No song conjures up the year 2002 more than this tune, that year’s song of the summer.
A Little Less Conversation, by Elvis (his 18th of twenty-one #1s) Vs. JXL
4 weeks, from 16th June – 14th July 2002
It sounds curious, and potentially disastrous: a little known Dutch DJ remixing a little known Elvis track from one of his long-forgotten late sixties movies. But, through some strange alchemy, the original’s brassy swagger mixes nicely with JXL’s big, accessible beats, and creates a great pop song.
What remains is Elvis-enough for people who were around when he was alive, and modern enough for those who weren’t. It helps that few people probably knew the original, but also that it was recorded in 1968, around the time of the comeback special, when what is now Elvis’s most familiar pop culture persona was born. Elvis sounds like Elvis, deep voiced and lip curled, and the added echo makes it sound like he’s coming live from the other side. All that’s missing is a thank you very much to finish.
JXL (officially Junkie XL, though that was presumably shortened to keep things family-friendly) was Tom Holkenberg, a DJ active since the late-eighties. He had worked as a producer with several punk and metal bands, as well as becoming big on the rave scene and touring with the Prodigy. None of which sounds like the guy who came up with this super-mild, catchy, chart-friendly hit. As much as I like the record, I’d sooner call it cheesy than cool, and do wonder if Norman Cook considered lining up any plagiarism suits against all the Fatboy Slim style drum-breaks and goofy fills.
The original ‘A Little Less Conversation’ had featured on the ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ soundtrack in 2001, presumably bringing it to the attention of Nike. They then commissioned JXL to remix the song for an advert to tie in with the 2002 World Cup, in which the world’s best footballers competed in a first-goal-wins tournament in a cage. Maybe I’m of the perfect age to get swept up in the nostalgia of it, but watching that advert again, much like hearing this song, feels so ‘2002’ that it hurts.
The single followed a few months after the advert, and was sitting at #1 as Brazil won a record fifth world title. Equally record-breaking was the fact that, after a twenty-five year tie, Elvis moved ahead of the Beatles and onto eighteen UK #1 singles. It kicked off a bit of a renaissance for the King, and a collection of his number one hits (including this remix) became a huge seller that autumn. I’d credit this single, and the album, for getting me into Elvis, and enjoying his music to this day. In 2003 another Elvis remix, this time of ‘Rubberneckin’’ by Paul Oakenfold, made #5.
JXL meanwhile, while not quite a one-hit wonder, never made it higher than #56 without Elvis’s help. Still, he was the first person to be allowed by Elvis’s estate to remix one of his songs, which is an honour of sorts. And he is responsible for introducing many youngsters (me included) to The King, and to one of the greatest ever rhyming couplets in chart-topping history. A little less conversation, A little more action please, All this aggravation ain’t satisfactioning me… Thank you very much, indeed.
The UK Number Ones Blog 
Just wonderful to hear Elvis’ vocals again atop the charts. At this point, Im comfortable saying hes my favourite singer ever. He could sing the phone book and Id be captivated. Even when hes half assing like on “Good Luck Charm” he is still too goddamn charismatic. This remix was my first ever introduction to Elvis as a very very young lad and I didnt even realise until years later it was an old song redone to sound new. Junkie XL did a great job with the remix. You heard this everywhere here in Australia during the mid-2000s. One of the rare hits at the time both young and old seemed to enjoy. Great song. Very catchy.
I loved Elvis as a kid cos my mum was a huge fan, but much of his 70’s stuff took a lot of effort to love, so this was a nice cheerful surprise comeback. Remixes are so obviously going to warm a lot of Elvis’ lesser material I dont know why they dont do more – I’m not seeing younger music fans getting into Elvis much since this fun bop – and the last remix was a PNAU remix mash up of Suspicious Minds and Any Day Now, Elvis’ B side to In The Ghetto, the second single I ever bought, and just a fabulous record thats been aching for a proper dance remix for decades. PNAU’s version is lovely though.
Took my 85-year-old Aunty to see Ben Portsmouth, a top Elvis impersonator, the other month – he was amazingly like Elvis, but also lapsed into West Country to break the illusion for a laugh. The audience was largely elderly, though, so I’m not seeing that many 30 or 40-somethings lining up for tickets.
The movie a few years ago had a bit of an impact on the chart, with some interesting re-imaginings of his songs. But it is old music now… in 2002 Elvis was 25 years dead. Now it’s almost 50.
I generally feel lukewarm about remixing old songs by adding a modern dance beat. One of the worst offenders in this context was Bananarama’s ’80s dance rendition of “Venus,” a great original song by Dutch rock band Shocking Blue. But in the case of “A Little Less Conversation”, I have to admit there is something intriguing about that remix. It also introduced me and undoubtedly many other folks to a pretty decent Elvis song I had never heard before.
‘Venus’ is a bit different as its a cover, whereas this is a remix. I like both versions of ‘Venus’, but yeah, sometimes a remix/cover works and sometimes it jars. I think this one manages a good balance!
I don’t like these re-mixes in general but this one got peole to notice the song including me. Hell…I didn’t know the song at all so it did make me go back and listen to the actual song that I never heard. So I have to give it credit.
I think they picked well: a song that few knew and so wouldn’t get upset about being remixed, and also a song well suited for an update. Even the original sounds like the beat was recorded and looped, though it probably wasn’t.
Yea it was smart of them to pick this one. I can’t believe it wasn’t known…it’s a cool song.
All I can say is that it works.
Maolsheachlann