First things first: The honor of a one-word appellation is far too great for Elvis Presley, who had no authentic talent of any kind, and whose descent into obscurity has been slowed only by his kitsch value and the impoverished tastes that prevail among our benighted species. When I say "Elvis" - both in this post (obviously) and in normal conversation, I mean Elvis Costello, and for the good of our culture, I urge that everyone adopt the habit.The phrase "Angry Young Man" was in currency in England for over twenty years before Elvis appeared on the scene -- before it was a kind of music, it was a kind of writing, and of course was also a kind of real character that had no proper equivalent in America (just as there was no real counterpart to, say, the "preppy" in England). We had men who were young and angry, no doubt, but they weren't Angry Young Men. What made the Angry Young Man so oddly lovable - and I think John Osborne captured this reasonably well in ??Look Back in Anger?? - was that for all his rage and venom, he was really as delicate as a champagne flute. He might start a fight, but it would have to be an instance of his bitterness overpowering his common sense, because any little girl could beat him to a pulp.But the Angry Young Man has been on the wane for quite a while now in England, having ceded most of his existential turf to the Soccer Hooligan, a vastly cruder and less entertaining figure, who would beat up the little girl and boast about it. Personally, I suspect the demise of the Angry Young Man can be traced back to Elvis. So exquisitely did he articulate the role that it was no longer possible for anyone else to play it unselfconsciously. And bear in mind, he appeared during the dawn of punk rock and, at least initially, was often confused with them. Despite this, anyone who thought Johnny Rotten was the definitive example of the character would have been wise to concede their error quickly - and quietly.During Elvis' ??anni mirabiles?? - 1977 to 1982 - he wrote what endure as the greatest lyrics in the history of rock music (I'm a passionate believer in the importance of lyrics, for the record). By comparison, Bob Dylan seems formless and affected; Lou Reed painfully limited, Leonard Cohen simply pretentious, Robyn Hitchcock childish and repetitive, Stephin Merritt a mere rhymester. And I ??adore?? these guys' lyrics; this is simply to illustrate the cruelty of stacking their work up against Elvis (although all of them - except Cohen - had a gift for whimsy, which was never in Elvis' golf bag). Framing these lyrics, of course, were stunningly beautiful songs in at least six distinct genres - rock, ska, orchestral pop, country, traditional jazz, and rockabilly - always treated with the utmost respect, unfailingly captured as if the band was born to them, yet never losing their own characteristic sound.So fourth place to Elvis, the man who inhabited a character so perfectly he rendered it extinct.