a blog about elvis presley's music and the records it can be found on
WHAT SERIES OF ELVIS SINGLES receives even less attention from collectors than the “new black” label Gold Standard singles from the late ’70s? The Collectables Records titles! In fact, most Elvis collectors have dismissed the idea of even adding Collectables 45s and LPs to their want-lists. This is a shame as there are a lot of interesting pieces to pursue, as this article makes evident. READ MORE
BACK IN JANUARY, I was asked to answer a question on Quora: What was the first British #1 hit for Elvis Presley? My answer was short although not necessarily simple: I noted that some UK charts listed Heartbreak Hotel as reaching #1 while others only placed it at #2. The first single to reach #1 on all the major charts was All Shook Up. READ MORE
COMING SOON!
TO A SCREEN NEAR YOU
An all NEW series of updated and rewritten articles about the Elvis Presley Gold Standard Series of 45 rpm singles and EP albums!
NEW discographies – NEW labelographies – NEW photos of some really rather rare records!
Plus an all NEW, up-to-date price guide!!!
I have been busy completely revamping the series of nine articles I wrote about Elvis’ Gold Standard singles and picture sleeves and the new articles will be so, so, so much better:
More complete. READ MORE
WHAT WAS ELVIS PRESLEY’S BIGGEST HIT? The term “hit” almost always refers to one side of a single, whether it is an antiquated 45 rpm single (1949-1989) or a prehistoric 78 rpm single (1898-1958). The term is relative: A record that made it to #88 and stayed on the national Top 100 for three weeks in 1966 would be a big hit for a rock & roll band on a local record company that only received airplay and distribution in northeastern Pennsylvania. READ MORE
BY JANUARY 1968, a new Elvis single was successful if it merely reached the Top 40 and sold 300,000 copies. This was a far cry from three years before when a new single reached the Top 20 and sold at least a half million copies. And that was a far cry from the dizzying heights of 1960 when a Presley hit sold in the millions!
IN THE SUMMER OF 1966, I heard Elvis’s new single on the radio and hurried to the record store to buy a copy. I always tried to buy new singles as soon as they came out so that I could find a copy with a picture sleeve. Upon seeing the sleeve for this new Elvis single, Spinout / All That I Am, I was confused: Elvis’ face was puffy and round and he had the most ridiculous, un-hip hairdo imaginable. READ MORE
ELVIS PRESLEY OWNED 1956! That year he ascended the heavens of popularity to become the most talked-about new personality in the last ten years of recorded music! By the end of the year, he had six #1 records on various charts, sold more than 12,000,000 singles, and was universally known, both derisively and affectionately, as “Elvis the Pelvis.” READ MORE
IN THE YEAR 2000, instead of Y2K we got THE BEATLES 1, an album that collected Beatles’ number one hits around the world. Despite recycling endlessly recycled sides, it sold more than 10,000,000 copies in its first twelve months of release! And then it kept on selling: it is certified by the RIAA for sales of 11,000,000 in the US alone. READ MORE
THE ORIGINAL RIAA GOLD RECORDS were introduced in 1958, and there were only two awards: a Gold Record for singles, and a Gold Record for LPs. To qualify, a single must have sold a minimum of 1,000,000 copies, while an LP album must have sold $1,000,000 at the manufacturer’s wholesale price. There were no “unit” sales required for LP certification, and there were no Platinum Record Awards. READ MORE