Take THAT Elvis, Baby Boomers

[Miasma]

Dead Kurt Cobain beats dead Elvis.  Woohoo, my generation has finally bumped off Elvis.

NEW YORK, Oct 24 (Reuters Life!) - Rock 'n' roll legend Elvis Presley ceded his crown to Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain on Forbes.com's list as the top-earning dead celebrity.

The list, published on Tuesday, said grunge rocker Cobain earned $50 million between October 2005 and October 2006. Presley wound up in the No. 2 slot with $42 million, down from last year's $45 million.

Forbes.com bases its dollar amounts on licensing deals for using the deceased celebrities' work or image in advertising or elsewhere.

This was Cobain's first time on the list in its six years of publication. Presley has ruled the roost since its inception, said Forbes.com staff writer Lacey Rose.

Cobain's coup was due to his widow, actress and singer Courtney Love, who sold a 25-percent stake in the Seattle grunge group's song catalog to New York music publishing company Primary Wave.

Ranked after Presley is "Peanuts" cartoon strip creator Charles Schulz at $35 million.

Rounding out the top five were Beatle John Lennon at $24 million and groundbreaking physicist Albert Einstein at $20 million, whose estate profited from such licensing deals as the popular "Baby Einstein" educational videos.

Other celebrities on the list include Theodore Geisel, better known as children's book author Dr. Seuss; rhythm & blues pioneer Ray Charles, silver screen legend Marilyn Monroe and reggae superstar Bob Marley.

Past top earners include songwriter Irving Berlin and actor Marlon Brando.

Where the fuck are my Kurt Cobain commemorative plates and velvet paintings?

[HaemishM]

At least Elvis knew how to fire a shotgun.

[Signe]

Righ was reading me this the other day.  I'm not surprised.  Kurt did ok with a gun... he hit exactly what he was aiming for.  Elvis, on the other hand, couldn't even manage a crap.

[Engels]

I think that is bogus. Adjusting for inflation, Elvis is still king by miles.

[Signe]

Elvis sucks.  He always sounded drunk.  Elvis Costello is ok, though.

[Miasma]

I think that is bogus. Adjusting for inflation, Elvis is still king by miles.

There is no inflation, those numbers are what they earned in the last year through licensing, merchandise etc.

[stray]

Elvis sucks.  He always sounded drunk.  Elvis Costello is ok, though.

You are now my enemy, Signe.

[Engels]

There is no inflation, those numbers are what they earned in the last year through licensing, merchandise etc.

Ok, but still, it seems unfair. Now, if they compared Elvis' merchandising sales x years after his death, then compared Cobain's sales x years after his death, then I think Elvis would still be king.

Elvis died in 77, so to be accurate, you'd have to measure revenue from Elvis' merchandizing revenue in '89, adjusted for inflation, against Cobain's merch sales now. Or alternately, compare Cobain's merch sales in 2033, 39 years after Cobain's death.

I hate elvis music, and I like Nirvana, but let's get real; Cobain is a pimple on Elvis' dessecated posterior.

[WayAbvPar]

Elvis sucks.  He always sounded drunk.  Elvis Costello is ok, though.

You are now my enemy, Signe.

OTOH, she is again one of my personal heroes. I loathe Elvis.

[Llava]

I didn't know you could hate Elvis.

I understand just not liking the music, but hating Elvis just seems like.... hating Thor.

[Signe]

I don't hate Elvis.  I just think he sings like he's drunk and in his movies he looks as if he's going to fall over.  I would absolutely tip over if I swaggered around like him.  I mean, really... how many of you sit around and listen to old Elvis albums.  Maybe Dark Vengence did... but I think he's passed away or something.  I can't even imagine Stray thinking, "Ooooh!  Friday night!  Time to get home and pop on some Viva Las Vegas!"

I think most people under 65 who like Elvis like him because they're supposed to.  But then, again, maybe I should try and cut back on the thinking.

[HaemishM]

You had to like Elvis in my house. My dad was a huge Elvis fan.

But if you listen, Elvis is really good music, not because he's a great songwriter, but he's a great entertainer and a damn good arranger of other folks' songs. He's best when he's live.

[Engels]

I like Elvis for the person he was more than his music. I mean, how many celebrities do you know that hang out at a Cadillac dealership and buy window-shoppers cars as they pass by?

