after all Elvis was a big boy too and certainly in every big boy’s vocabulary exists the word NO! In fact he should have tried out the word NO- before deciding to star in Spinout.

I am definitely a fan of Elvis’s music- listening to Elvis always seem to elevate my mood. Somewhere in my top ten list of bands and singers, Elvis would be nestled between the Clash and Billy Holiday. As a singer there is no one like Elvis, he has a distinct sound that crosses back and forth between tenor and baritone. Not only is his voice distinct but he also crosses back and forth between genres singing soulful gospel on one song, and a sort of campy style on others that no one can imitate or even come close too.

My favorite Elvis tunes include;

That’s All Right / Blue Moon of Kentucky

It’s Now or Never

T-R-O-U-B-L-E

Santa Claus Is Back in Town (Christmas is not complete without Elvis playing in my home.)

I really could go on and on…

In fact I really can’t think of any Elvis songs I don’t like- except for In The Ghetto, which makes me cringe every time it’s played. There’s something strange about the way Elvis annunciates the word “ghetto” and it seems implausible to me that Elvis had any dealing in the Ghetto after becoming famous. Nonetheless, I will be waiting with baited breath for the new release of In The Ghetto- a duet between Lisa Marie and her Daddy released for the anniversary of her Father’s death that will be available on Spinner.com tomorrow.

One of the things, that I find actually admire about the celebrities of yesteryear (such as Elvis and Marilyn as well as others) is then stars had the decency to keep their problems and drug abuse under wraps or at the very least tried to. The celebrities of today actually glorify their drug abuse and rehab stints making it harder to tell children and stupid adults that “NO you can’t be successful and a drug addict.” The other big difference between celebrities of now and then is that the majority of past celebrities actually had a talent, whether singing or acting. Now in order to make it to the top all you need is a large bankroll and or family name (or perhaps a stolen sex tape) to become a household name.

It’s actually too bad Elvis isn’t still around- maybe if he would have sobered up, he would have kicked some ass in Hollywood. After all he was a black belt in karate and he even fancied himself a special agent under Nixon in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. I am certain a cleaned up Elvis even at 72 could knock some sense into Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, Pete Doherty, David Hasselhoff… somebody please stop me!

Elvis still is the King and 30 years later were still celebrating the fact. I can guarantee that more than half the names in the entertainment section today will be long forgotten before thirty years is up.

If you love Elvis a little or a lot- I’d love to hear from you. Share your favorite Elvis songs, movies, and moments or why he still rocks!