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Elvis Has Left the Building: The Day the King Died
‘The King’ departed this world during the month of punk rock’s apotheosis. Punk had set out to destroy Elvis, or at least everything he came to represent, but never got the chance, as Elvis destroyed himself before anyone else could. Nearly forty years after his death, rock’s ultimate legend and prototype just won’t go away and his influence and legacy are to be found not just in music today, but the world over.
Elvis Presley has permeated the modern world in ways that are bizarre and inexplicable: a pop icon while he was alive, he has become almost a religious icon in death, a modern-day martyr crucified on the wheel of drugs, celebrity culture, junk food and sex. In Elvis Has Left the Building, Dylan Jones takes us back to those heady days around the time of his death and the rise of punk. Evoking the hysteria and devotion of The King’s numerous disciples and imitators, Jones offers a uniquely insightful commentary on Elvis’s life, times and outrageous demise.
Recounting how Elvis single-handedly changed the course of popular music and culture, Jones delves deep into the cult of The King and reveals the universal importance of what Elvis’s death meant and still means to us today.
Elvis Presley has permeated the modern world in ways that are bizarre and inexplicable: a pop icon while he was alive, he has become almost a religious icon in death, a modern-day martyr crucified on the wheel of drugs, celebrity culture, junk food and sex. In Elvis Has Left the Building, Dylan Jones takes us back to those heady days around the time of his death and the rise of punk. Evoking the hysteria and devotion of The King’s numerous disciples and imitators, Jones offers a uniquely insightful commentary on Elvis’s life, times and outrageous demise.
Recounting how Elvis single-handedly changed the course of popular music and culture, Jones delves deep into the cult of The King and reveals the universal importance of what Elvis’s death meant and still means to us today.
336 pages, Paperback
First published July 17, 2014
About the author
Dylan Jones
23 books61 followersDylan Jones studied at Chelsea School Of Art and then St. Martin’s School of Art. He is the award-winning editor of GQ magazine, a position he has held since 1999, and has won the British Society of Magazine Editors “Editor of the Year” award a record ten times. In 2013 he was also the recipient of the prestigious Mark Boxer Award.
Under his editorship the magazine has won over 50 awards.
A former editor at i-D, The Face, Arena, the Observer and the Sunday Times, he is the author of the New York Times best seller Jim Morrison: Dark Star, the much-translated iPod, Therefore I Am and Mr. Jones’ Rules, as well as the editor of the classic collection of music writing, Meaty Beaty Big & Bouncy. He edited a collection of journalism from Arena - Sex, Power & Travel - and collaborated with David Cameron on Cameron on Cameron: Conversations with Dylan Jones (shortlisted for the Channel 4 Political Book of the Year).
He was the Chairman of the Prince’s Trust’s Fashion Rocks Monaco, is a board member of the Norman Mailer Writers Colony and a Trustee of the Hay Festival. He is also the chairman of London Fashion Week: Men’s, London’s first men’s fashion week, launched in 2012 at the behest of the British Fashion Council.
In 2010 he spent a week in Afghanistan with the Armed Forces, collaborating on a book with the photographer David Bailey: British Heroes in Afghanistan.
In 2012 he had three books published: The Biographical Dictionary of Music; When Ziggy Played Guitar: David Bowie and Four Minutes that Shook the World, and the official book of U2’s 360 Tour, published in October. Since then he has published
The Eighties: One Day One Decade, a book about the 1980s told through the prism of Live Aid, Elvis Has Left The Building: The Day The King Died, Mr. Mojo, London Rules, a polemic about the greatest city in the world, Manxiety and London Sartorial.
In June 2013 he was awarded an OBE for services to publishing and the fashion industry. In 2014 he was made an Honorary Professor of Glasgow Caledonian University.
Under his editorship the magazine has won over 50 awards.
A former editor at i-D, The Face, Arena, the Observer and the Sunday Times, he is the author of the New York Times best seller Jim Morrison: Dark Star, the much-translated iPod, Therefore I Am and Mr. Jones’ Rules, as well as the editor of the classic collection of music writing, Meaty Beaty Big & Bouncy. He edited a collection of journalism from Arena - Sex, Power & Travel - and collaborated with David Cameron on Cameron on Cameron: Conversations with Dylan Jones (shortlisted for the Channel 4 Political Book of the Year).
