What's your favorite Elvis single? (Poll)

Loads of great singles. The only one I never liked was Crying In The Chapel. Voted Suspicious Minds.

 

I went with 'Suspicious Minds'.

In truth, I was never much of an Elvis fan. I don't hate any of the above, but don't feel passionately about any of them either.

Other ones that could have had my vote were 'Way Down', 'In The Ghetto' and '(Marie's The Name) His Latest Flame'.

 

How big was "Way Down"? Did it receive frequent radio play?

 

It went to #1 here as it was the single out when he died.

 

Because of his death or based on it's own merits?

 

His death, I think.

It's OK, but was floundering in the charts until he died, then it shot to #1.

We do that a lot here.

 

That happens everywhere. I'm still surprised "Burning Love" was a hit.

 

Very difficult to choose one. Love "That's All Right" and "Heartbreak Hotel" a lot but I voted for "Don't Be Cruel", written by the brilliant Otis Blackwell (who also penned the likes of "All Shook Up", "Fever", "Great Balls Of Fire" and "Handy Man").

 

OMG you like Elvis too? Very eclectic taste in music Thom.
@Bobby Morrow what were his biggest hits in the UK that you remember hearing on the radio?

 

Impossible to choose but I went with Don't Be Cruel.

 

I like Elvis from his Sun hits of 1954/55 to about 1968 or so. That Elvis was cool. Not a fan of the later Elvis. I just act like he retired after the 1968 Elvis TV special (slim, youthful, healthy and on top).

 

That's the image of Elvis I visualize when I listen to his music. Not the heavy set guy with the vintage shades,chop sideburns and flamboyant jumpsuits.

 

I didn't really start listening to chart music until 1973 and he'd had his day by then. He had hits with stuff like My Boy, Polk Salad Annie, Fool, Promised Land and Moody Blue after 1973 here, but none of them did much for me.

Of course, many of the songs in your poll were played on 'oldies' stations.

 

By the way, did you know Elvis was an ONJ fan? He said she was his favourite female singer in the mid-70's. Of course, he was on drugs by then.

He even covered a couple of Olivia's hits.

 

My Boy is a bad song and I've never understood why it was so popular. I came across the original french version by Claude Francois yesterday and it's even worse. Listen at own risk.

 

What an honor. What he sees in her I'll never understand. (Unless it's physical )

 

Suspicious Minds - not surprised to see it in the lead.

 

Yeah, that Elvis doesn't exist for me. I've read Peter Guralnick's Elvis books (Last Train To Memphis and Careless Love)... and they're really well written and brilliantly researched and informative, but Elvis' decline in the 1970s was just tragic and depressing to read about.

 

What mostly led to it? Old age? Drug abuse?

 

Drugs and an overall unhealthy lifestyle. He started taking uppers and downers while in the army in Germany in 1959.

 

He was 42 at his death. It was substance abuse (a lot of pills) and as @ClausH says, an unhealthy lifestyle (diet, insomnia and so on). He had a lot of health problems. And like Michael Jackson, he had a doctor (George Nichopolous, or 'Dr Nick') who prescribed him a lot of medications/pills, that Elvis became addicted to and abused (fatally).

 

R.I.P. King of Rock
R.I.P. King of Pop

 

@Thom any essential singles from the 70's?

 

@Mike Bass is quiet today. I think we wore him out.

 

As soon as I mentioned Madonna he went ghost. Lol