30 years ago

[stoney]

30 years ago Elvis Presley died. If he would still be alive, he would be 72 now.
You have to wonder how the industry would be if he lived.
While I was not a major fan he sure chnaged the music world. He was the first mover and shaker!
He has sold the most number of recordings of any perfpormer in history. According to Prissla on Larry King last night, sales have surpassed a BILLION UNITS!!!

soo Elvis
S A L U T E!

[Lightning]

Elvis has only sold more units than any performer in history because the really great earlier ones where alive before recording! If Mozart were alive today, he'd outsell Elvis. He was the top rock star of his day. And Beethoven. Well, people said the same thing about him and his music that they said about Elvis in his time. His music's too dangerous! It will corrupt our youth!

When I was a kid I used to play my parents' Elvis records and sing along at the top of my lungs. I think some of my friends thought I was weird because I'd get up and dance to the "old people music" when they played it at community dances. I must admit though that even though I remember a lot from around the same time, I don't remember hearing about his death. Was it all over the news at the time or had his popularity faded enough that it was just sort of announced and they moved on to the next story?

I bet thirty, forty, fifty years from now, people are still claiming they see Elvis.

[stoney]

Originally Posted by Lightning

Elvis has only sold more units than any performer in history because the really great earlier ones where alive before recording! If Mozart were alive today, he'd outsell Elvis. He was the top rock star of his day. And Beethoven. Well, people said the same thing about him and his music that they said about Elvis in his time. His music's too dangerous! It will corrupt our youth!

When I was a kid I used to play my parents' Elvis records and sing along at the top of my lungs. I think some of my friends thought I was weird because I'd get up and dance to the "old people music" when they played it at community dances. I must admit though that even though I remember a lot from around the same time, I don't remember hearing about his death. Was it all over the news at the time or had his popularity faded enough that it was just sort of announced and they moved on to the next story?

I bet thirty, forty, fifty years from now, people are still claiming they see Elvis.

"I don't know if we'll ever see anything like it again, you know?"
PRISCILLA PRESLEY
on Elvis Presley's lasting legacy, as thousands of fans flocked to Graceland in Memphis, Tenn., to honor the singer, who died 30 years ago Thursday

That's the way it was 30 years ago when he died. People were shocked and lost, like the muisc world was going to end. I think that was the biggest driver in creating "I saw Elvis in a shopping mall" They just did not want to accept his death. ofcourse that sold tabloids so they capitolized on it as well. Like him or not he simply was"THE KING" of rock.

[keith]

One blogger's reminiscence about The Day the Music Died for him.

Elvis never died in the popular imagination, what with all the “sightings” and the look-alike industry. When I surfed the Internet just now for a picture–in plentiful supply–his voice emerged from my computer singing You’ll Never Walk Alone. My heart trembled, and I remembered: it wasn’t just his hips or his smile that was sexy and wonderful: it was his voice. Rest in peace, sweet king.

Another speaks of The Other Day The Music Died

No matter what generation you are from, if you're a music lover, you remember certain events: those of the Baby Boomer's generation remember where they were when Elvis died, those of Generation Jones remember where they were when John Lennon was shot, and those of the MTV Generation remember where they were when it came out that Milli Vanilli were fakes. Different generations tend to remember different things.

From The Day the Music Died

If you were an Elvis fan on August 16,1977, I'll bet you can remember with total recall the moments surrounding that horrible news that Elvis had died.

The winning essay this month.... The Day Elvis Died...

I was living in an army ghetto in Europe, surrounded by nineteen and twenty year olds who didn't know. Got back to the States and learned about it from my Mom talking...she took the news hard as did most of her lady friends.

Regards,
Keith

[KateOYM]

What people forget is there is something like this for every generation people of that "era" remember- as you said before. I guess for my generation it's 2Pac. People still claim they see him, there's talk of how his autopsy showed tattoos in different places then he had them, and there's talk of conspiracy. There's a truly great story to every "too-soon" musician's death. I'm sure the next one will be just as controversial.

Must agree with you though, RIP Elvis! Thanks for the jams