“At 11 a.m. today, in a midtown Manhattan music studio, a handful of record industry veterans will huddle around a reel of tape they say is an original master from the historic 1954 recording debut of Elvis Presley. Then, after a brief introduction, the tape will be chopped to pieces.” Why would anyone do such a thing to an undeniable piece of American musical history? For the merchandising money, of course. The bits of tape will be mounted on handsome plaques and sold for $495 apiece to the type of memorabilia-obsessed cretins who honestly believe that a mangled piece of magnetic tape is more valuable than the music which used to be on it.