The Pop Story

Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley (1956)

I can’t be alone, as someone born in Britain in the late ’70s, in being first exposed to the sound of rock’n’roll and rockabilly via those twin, distinctly English, cyphers of ersatz ’50s nostalgia: Shakin’ Stevens and the Hi-De-Hi theme tune. For some time, the influence of both (and make no mistake, I was a massive Shakin’ Stevens fan aged 6) coloured my response to this music. It was for kids, right?

This can’t be the only reason I’ve been generally unfascinated by Elvis all my life, but the fact remains that this is the first time I’ve actually listened to Elvis Presley’s debut all the way through. As a pop bore, I know the back story, I’m aware of the cultural relevance, I appreciate the sheer seismic importance of this record. But listening with fresh ears, it sounds like a total car crash.

A generally thrilling car crash, obviously, but wow - who on earth is this Elvis guy trying to be? He shifts from the visceral to the lachrymose to the (no other way of putting it) mental, quite often in the same song. This is obviously the point: his vocal stylings are so distinctive, the echo piled on so thick, he literally sounds like an hysterical alien. God only knows how he sounded to the Don Drapers of 1956, sitting safe in their Sinatra world.

His vocals on I’ll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin’) and Blue Moon (have you actually listened to the latter lately? Insane) are bizarre by any standards, even in 2009. From thinking this was music for kids, I’ve become convinced this is the oddest sound I’ve ever heard. (For now).

Listen to Elvis Presley on Spotify

The Original Broadway Cast - Kiss Me Kate (1949)

Ok, so the ’40s wasn’t a great decade for music if Kiss Me Kate is the best they could do. The problem I have with musicals is that everyone sounds like they’re having a jolly time, but you’re not included. This is the reason why rock’n’roll sounded the death knell for musicals as a cultural phenomenon: once Elvis arrived, howling directly at you, for you, articulating all your fears and desires, a bunch of numpties crooning tortuous plot points of a story that had no basis in reality inevitably seemed a little anachronistic.

I’m afraid I can’t take much more of this, so I will move on.

Kiss Me Kate on Spotify