Customer Reviews

A Little Less Conversation

5 star:		(59)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Elvis may have left the building, but his song "A Little Less Conversation" has entered the charts at #1 in England. An obscure song from the 1968 movie "Live A Little, Love A Little," the song was remixed for a Nike World Cup TV commercial featuring a British player. Music purists may scoff at this remix, and some Elvis fans may even consider it to be sacrilege. I think its genius that they reworked a little known song, rather than remix one of his many big hits, which would have upset me. Let's face it, this song is not on the list of the King's all-time classics. For one thing, the lyrics don't exactly roll off the tongue. "A little less conversation, a little more action. All this aggravation ain't satisfaction in me." The vocals are in the forefront of the remix version, and the music supports the vocals very well. As they used to say on American Bandstand, it has a good beat and you can dance to it. Maybe this will lead to an American invasion on the British charts!

If someone had told me, that there was to be a remixed version of an Elvis Presley song released, and it would be a smash around the world, I would have told them to keep taking the pills. It aint gonna happen !
BUT thank heaven it did.
The song is an obscure track, originally recorded for his 1968 film "Live A Little, Love A Little". This version, however is from his 1968 comeback show, which was never actually used in the broadcast. It also featured on the Oceans Eleven soundtrack, earlier this year.
The Dutch DJ "Junkie" XL has bought the tune right up to date with a driving beat and thumping bongo drums which compliment Elvis superbly.
You have 3 versions on the CD the radio edit, the extended version which builds to a superb climax and the original 1 min 39 second version taken from the film. Having this on there just shows you exactly what has been done to bring this tune right up to date.
I can understand that there will be some segments of the Elvis community who will bemoan that messing around with any Elvis track is sacrilege, but, if this is the only way to get new fans listening to Elvis, then I for one am fully behind it.
BMG and NIKE have a lot to thank for allowing this song to be used on the new advert for the Soccer World Cup which has obviously bought the song to a much wider audience than would normally have heard it.
This is number one in many European countries and rightly so. Elvis has definately returned to the building !

This may be the biggest pop music event of the year. Many dance remixes leave no trace of the original song, but JXL treats a minor Elvis Presley hit from 1968 with enough respect for the tune that it almost sounds like Elvis was in on the idea. This CD single includes the original so you can see what I mean. The percussion (drums and such) is punched up, but not at the expense of the King's vocals or even the original instrumentation. I can't stop playing the thing.

By the way, the "radio edit," which is hopefully actually being played on a radio near you, is 3:30 long; the remix is just over six minutes. The original song is disappointingly short, just 1:39. It kinda cooks and might have done better the first time out if it didn't go by in the blink of an eye. A few seconds of it can be heard in the movie "Oceans Eleven" (the George Clooney/Julia Roberts version).

JXL is known as Junkie XL outside the U.S.; the Presley estate asked him to change the name before releasing this here. A good decision, since U.S. singles sales need all the help they can get, and the Elvis/junkie association would turn some people off.

Crabby old pop fans who hate to see anything from the past tampered with (I'm usually one of them) have nothing to complain about here. This record is fun, it sounds great, and by including the original version it's exposing the song to a lot of fans who otherwise would never have heard it. Now, radio stations need to play this early and often: A little more action, please.

FINALLY, someone has brought Elvis Presley into the 21st Century! This is such a neat sound and a great remix of an old Elvis song. There is nothing that "dates" Elvis more than the backing of his singing and in this day & age a whole new treatment can be given to update Elvis and bring him into the 21st century. A whole new generation can enjoy this great voice/entertainer without compromising the original recordings for those diehard leave-it-as-it-was fans. I hope that BMG & the Elvis Presley Enterprise people realise, with the huge success of this one single, that a whole new era of hits could start all over again for Elvis Presley and his singing career could be launched for another 25 years. I hope they see the possibilities that there are here. Imagine a whole full length CD of modern updated Elvis music. I think people would be queing to buy it!!

In a scene from "Pulp Fiction" that never made it into the theaters Mia Wallace (as played by Uma Thurman) referred to the dichotomy of Beatles people vs. Elvis people--you can like them both, but you always like one more than the other. I've always considered myself a committed Beatles person, but if DJ Junkie XL has his way with more forgotten Elvis tunes I may have to reconsider my entire belief system!