[stray]

I can't even imagine Stray thinking, "Ooooh!  Friday night!  Time to get home and pop on some Viva Las Vegas!"

The Elvis that came back from the army wasn't even Elvis. It's Colonel Parker humiliating and exploiting one of the most original singers of rock 'n' roll. The Elvis I like is the one that fused country and blues and created rockabilly.

This Elvis.

Though he had some cool later periods as well......But Viva Las Vegas wasn't it.

It's a shame that that's what he's remembered for.

[Righ]

created rockabilly

He was important (especially as a popularizer, if not an original contributor) but 'created' is over-selling his contribution just a tad. It was his voice that was special. I'd suggest that he's mostly remembered today for his late 60s 'comeback' period, where he ditched crappy movies for a reinvention of his rock sound. Not least because of well-known covers of tracks such as Suspicious Minds and Always On My Mind and the huge reissue of A Little Less Conversation.

For iconic and pioneering American rock crooners, I prefer Roy Orbison by a substantial margin.

[stray]

I'd suggest that he's mostly remembered today for his late 60s 'comeback' period, where he ditched crappy movies for a reinvention of his rock sound. Not least because of well-known covers of tracks such as Suspicious Minds and Always On My Mind and the huge reissue of A Little Less Conversation.

Just seems like whenever I get in a conversation with someone about him, the first things that comes to mind to them is Viva Las Vegas. And images of capes, sideburns, pornstar sunglasses, and pot bellies.

I can't deny that any of that existed, but.....He really was a true artist at one point in time. Strange as it may seem.


I like Roy Orbison too, but even he has said it wasn't until Elvis vistied Texas that he decided to sing rock.

And while he's an amazing singer, and technically, a better one.....I don't think he's as inventive (talking about early Elvis' high pitched lilt and whatnot.....Which was really fucking weird for the time).

[HaemishM]

Look, there were better singers than Elvis during the start of rock n roll, Orbison being one of them. There were better musicians, like Jerry Lee Lewis. There were definitely better songwriters since he only wrote 1 song in his entire career that I know of, songwriters like Buddy Holly. Elvis was the total package though, that perfect storm of good singing, good choice of music, good marketing, good looks and good showmanship that hit at just the right time. By the time of his comeback, he'd honed his showmanship down to an artform.

[schild]

Short of Kentucky Rain and Lithium, both artists sucked imo.

[stray]

Kentucky Rain is way on the bottom of my list. I don't even consider it moderately "OK" (though it is better than "Rock a Hula").

I would rather to listen to Blue Moon of Kentucky.

I liked Nirvana, but I don't care enough to defend them. Hate away. Be my guest. I'm sure that's what Cobain wanted anyways.

[Merusk]

Kurt would indeed have loved that he's hated.  Musician & 'rock star' seems an odd career choice for someone who hated the limelight and publicity as much as he said he did.  Perhaps when they signed the agreement with their label they figured they'd toss a few CDs out, make a little cash then fade into obscurity. (Lord knows enough bands do just that.)

There is no inflation, those numbers are what they earned in the last year through licensing, merchandise etc.

Ok, but still, it seems unfair.

It's only "unfair" if you want Elvis to remain #1. Jarring, perhaps, but hardly unfair.  It's like saying that it's unfair that Mozart isn't the #1 act in all of Europe anymore! Hell, if you count all the money made on his name since his birth he'd blow Elvis, Kurt and the other top 10 away even if you combined them all.  Or Jesus, he'd be the real #1 money earner, though classifying him as an entertainer might rankle a few feathers.

Icons fall, culture changes.  Elvis is doomed to become irrelevant, as is Cobain.

[Signe]

Jerry Lee Lewis.  Elvis.  Didn't they also share a great love for little girls?  I read in a very nasty article that Elvis had very nearly no sex drive at all unless he was with a very young girl.  I also read that he didn't have sex with most of his girlfriends.  I guess they kept aging or something.

[Sky]

The Elvis I like is the one that fused country and blues and created rockabilly.

Chuck Berry is rolling in his grave.

[Endie]

Reading the article, it's kinda a one-off, thanks to Courtney whoring off some of the rights to a management company.

That said, he's on constant rotation.  I could live a few years without hearing Lithium, In Bloom and Smells Like..., by way of a break.  And I was there, goatee, plaid shirt and all...

[Llava]

No laughs for my Thor comparison?

