TOO MUCH MONKEY BUSINESS: The Elvis Forum

Here we go again with Disco Revue, the first and most rocking french mag of the sixties. January of 1963 saw the start of "Le phénomène Presley", a few articles based on a book written by Andy Gray in which they present Elvis' career.








Then we have to wait february of 1965 and a special edition celebrating Elvis' 30 years to have Presley on the cover. Note that at this time Elvis will soon begin to shoot Harum Scarum, Frankie and Johnny, Paradise Hawaiian Style and the mag already asks the question: is he still number one in the business ? The inner charts of the month gives an element of answer: Ain't That Loving You Baby is N° 2 (it will make N° 1 a month later !)...

Fasinating seeing Stones, Animals, etc, mixed in with the great
pioneers of Rock n Roll such as Gene , Eddie, Little Richard, etc,
in the top 30 of 1965!! France must have been the only country
in the world who had original 50s recordings in the charts at the
time!
Whats the reason, Rio, one hardly ever sees 2 track 45s from
France in this day and age?! Did the Elvis titles, in the 60s,
only came in standard RCA Company sleeves? The ones that had
little pix printed on front and back of Elvis, Sam Cooke, etc?
And why did RCA France stopped making Elvis EPs in the early 60s?
I have Beatles EPs from 67-68...Was it because hits dried up fast
for Elvis in your country?!

Thanks for posting the rare French magazines, Rio! They surely fill
a gap for collectors of smelly old paper memorabilia!

Ger, don't forget these charts aren't national charts, but they are based on the mail of the readers of Disco Revue. So the national hit-parades hadn't exactley the same look ! Nevertheless, rock and roll was really in the french air then, and the fascinating thing is young people lived in the years 1963 to 1966 sort of two eras at the same time: discovering simultaneously the legendary pioneers of rock and roll (the rock and roll craze didn't hit France in the fifties but in the sixties) and the british invasion of the bands (who themselves did cover many rock and roll classics then) !
Elvis made it to number 1 several times in DISCO REVUE, and yes, I was very proud to have Elvis topping these charts ahead of the Rolling Stones and the Animals for example !


Elvis will top these charts again in 1966 with what the mag calls "his fantastic version of Memphis Tennessee".


A few months later, Elvis is again on the cover of the mag




RCA France didn't stop making EPs in the early sixties. They ended the Elvis series with the EP Double Trouble in 1967. Contrary to what happened in the States, it was the EP which was the main medium here, and not the single. Things only changed near the end of the sixties.
This says why RCA France issued so many Elvis EPs: 39 of them (not counting the reissues with different covers) hit the record shops here !
What I can say is that these EPs are really beautiful items.
Memphis Tennesse didn't have an issue on a single but on an EP.

thanks for correcting me on the closing year(s) of French Elvis EPs.
My love for the ones up to 61-62, and the re-issues with new artwork
on some 50s titles ( Rock n Roll vol 1-5) must have had me overlook the later
ones! Double Trouble?!! Long Legged Girl and... what else?
My memory on the Elvis singles from the mid 60s onwards is pretty poor.
I hated the US cover of Big Boss Man... One night, back in 65, I brought
the single with me to play on a teen-party. I was 13. The other kids,
mainly fans of the English & Dutch 'hairy' bands, laughed out loud
when they looked at the Elvis picture cover... It made me angry...
but he looked so out of date to teens back then in this particular Harem
Holiday publicity shot. The pain a teenager had to go through, in a rapidly
changing world... The sixties. Tell me about it!