What made you a fan and did Elvis lead you to discover other music?

[John]

I became a fan after hearing Rags To Riches on the radio in 1971. I was 10. At that point I had already been listening to music and buying (mostly second hand) records for a few years, but that was the first Elvis song I'd heard where I'd put a name to it. Before that I was crazy about Lonnie Donegan (and I'm still a fan now) and was just starting to listen to The Beatles. My mum and dad bought me the Beatles 'Oldies but Goldies' LP. But Elvis took hold of me like nobody else ever did, and I became completely obsessive.

He didn't lead me to other music, though. I was a Cliff and The Shadows nut, and that was down to a radio program about them. I liked Gerry & The Pacemakers, but only because I saw their film and knew they were from Liverpool like the Beatles. I don't think I've ever become interested in anyone as a result of being an Elvis fan, and I'm not sure how that would work in any case.

By reading about or listening to Elvis, didn't you discover other artists or other genres of music?

[Richard]

I became a fan after hearing Rags To Riches on the radio in 1971. I was 10. At that point I had already been listening to music and buying (mostly second hand) records for a few years, but that was the first Elvis song I'd heard where I'd put a name to it. Before that I was crazy about Lonnie Donegan (and I'm still a fan now) and was just starting to listen to The Beatles. My mum and dad bought me the Beatles 'Oldies but Goldies' LP. But Elvis took hold of me like nobody else ever did, and I became completely obsessive.

He didn't lead me to other music, though. I was a Cliff and The Shadows nut, and that was down to a radio program about them. I liked Gerry & The Pacemakers, but only because I saw their film and knew they were from Liverpool like the Beatles. I don't think I've ever become interested in anyone as a result of being an Elvis fan, and I'm not sure how that would work in any case.

By reading about or listening to Elvis, didn't you discover other artists or other genres of music?

Honestly? No. Right from being ten or eleven I've listened to the radio enthusiastically, and then when I was maybe fifteen I started buying all the music weeklies (all of them, I had a little job of sorts) and then when I started work I made myself a promise that I'd buy at least one new album a week by somebody I hadn't bought before. So that was how I discovered what I liked. For a long time in fact, I wouldn't listen to rock and roll music. Elvis was rock and roll, I didn't need to hear other people doing it, and not doing it as well as him. That was my way of thinking. I've changed my mind since then.

[John]

I became a fan after hearing Rags To Riches on the radio in 1971. I was 10. At that point I had already been listening to music and buying (mostly second hand) records for a few years, but that was the first Elvis song I'd heard where I'd put a name to it. Before that I was crazy about Lonnie Donegan (and I'm still a fan now) and was just starting to listen to The Beatles. My mum and dad bought me the Beatles 'Oldies but Goldies' LP. But Elvis took hold of me like nobody else ever did, and I became completely obsessive.

He didn't lead me to other music, though. I was a Cliff and The Shadows nut, and that was down to a radio program about them. I liked Gerry & The Pacemakers, but only because I saw their film and knew they were from Liverpool like the Beatles. I don't think I've ever become interested in anyone as a result of being an Elvis fan, and I'm not sure how that would work in any case.

By reading about or listening to Elvis, didn't you discover other artists or other genres of music?

Honestly? No. Right from being ten or eleven I've listened to the radio enthusiastically, and then when I was maybe fifteen I started buying all the music weeklies (all of them, I had a little job of sorts) and then when I started work I made myself a promise that I'd buy at least one new album a week by somebody I hadn't bought before. So that was how I discovered what I liked. For a long time in fact, I wouldn't listen to rock and roll music. Elvis was rock and roll, I didn't need to hear other people doing it, and not doing it as well as him. That was my way of thinking. I've changed my mind since then.

Fair enough. That's a good way to discover other artists.

[Keeper]

I fell in love with Elvis when my older brother bought home an EP from Kid Galahad 1973 aged 7. No one has surpassed him in all that time.

I do like Bob Marley and ska reggae, The Stones, The Beatles to name a few but none so great as The King