Elvis nostalgia was most certainly a thing during this era as well. It was considered a normal question to ask whether someone was more of an Elvis fan or a Beatles fan.
Around this time, Elvis sightings became a thing. He was spotted several times in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Elvis allegedly appeared in the background of an airport scene in the 1990 film Home Alone.
The Elvis Files was broadcast live on August 14, 1991. They take several live calls including a Captain Janks prank call on behalf of Howard Stern. The show presented substantial evidence that Elvis was probably alive. The production value and creepy images of Elvis scared the shit out of me.
Uncle Jesse was probably the most prominent mainstream anchor for Elvis-nostalgia. Here he is in 1988 on the Full House show...
That band Dread Zeppelin did Elvis / Zeppelin nostalgia hybrid jokes in the late '80s. A few years ago, ILX attempted to throw together a list of 100 Songs mentioning Elvis all from the year 1989. They did not hit 100, but 20 or 30 songs is still a lot:
3rd Bass "Brooklyn-Queens"
Alannah Myles "Black Velvet"
Beastie Boys "Johnny Ryall"
Billy Joel "We Didn't Start The Fire"
Cowboy Junkies "Blue Moon Revisited (Song For Elvis)"
Dead Milkmen "Smokin' Banana Peels"
Eurythmics "Angel"
Living Colour "Elvis Is Dead"
Marc Cohn "Walking in Memphis"
Mojo Nixon And Skid Roper "(619) 239-KING"
Paul Simon "Graceland"
Pop Will Eat Itself "Not Now James, We're Busy"
Prefab Sprout "Jordan: The Comeback"
Public Enemy "Fight The Power"
Ray Stevens "I Saw Elvis in a UFO"
Robyn Hitchcock "Queen Elvis"
The Ex "Elvis & I"
The KLF "Elvis on the Radio, Steel Guitar in My Soul"
The Wonder Stuff "Never Loved Elvis"
Tom Petty "Free Fallin'"
U2 "A Room at the Heartbreak Hotel"
Was (Not Was) "Walk the Dinosaur"
Weird Al Yankovic "Velvet Elvis"
1989-1991 also saw teeny bopper magazines prioritizing dudes who look like Elvis or James Dean like Johnny Depp in Crybaby or Jason Priestly and Luke Perry on 90210. Jim Jarmusch's 1989 film Mystery Train began with a 30 minute story about a couple travelling to visit Graceland. David Lynch's Wild At Heart starred a young Nicolas Cage as an Elvis obsessive.
There's more. We made our point though.
The point is that no one gives a fuck about Elvis nostalgia in 2017. And tbh we don't think it has anything to do with anti-boomer/pro-millennial Trump-era resentment, since Beatles-nostalgia is still big BIG business. At least one popular 2017 podcast series starred 3 millennials with discussing easily Googleable Beatles-related factoids and very insightful Beatles-related discourse such as "that song is so amazing." Beatle-clone cover bands celebrated the 50th anniversaries of both Sgt Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour over the past year.
In stark contrast, Elvis nostalgia is simply not the cash cow it once was.
With this in mind, we'd like to present "A BLUE CHRISTMAS," a passage stolen from the now long out-of-print State By State With The State (written and published in 1997) from the section about visiting Mississippi. (The passage is not attributed to any specific writer, but it feels like it was probably written by Thomas Lennon or possibly Michael Ian Black.)
A Blue Christmas
If you stray too far south from Interstate 20 into some of the more remote stretches of Mississippi, you'll notice a curious local phenomenon. Over the past several decades, Santa Claus (a Christmas icon still popular in other areas of the United States) has been gradually replaced. In this region (as well as in some parts of Europe and South America), Christmas carols, decorations, soda ads, and TV specials now impart their Yuletide tidings from a fat jolly, Vegas-era Elvis Presley (a native of Tupelo, Mississippi).
He rings silver bells on every street corner for charity, and a festive plastic King lights every snowy rooftop - his sequined jumpsuit lined with jingle bells, his red Cadillac convertible lined with presents and teenage girls and driven by eight members of the Memphis mafia.
The following is an except of a conversation we overheard in a mall between the child in front of us as we waited in line to have our photo taken on Elvis's lap and the Mall Elvis himself.
MALL ELVIS: Huaka, Huaka little boy. What's your name? Is it Cledis? I'm gonna call you Cledis. I can remember Cledis.
LITTLE BOY: My friends say you're not the real Elvis.
M.E.: Suspicious minds . . . Well, why don't you give a tug on Elvis's sideburns?
L.B.: (Does. They're real.) Gosh!
M.E.: Now, have you been good to your momma?
L.B.: Uhuh.
M.E.: What's the deal with that jelly donut? Can I have it?
L.B.: Uhuh.
M.E.: Thank you. Now, you look like a good boy. Take these keys. There's a brand-new Cadillac right outside for ya!
L.B.: Thank you, Elvis! (Runs off.)
M.E.: You don't be cruel now!
Then Elvis passed out and was led away by some of Elvis's little helpers, who explained that it was time for the King to take a 15 hour medicine break.
Elvis would be 83 as of this forthcoming January 8th, which means that he is probably definitely dead. Happy Holidays.
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