Elvis and Me

I don't often get my byline on the front page of USA Today, but it's there today, with fellow reporter Marco R. della Cava, above a story about Elvis Presley in the 30 years since his death. (If Karl Rove hadn't quit, we'd have been above the fold.) Marco and I (well, mainly Marco, to be honest) look at how the Elvis legacy has changed over 30 years and what's in store (like a Cirque du Soleil production). One of my favorite parts is a sidebar on babies named Elvis. In 1935, there were 49 baby boys born in the United States named "Elvis." One of those, of course, was Elvis Aaron Presley. The named dropped off the Social Security Administration's list of top 1000 baby names in 1948, but it came roaring back in 1956, with 416 baby Elvises (Elvii?). The best year for little Elvises was 1957, with 595 of them (that's the year of "Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear," btw), and there was another spike following his death (364 in 1978). There was a similar spike for some reason in 1999 (360) and last year, there were 272 baby Elvis in the U.S. However, there were 935 girls named Presley - a naming trend that's been on the rise since making its first Top 1000 appearance in 1998.

My favorite quote that didn't make the story came from author Alanna Nash, who wrote the fantastic book The Colonel: The Extraordinary Story of Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis Presley. She said: "[Robert F.X.] Sillerman [the majority owner of Elvis Presley Enterprises (and American Idol, for that matter)] is the new Tom Parker - he just has better taste."

Also, it's worth nothing that the most popular Elvis download isn't even an original recordings - it's Junkie XL's 2002 remix of "A Little Less Conversation." And if you're in the mood for having your Elvis filtered through more modern tastes, check out Ickmusic's collection of Elvis cover videos.