May 2006 : Excerpt from

THE 1950s' MOST WANTED : THE TOP 10 BOOK OF ROCK & ROLL REBELS, COLD WAR CRISES, AND ALL AMERICAN ODDITIES

by Robert Rodriguez

Within weeks of his first RCA single’s release, Elvis was given a coast to coast platform on the Jackie Gleason produced Stage Show, hosted by big band leaders Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. A stint of six weekly appearances solidified his position as the country’s top attraction. He followed this with an electrifying performance of Big Mama Thornton’s “Hound Dog” on the Milton Berle Show, complete with a lascivious bump-n-grind coda that sent millions of adult viewers scrambling for their glycerin pills. As Elvis-mania grew by leaps and bounds, the rising star was increasingly caught in the crossfire between teen adulation and adult condemnation of equal hysteria. Politicians, clergy, and showbiz figures decried the “immoral” corrupting influence of rock and roll in general and Elvis in particular. No less an authority than Ed Sullivan, newspaper columnist and host of the popular Toast of the Town variety program declared that he, for one, would never hire such filth for his show.

Renowned arbiter of good taste and white-bread cool Steve Allen meanwhile watched the tempest brew and it vexed him. He too wished to pull in the viewers Berle’s show did, but couldn’t be seen as caving in to crudity by showcasing the singer. Having Elvis on would surely grab the teens, but at the risk of alienating his core audience. Shrewdly he decided to have it both ways. He booked the singer, but with a wink to his “grown-up” fans, decided to have a little fun at the Presley’s expense.

With much fanfare, he introduced “the new Elvis”, clad in white-tie and tails amid a set design appropriate for Shakespearean recitations, and had him perform “Hound Dog” to a top-hatted basset. Get it?!? Hound Dog?!? Clever stuff. (And it’s no wonder they called the man a genius.) Elvis took the ribbing with good grace, though privately was said to have felt like he’d been had. Allen’s fans got a good laugh, and Steverino got his ratings. Now Sullivan was the odd-man out. His two biggest competitors had both outflanked him, and here he was on record, squarely in the anti-Elvis column. It was time to eat crow. His people contacted Colonel Parker and $50,000 later, a three-show deal was inked, grabbing headlines and for Sullivan his share of the Presley pie.

©2006 Potomac Books, published on The Lively Set courtesy of author Robert Rodriguez, www.fiftiesbook.com

Other topics covered in "The 1950s' Most Wanted" include • The Ford Edsel • Howdy Doody • Playboy • Marlon Brando • "Rock Around The Clock" • The Hollywood Blacklist • Martin and Lewis • Bullet Bras • Indian motorcycles • Drive-ins • Marilyn Monroe • Ed Gein • Colorforms • Ernie Kovacs for Dutch Masters • Crusader Rabbit • Ebbets Field • "In God We Trust" • Hank Williams • Chlorophyll • "Howl!" • Groucho Marx