He was the Chairman of the Prince’s Trust’s Fashion Rocks Monaco, is a board member of the Norman Mailer Writers Colony and a Trustee of the Hay Festival. He is also the chairman of London Fashion Week: Men’s, London’s first men’s fashion week, launched in 2012 at the behest of the British Fashion Council.
In 2010 he spent a week in Afghanistan with the Armed Forces, collaborating on a book with the photographer David Bailey: British Heroes in Afghanistan.
In 2012 he had three books published: The Biographical Dictionary of Music; When Ziggy Played Guitar: David Bowie and Four Minutes that Shook the World, and the official book of U2’s 360 Tour, published in October. Since then he has published
The Eighties: One Day One Decade, a book about the 1980s told through the prism of Live Aid, Elvis Has Left The Building: The Day The King Died, Mr. Mojo, London Rules, a polemic about the greatest city in the world, Manxiety and London Sartorial.
In June 2013 he was awarded an OBE for services to publishing and the fashion industry. In 2014 he was made an Honorary Professor of Glasgow Caledonian University.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 5, 2022
I read /Elvis Has Left the Building: The Day the King Died/, by Dylan Jones:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/el...
The book is about what was happening in the world the day Elvis died.
It took me back to (yes, I'm that old) Star Wars' release, the disco era being supplanted by the rise of punk music, and my own life in the late 1970s in the paradise of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/el...
The book is about what was happening in the world the day Elvis died.
It took me back to (yes, I'm that old) Star Wars' release, the disco era being supplanted by the rise of punk music, and my own life in the late 1970s in the paradise of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
March 3, 2020
Not all about the intersection of the death of Elvis and the rise of punk, but that part was informative and new. Like that Joe Strummer dug "Crawfish".
The remainder of the book was more or less a rehash of Elvis. He included a list of his 50 best Elvis tracks which has provoked me to create my own. Look for it on Spotify.
The remainder of the book was more or less a rehash of Elvis. He included a list of his 50 best Elvis tracks which has provoked me to create my own. Look for it on Spotify.
December 26, 2019
I normally enjoy Dylan Jones and I liked the concept of the book, which as usual had a ton of great sources and stories.
Sadly it lost its way as he ran out of ideas of how to connect punk and Elvis and replaced the hole with fantasies about what Elvis could have been,including turning him into some kind of misogynistic sex God, which franky turned me off a book, which I was enjoying until that point.
Once that interlude was over, it got back on track then ended quite abruptly, leaving me wondering was there any real conclusion or not.
Still worth the effort if you are an Elvis fan, who is happy to read warts and all, or just want to escape for a while in the story of a legend, whose demons, drugs and food, got the better of him.
Sadly it lost its way as he ran out of ideas of how to connect punk and Elvis and replaced the hole with fantasies about what Elvis could have been,including turning him into some kind of misogynistic sex God, which franky turned me off a book, which I was enjoying until that point.
Once that interlude was over, it got back on track then ended quite abruptly, leaving me wondering was there any real conclusion or not.
Still worth the effort if you are an Elvis fan, who is happy to read warts and all, or just want to escape for a while in the story of a legend, whose demons, drugs and food, got the better of him.
December 5, 2016
The title leads me to think it's about the relationship between Elvis Presley and punk rock. I did get that after reading the book. There's a scene in a punk club when Elvis' death is announced. The crowd didn't care. The similarities between the first Clash album and Presley's first album are discussed. The majority of the book is about what-if had Presley lived. What if Elvis covered David Bowie's Golden Years? Presley was offered that song before Bowie released it. What would've Elvis done with Mealoafs' 2Out of 3 Ain't bad. What if Elvis toured Europe?
As far Elvis and punk rock, this author thinks Elvis was only interesting in 1950s. The artists interviewed felt Elvis died as a musician and entertainer long before he really did.
The book ends with a list of popular Elvis songs.
It wasn't much new information, but I enjoyed the book as a quick read.
As far Elvis and punk rock, this author thinks Elvis was only interesting in 1950s. The artists interviewed felt Elvis died as a musician and entertainer long before he really did.
The book ends with a list of popular Elvis songs.
It wasn't much new information, but I enjoyed the book as a quick read.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews