Yesterday, I watched an American TV-show called Cold Case, a drama about a female detective assigned to cold cases, crimes that have never been solved. In this particular episode, her team re-opens a 1953 murder case of a 19-year-old aspiring rock 'n' roll star.
The detective and her team interviews a lot of people who knew this guy back in 1953, and when they tell their stories, there are flashbacks. You get to see a lot of this 19-year old, and the funny thing is he looks a lot like Elvis.
Turns out his story is quite similar, too. He dresses just like Elvis did, has a similar hairstyle, and listens to a lot to black musicians. Also, he moves and sings just like Elvis. And guess what? Yep, the girls go crazy.
But just like Elvis, he receives a lot of criticism about his style of singing. (The episode isn't called Devil Music for nothing!) Unfortunately, this leads to trouble, and the 19-year old is ultimately killed while recording his first record in his uncle's five & dime shop.
Maybe not the most original story in the world, but nevertheless an interesting "what if" story. What if another guy similar to Elvis had made it before the real Elvis? Or what if the real Elvis would've been killed in 1953, maybe in an accident. Then what would have happened?
In a way I think the episode was kind of a tribute to Elvis. There was some talk among the detectives: "Sounds just like Elvis" and "I broke up with my girlfriend because she liked Elvis, I guess I was a bit narrowminded back then." Also, "Can't Help Falling In Love" was played at the end. And yes, the killer was caught.
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3 comments:
I didn't catch this episode of Cold Case, but the "What if?" part of your post reminds me of the episode "The Once and Future King" of the 1980s version of Twilight Zone.
In it, an Elvis impersonator who supposedly looks just like him [neither the impersonator nor the "real" Elvis in the ep look anything like Elvis, you have to suspend disbelief on that one] goes back in time and meets Elvis right before he becomes famous.
This Elvis refuses to sing any rock 'n' roll type music, preferring gospel. The imitator gets in a fight with him over it and accidentally kills the real Elvis. The imitator then takes his place and tries to do things like he thought the real Elvis would've wanted.
I vividly remember watching this as a kid, as it was neat to me to see two of my favorite things - Elvis and Twilight Zone briefly cross paths.
By the way, I love your blog! One of the best I've read on any topic.
What if Elvis' "killer" was caught in time before 16 August 1977?
There's another episode of Cold Case with an Elvis-link. It's about patients in a psychiatry. The time is 1954 and while the patients are involved in some therapy by painting pictures (if I remember right) suddenly you hear 'That's all right' playing and one of the guardians comes in with a portable radio. And the girls say 'Ahh, it's HIM' and 'Isn't he great?' - such things. What comes through is the feeling you get to hear this song in context of its time. You really get the message that it's NEW. It was the only Elvis-song in that episode, but it was very well done.
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