Elvis Presley's hair is punk rock

Punk rockers will tell you that without Elvis Presley, there is no punk rock. He took the rock and blues of African American Memphis, added his own twist, and brought it to white culture with style. Rockabilly, baby.
But there are more ways than sound to call up punk's rich history. Like any musical genre, its tuneful stylings are one element of its identity. There are the clothes. There is the choice of instrument. And there is the hair. Elvis's slickened masculine-yet-sensitive tsunami wave of a strutting peacock's darkened headfeathers, the pompadour, summons the spirit of punk as much as a black leather jacket and scuffed combat boots. So says a punk rocker.
What does a pompadour say about overthrowing the system? Not much, directly. But it lets us know: there is another way. For hair, that is. And that's all it takes: one little indication that things can be different, starting with how we present our own physical selves to society. Now add in waggling hips and sounds that broke racial barriers, and freedom has a face and body. The King of Rock n' Roll. And his scions today.