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[jack clowes]

Well the Host of Angry Messages predicted by Ken
(see below) has finally begun even if they are
all from the same person - unless there are 3
different people all of whom wish to remain
anonymous.

[Ken Barnes]

I think the continuing appeal of Presley has more to do with his position in rock 'n roll history plus his early death than it has with his talent. That and the fact that he's easy to imitate. Rather like Hitler or Chaplin. This is great for attracting for attention but it has very little to do with music or art.

For those of us who demand a little more in the way of musical satisfaction, there are singers who offer more in the way of variety and quality. And there are a lot more of than the media or the record companies realise. As for Presley's film career, he must have had something to be able to sustain a following across some 30 films - most of which were dreadful and have contributed nothing to screen history. Crosby and Sinatra - although they made their share of indifferent films - were both good actors and collected their share of plaudits in the way of Academy Awards. And, as singers, they were both outstanding musically.

[Dominic McHugh]

Hi again!

I think that your supposition that Anonymous is one and the same person is undoubtedly correct, considering the close proximity of the responses.

The exam board Edexcel would seem to agree with the fans of Elvis that his music was wonderful, because on my A level music listening paper last June a piece of his '''music''' was the sole representative of 'pop music'. Luckily for me, all they wanted to know was the name of the singer, his decade, and the genre, as that is the extent of my explorations of this 'artist'. I was glad that each candidate had his own CD to listen to and control, as I could quickly rush through the noise pollution.

No wonder Edexcel is always in the newspapers as Britain's worst exam board. Surely they could have found something like 'You're Sensational' from High Society to fill the popular music category.

Dominic

[Ken Barnes]

On the subject of Anonymous, please see my response to Jack Clowes.

Next week, I have been invited to attend a 3-day conference at Hofstra University in New York. The subject is Bing Crosby and American Culture. This will be attended by leading lights from the worlds of music, film, sports and business. Bing touched so many areas of 20th century culture that people tend to forget that he still holds the record for the biggest number of pop hits. In the USA alone between 1927 and 1962, he scored 368 chart entries under his own name and a further 28 as vocalist with various bands -making a total of 398. Compare this with Sinatra (209),Presley (150)Glenn Miller (129) Nat King Cole (118),Louis Armstrong(85) and the Beatles (6. The facts show that no one else even come close. If Bing's power cooled off after "High Society," it's because he himself cooled off to concentrate on other things that were more important to him. I think it was during this period, his decisions on films and recordings were rather unfocused. He was no longer interested in competing - and with that kind of track record, why should he?

But, as always, there are two versions of history. The received media version and the REAL version. More people are happy to believe the media and leave it at that.

I rest my case.

K.B.