Elvis Presley - Hound Dog

Elvis Presley: Hound Dog

Elvis Presley exploded on the scene in the 1950’s and continued building his momentum into the future decades. One of his biggest hits was one of his first, “Hound Dog.” In the conservative 1950’s Elvis made a big impression on pop culture and the music scene, and it would never look back. His voice and swinging hips drove teens crazy and outraged religious figures, even with the mixed reviews, it is un-doubtable that Elvis Presley was and is one of the biggest recording artists in American history. His home is a museum, and that small town in the middle of the Nevada desert, would maybe still be just that if he hadn’t helped to turn it into “Viva Las Vegas.”

ON June 5th, 1956, Elvis Presley appeared on The Milton Berle Show. He performed his new songs “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You” and “Hound Dog.” His Moves during “Hound Dog” drive kids crazy, press and some adult viewers are appalled. The performance was one of his most controversial ever. It fuels insane popularity among teens, but newspapers across the country voiced outrage, reporting on his “obscene performance” and was condemned by certain factions of the “morally concerned” establishment and religious community. Elvis in the 1950’s was something new, fresh, like no one had seen. He is seen as breaking the rules, crossing musical, racial and social dividing lines of the times. His moves, like the Devil himself were his dance instructor. However, that couldn’t stop his song “Hound Dog,” from topping the Billboard charts for 11 weeks, the longest stint until 1992. He needed to thank much of his success to the teenagers who were trying so desperately to rebel from their parents. They hoisted The King up and never let him come down. The song hit society hard and caused a big stir in America, it was so different from what society was accustomed to. Thanks to the song Elvis received the nickname “Elvis the Pelvis” as a joke, because of the lightheartedness of the song and...