Since the recent release of "Too Much Monkey Business" on the FTD-label a lot of discussions started about the need of "Elvis having a face-lift", while the recent announcement of "The Wonder of You" as future single in Europe only added fuel to the fire.
A very large group of fans stick to the opinion that Elvis' work is good enough the way he recorded the songs himself. When other people can't enjoy it that way, too bad for them, it is their loss. This sounds very reasonable, a lot of Elvis songs are still very strong and not outdated at all. The success of the recent compilations in Holland (Artist of the Century, the 3CD set (!) hit the Top 15) Sweden (Swedish Hit Collection hit the Top 10) and the UK ("50 Greatest Hits" made it into the Top 10 too) proves that at least Elvis' major hits are strong enough. Of course the right promotion is needed, and that is what fails often.
Opposite to this first group of fans, there's a group of people that would like to see remixes of Elvis-songs. They reason that Elvis' music will get a wider reach, mainly in the direction of today's youth. After the youth got in touch with Elvis' music this way, they'll learn to enjoy his original work too. Even better would be to let "Elvis do duets" with today's artists, since Tom Jones' recent come back proves this is successful. Both efforts might generate a short term success, but we doubt this will really open up the eyes of the youth. On the other hand… nothing ventured, nothing gained.
What is the gain anyway for us, the current fans, besides a reason to be proud again: "see, our man still hits the charts"? Some people think this might force companies like BMG, Turner and whoever have rights on Elvis-material to release (even) more Elvis-productions.
These discussions serves as a nice handle to do a little poll. We would appreciate it very much when you'd take the time to fill this form out before January 8, 2001. After gathering the results we'll compile an article from it, which we will submit to Elvis Presley Enterprises and BMG too.
Of course all input will be handled with care, and we won't use anything against you!