likethebike posted this very stimulating topic on the FECC board. EIN found his original posting and KiwiAlan's response very interesting:

likethebike: These are some questions for folks like Colin, Ger and Kiwi who were around in the 1950s when Elvis broke. I'm taking it for granted that the television shows- Ed Sullivan, Milton Berle etc. - did not air your homelands. If that is a mistaken assumption please correct it. What I want to know is how Elvis scaled the heights of popularity in your countries? Was it strictly based on the records alone? Did you know about the swivel hips and the wild visual performance style when you heard "Hound Dog", "Heartbreak Hotel" basically the pre-movie stuff? Was Love Me Tender the first time you saw Elvis perform? I guess Loving You would be the first view of the real Elvis performance style. Did you even know about these tv shows? Were they in news clips? When did you actually get to see the TV clips? It would pain me if you had to wait till the '70s when they started doing all those retrospectives.

I know when they interviewed Lennon he always talked of Elvis on record.

I know that's a lot but I am interested. In some ways coming from outside the US, it's a different Elvis story. Thanks in advance for any help, insight.

KiwiAlan: As far as NZ was concerned. It was the music. NZ had no TV sevice untill 1960. The earliest I recall seeing Elvis on a cinema news clip was during the army years.

The movie Love Me Tender first screened here May 1957.

NZ embraced rock and roll in a huge way. During 55 to most of 57 Bill Haley was the favourite with the two movies Rock Around The Clock and Don't Knock The Rock.

Compare the two movies..... Rock Around The Clock to Love Me Lender from a rock and roll point of view.

Touring by American stars were prolific - my first concert was Connie Francis, The Platters, Little Richard and Gene Vincent all on the one show.

Untill the early 60's every radio station was owned by the government and they choose what got airtime and what was banned. Hound Dog slipped through the net and after numerous complaints from the PC brigade they made sure Hard Headed Woman and A Big Hunk Of Love were banned because they were too noisy. Strange but true.

In the early years Blue Moon Of Kentucky, I Forgot To Remember to Forget and mystery Train were reasonable hits. Blue Suede shoes was a single...a huge hit and the song which cemented Elvis as THE rocker. (Carl Perkins never had a chance...to our ears, then, his Blue Suede Shoes sounded hokey.

NZ had a healthy respect for R&B, the Blues and Country music because of our ethnic polynesian mix and the influence of country music courtesy of the thousand and thousands of southern boys staging through NZ during WW11.


Lawdy Miss Clawdy was a smash hit thanks to NZ's version of Elvis....Johnny Devlin. He was the Elvis surrogate if you will. Like Cliff Richard in the UK.

So with no TV by the time Loving You screened Elvis was the "king"....and it was all down to the music....talent did win out.

Poor Boy was a double sided hit with Blue Moon Of Kentucky.

I think the most unusual NZ only Elvis hit was I'm Not The Marrying Kind.