31 July 1970
Let’s be honest: our favourite Elvis is late-career Vegas Elvis sweatily gurning and shuddering through the cheesy cabaret hits, with oversized flares and collars flapping on his white rhinestone-studded onesie. This is our popular image of Elvis now and for posterity. Hear his name and this is what you see in your mind’s eye. Go to a fancy dress party as Elvis and you’re wearing the ’70s jumpsuit, not the ’50s blazer or ’68 comeback leather. Vegas Elvis is fun. Vegas Elvis is Elvis for the long haul.
The music is more enjoyable too. Gone is the twee early-’60s country-pop, fodder for showbands, country & Irish acts and wee Daniel. Now we can all savour the hip-swinging energy of ‘Suspicious Minds’ (no. 2 in Ireland in 1969) and ‘Burning Love’ (no. 6 in 1972) plus the terrace-anthem-like swayalong ballads ‘Always On My Mind’ (no. 9 in 1973) and this, his final Irish number one before his alleged death in August 1977. (In Ireland he’ll have two more from the afterlife, and in 2005 he even manages to game the UK charts for another three number ones there.)
The ad-libs, flubbed lyrics and audience cheers are because ‘The Wonder Of You’ is from one of those Vegas shows in February 1970, making this our first Irish number one single that’s a live recording – and thus a forerunner of Ireland’s blessed ‘Maniac 2000’. The singing-along you hear isn’t from the Vegas crowd but from me: I enjoy this. Yes, ‘The Wonder Of You’ has treacle in its DNA alright, but that robust melody and huge chorus, along with Elvis lolloping happily through it like a friendly Labrador, all help it avoid getting bogged down in the sentimental, sanctimonious gloop of ‘In The Ghetto’. I bet my fellow Elvis cynic Chuck D would sing along to this Elvis hit too, perhaps even with an instinctive Elvis impersonation similar to my own. Viva Las Vegas!