I'll be the first to admit that I ain't no dancer, yet it's impossible to keep still to the two remixed versions of "A Little Less Conversation" included on this disc. JXL took a decent if unremarkable song that Elvis performed in the psychedelia-influenced (albeit without the drugs!) 1968 film "Live a Little, Love a Little" and turned it into something that works 35 years later. A remarkable feat in itself, and a fitting tribute to The King (whose talent also had something to do with it...).

Even the very sparse-sounding original version included as Track 3 has a nice groove to it, though it clocks in at just over 1:30 and seems a bit cut off at the end (I don't remember if the song ended so abruptly in the film). It is a pleasure to hear all three versions of the song included on this disc, which allowed me to better appreciate the contributions of both artists to "A Little Less Conversation".

This remix has really grown on me. I have been amazed at how many ways we reinvent the King of Rock and Roll, and now Junkie XL has given us a funky Elvis with this great CD. I can't stop listening to it. There is also a disco type version that is super cool. Another reason that Elvis will endure through generations. I dare anyone to slide this CD in their machine, pump up the volume and ambience, and try to hold still. I understand that when this single jumped to #1 in Britain, it put Elvis over the top with the most #1s in history, beating out the Beatles. This song is fun, cool, sexy and all around awesome ELVIS!!!!!!

This album is a lot of fun to listen to, dance to, lip sync to, etc. I think a lot of "Elvis Purists" out there need to lighten up. Sure this remix was used by a big corporation (i.e. Nike). But what about all of us who dig the Mitsubishi commercials and ran out to buy the Wiseguys and Dirty Vegas cd's?? Is it so wrong to enjoy a fun song regardless of the fact that a big corporation's using it in an advertisement? I think commercials are bringing a lot of cool music to people's attention and that can't be all bad. Anyway... buy this album if you dig fun music you can dance to and pretend you're a modern day Elvis.

When I'd first heard that a hip-hop artist had remade an Elvis song (and that it was huge hit in the U.K.), I was curious to how different the song would sound. But, after picking up the single here in the States, I was surprised that the song sounded remarkably the same, just that the instruments and engineering had improved it so much. Don't get me wrong, it's got a great new dance beat--but that's still Elvis belting out the tune!

Elvis may have left the building twenty-five years ago, but it looks like he's still going to be around for a very long time....

I heard the buzz about the song went to the NIKE website and downloaded the commercial and was blown away by King's voice reaching out and grabbing me. I bought the CD when in came out in the states and was impressed with all 3 versions of the song. Having the original and the remix together you can hear how the original voice of ELVIS, the lyrics and the beat were used. It's more than a foundation it's like the classic song is the cake and the modern bits are a little icing.

Kids listen to tracks 1 & 2 then share the CD and let your parents borrow it for track 3.

What a superb CD and idea! A Little Less Conversation is a FUN song seamlessly brought up to date with a GREAT "new" sound. If it had not first appeared on a commercial, it would have eventually been used on a commercial anyway. And anyone who followed Elvis' career KNOWS that he'd be proud.

Why? The King's music was really never frozen in time. Love Me Tender and Be My Teddybear were not as contemporary as later hits such as Burning Love and In the Ghetto. He started off akin to James Dean, did his legendary 1968 t.v. comeback special partly clad in leather, then ended his career partially influenced by Tom Jones. So he would have WANTED to adapt to the prevailing musical culture -- and these folks make is sound like it was his intent all along. No wonder this CD has been number one in England (England: you sent us The Beatles...we sent YOU Elvis...so there!).

"A Little Less Conversation" reportedly peaked at No. 69 when it first hit the charts in 1969. This new version was created by Dutch d.j. JXL for Nike's World Cup ad campaign. So? BIG DEAL: it brought Elvis into the 21st century. This CD contains the radio edit remix PLUS the extended (twice as long) remix (my favorite).

You'll want to repeatedly listen to it PLUS you can gift it to longtime Elvis fans, and/or you can gift it to young people who might not have related to Elvis before. This CD will make Elvis more "alive" to young people who are just discovering his musical legacy. The fact it has taken the charts by storm in England attests to that.

Unlike the controversial colorization process in movies, which some say destroys film directors' original intent, updating a musical artist tastefully and skillfully is a great idea, especially an artist who during his lifetime tried to (partially) go with the musical flow. Does anyone doubt Elvis would have adapted his sound? Elvis' estate earned $35 million in 2000.That figure is sure to go up as Elvis wins over a new generation in England -- and beyond -- with this skillfull update.