Hot, Sexy and Dead
Today marks the 30th anniversary of the passing of Elvis Presley, who died of a heart attack on August 16 1977. If you’re more of an optimist, you can look at this as the 30th anniversary of the lucrative Elvis post-mortem marketing dynamo.
There are talks of opening an Elvis-themed resort in Vegas, which at this late date seems a little like opening a Jolson-themed resort the year Elvis died.
As recently as 2004 Elvis topped Forbes’ top-earning dead celebrity list. I think he was knocked off the peak by Johnny Cash and Ray Charles, who were both dead and had movies released about them. He’ll be back soon.
Elvis topped the music charts a few years back with his apres-death remix of A LITTLE LESS CONVERSATION, now the theme to the TV show LAS VEGAS. The original is almost 40 years old.
What is the strange mystique that Elvis had, which reaches out from the grave like Sissy Spacek’s hand at the end of CARRIE? Why do we still worship him while Jim Morrison is a cult item, and Kurt Cobain is but an influential memory? I think its because Elvis managed to stay so fresh for so long. When you get a chance some time, check out his 1968 comeback special. There he was, in the rock business for over 15 years, in black leather and looking like a really confident kid. It was only in the last couple of years that he really blew up and lost his mind.
Lots of dead people have charisma, but I guess Elvis had the kind of charisma uniquely suited to work even after death. Much like Gene Tierney, Marilyn Monroe and Humphrey Bogart. And David Letterman, who is still alive but often SEEMS dead.
So this week do something elvis-y. Whether it’s taking too many prescription drugs, eating fattening southern food or starring in a series of increasingly lame movies, take the opportunity to honor the man who changed civilization forever.
-daniel k
August 18th, 2007 at 4:59 am
Wow– Elvis’ being-alive career spanned from 1955 to 1977: his being-dead career is thirty years long and counting. Not bad. Of course, if we’re looking at proportional dead vs. alive careers Kurt Cobain and Jim Morrison have him beat.
The evergreen quality of Elvis’ enduring fame is something of a mystery. I tend to think he was so wide-ranging a talent — music, TV, movies, interior decoration, pharmacopian– he’s like the elephant to the blind man.
It might be a 50s thing as well. You can go into a cheesy gift shop (San Francisco has lots of these) and find stuff like posters of imagined scenes in diners with Elvis, James Dean and Marilyn Monroe sharing onion rings. Bogart can sometimes be seen lurking in the background as well, but not often (he’s kind of a square).
Here’s a challenge for the hacks who make these nostalgia mashups: Presley, Kobain, and Morrison hanging out in the Jungle Room swilling cough syrup and watching three TVs at once. I’d even pay for framing for that one.