Bibek Acharya
There was really nothing that the King of Rock and Roll couldn’t do. Singer, actor, and worldwide heartthrob, Elvis Presley redefined the fabric of entertainment. Shaking up the status quo was just part of the day job for him, and as such to this day he’s remembered and revered as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century and beyond.
Indeed, some 90 years on from his birth, the music scene – and the world at large – is undoubtedly a very different place, having had Presley in it. From his first single release, ‘Heartbreak Hotel’, in 1956, the airwaves were instantly electrified with a sound so charismatic and distinctive that fans quite literally fell at his feet. This was an era in which everything Presley touched turned to gold dust – but when the cracks began to show, they did so with tragic consequences.
While Presley holds the indestructible title of having the most ever number one albums in the US charts and the most ever number one singles in the UK charts, this is not to say that every one of his songs was a multi-million selling success that saw him soaring straight to the top. Of course, throughout his career, Presley had to fight off his fair share of controversy, which more than once could have threatened his chart supremacy and left his legacy in ruins. It was a mark of the man, indeed a wonder, how that never happened.
The comeback king always managed to claw himself back to the top somehow, even if he did become a little bruised in the process. But as they say, nothing lasts forever, so how long did Presley’s chart-topping reign actually last?
So, did Elvis Presley ever have any flops?
After bolting out from obscurity in the 1950s, Presley reached his career peak roughly between 1958 and 1963. Before that point, despite breakout hits like ‘Hound Dog’ and ‘All Shook Up’, his path to glory was a bit more of a slow burner, with a slew of other singles like ‘Rip It Up’ and ‘Loving You’ only charting relatively in the mid-twenties – but the best was yet to come.
During the period of 1958 to ’63, Presley managed to scoop the majority of his whopping 21 UK number ones, an unbeaten record that stands to this day. However, the perception thereafter was that the golden era could not be replicated—but diving into the records, that legend seems to be a bit of a misnomer.
Granted, yes, the success in the years following wasn’t quite as seismic – but it wasn’t exactly a flop either. Releases from the mid-1960s, including ‘Viva Las Vegas’ and ‘Do the Clam’ slotted quite comfortably down the middle of the road, making Presley everyone’s favourite reliable crooner while the new wave of hippie freedom took over the top of the charts. Of course, from this point forward, the singer’s life began to head south, not so much in a commercial sense but a personal one, increasingly mired by health problems and somewhat losing that spark of electricity that once took the world by storm.
His 1968 comeback helped jolt sleepy public perceptions, and no matter what was going on behind closed doors, the show had to go on. As a result, there was a late rush of top ten scores, including ‘Burning Love’ and ‘Always On My Mind’, solidifying that the King hadn’t quite lost his groove just yet.
Naturally, as the curtains of Presley’s life came to an untimely close, so too did the soaring chart hits – but by this point, an icon had earned his flowers. Every artist goes through their peaks and troughs because, really, it’s a mark of longevity, but there was magic in the way Presley managed, more or less always, to climb right back up. His story may not always have been plain sailing – but it was not a flop by any standards.