Fine, fuck you all.  That was gold.

[HaemishM]

Kobain sold more than Elvis last year because there was "new" material out. That won't happen again, and Elvis will regain the crown. Not because Cobain isn't popular but he has SO MUCH LESS product to sell. He did what 4 or 5 albums? Elvis has ASSTONS of compliations, greatest hits, movies, DVD's, albums, etc. etc. etc. Just on sheer quantity of shit to peddle Elvis wins.

That shows you what a fucking effectiev whoremonger Col. Tom was. He farted and another compliation of Elvis songs came out, mostly of already recorded material.

[stray]

The Elvis I like is the one that fused country and blues and created rockabilly.

Chuck Berry is rolling in his grave.

Chuck berry was blues, swing, and rock 'n' roll. While his riffs contributed in a big way, he wasn't rockabilly any more than Bill Haley was. Chuck Berry was a guitarist who popularized blues more than he ever was a guitarist who fused country/hillbilly shit with blues. He didn't even come close to doing that.

Besides Elvis, the only guys who should get early credit for rockabilly are Carl Perkins and Sam Phillips. After Elvis, there's Rick Nelson, Eddie Cochran, and Gene Vincent. Chuck is arguably the biggest/earliest pioneer for rock and roll, but he's still in a different league than rockabilly per se.

[edit]

Also.....

He's not dead.

[Righ]

Bill Haley's early recordings most certainly were rockabilly. And though folks remember the rockers who popularized the sound, artists like Hank Williams were as instrumental in creating it. But it was Sam Phillips that put it all together.

[stray]

What I'm trying to say is that Elvis was the first to fuse it all together within the same songs. Bill Haley did swing and rock, and some country swing tunes.....But in separate songs. Hank Williams was definitely influential, but was still straight up country. Chuck is blues and rock. Orbison was rock and country, a little r &b, and arguably, operatic heh....But he did all of that stuff in different phases and songs.

Elvis on the other hand, didn't just do a blues number here or a country song there. He incorporated both styles within the same songs. And it was all instigated by Elvis himself on accident, more or less. Just a moment before Sam Phillips was about to ditch him (read the origin of That's All Right).

I'm not trying to deny the influence artists before Elvis had on him though. They did have influence. But being influential and making bonafide rockabilly songs aren't the same thing. Those early Sun tracks lay the complete framework for what became known as rockabilly. They didn't just have elements of it like everything else. They crystallized it: Slap echo, the percussive stand up bass, country boogie guitar mixed with blues riffs and bends, and Elvis' yelling and crazy vocal stylings.

I'd say the same thing about Hip Hop. A lot of musicians led up to it. James Brown, 70's funk, Breakbeat DJ's, Beat Poets, and hell, even Bob Dylan all had a hand in influencing Rap and Hip Hop.....But none of them were hip hop per se.

[Righ]

If you like, but I think that you're narrowing rockabilly down to sell up his part.

[stray]

I'm not trying to do that at all. I love all of those musicians from that era and before. My albums sets of Hank, Roy, Chuck, and Holly are just as sizable as anything I have from Elvis. I'm a bigger fan of them than most people are, for sure. If I thought I could, I'd sell their part too. I honestly believe what I wrote though.

I just couldn't possibly say Hank Williams or Roy Orbison or Chuck Berry are Rockabilly. The only guys who deserve that kind of credit outside Elvis is Sam Phillips (without him, no one would have recognized or known how to record Elvis right) and Carl Perkins' guitar playing (someone who Scotty Moore, Elvis' guitar player, completely idolized and tried to emulate).

[Lantyssa]

They're both dead and they both earn more in one year than most of us will in our lifetimes.  Do we really care? :P

[Big Gulp]

You are now my enemy, Signe.

Seconded.

[Big Gulp]

I think most people under 65 who like Elvis like him because they're supposed to.  But then, again, maybe I should try and cut back on the thinking.

Love, love, love Elvis.  The man was a God as far as I'm concerned.

You know who I really hated with the fury of a thousand suns?  The Beatles.  Overrated, limp wristed, limey shit.

[stray]

Aww. John Lennon was cool, man.


But at least you know what's up with the King  .

[Signe]

I don't like the Beatles either.  And stop being my enemies over a bunch of dead old farts!   Sheesh.  Isn't there anything a bit more controversial to hate me for?  This feels like an empty hate.