September 2001
- 'Elvis' gets in fistfight over pay for concert
(Associated Press, September 28, 2001)
An Elvis impersonator was charged with punching another person in the jaw in a dispute over whether he should have been paid for his performance at a nursing home, police said. A Huron Healthcare Center worker called police Tuesday, saying he had been assaulted, Police Chief Randy Glovinsky said. Timothy Baker, 53, of Greenville demanded to be paid after his performance at the nursing home, but the employee said they had no agreement to pay him, police said. Baker then punched the employee in the jaw, Glovinsky said. The employee declined medical attention. Baker was charged with assault, police said.
- Celebrities venture out
By Kelly Carter
(USA Today, September 28, 2001, Page 4E)
After a lull in business after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Los Angeles restaurants and nightclubs frequented by celebrities are bustling again. ''Slowly the mood is coming back,'' says executive chef Agostino Sciandri, who along with Robert De Niro and several others is co-owner of the popular Ago. ''We've all been deeply hurt by this. We had a drop-off in business mainly due to the hotel guests, but the locals still come in.'' ''There's an attitude of not wanting to look like you're celebrating but an attitude of wanting to support the economy,'' Lazaroff says. Granita, the couple's Malibu eatery and a favorite of beachside locals, recently served John Cusack, Michael Keaton, Priscilla Presley, Tom Petty, Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, Ed Harris and Amy Madigan, and Kid Rock.
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MusicNet to launch Nov. 22
By DAWN C. CHMIELEWSKI
(San Jose Mercury News, September 27, 2001)
MusicNet, the first online music subscription service backed by major record labels, said Wednesday it would launch by Nov. 22. Seattle-based streaming media giant RealNetworks said it has completed the software platform to deliver MusicNet's major-label music in a way that protects against piracy and ensures artists, songwriters and the labels get paid. It sets the stage for America Online and Real's own premium service, RealOne, to bring the subscription music services to consumers within 60 days. RealNetworks is a partner in MusicNet along with record label owners EMI, Bertelsmann and AOL Time Warner. "We've got breadth and depth. We've got Dave Matthews. Elvis Presley. Bill Cosby,'' said MusicNet adviser and board member Richard Wolpert.
- RCA To Release Special Elvis CD To Benefit Disaster Relief
(elvis.com, September 25, 2001)
In response to the tragic events of September 11 in the U.S. and with a wave of encouragement from Elvis fans worldwide, RCA Records will soon release a special, enhanced Elvis CD to serve as a fund-raiser for disaster relief efforts. The disc, which should be out within the next two weeks, will include three Elvis songs: If I Can Dream, America The Beautiful and Amazing Grace. This enhanced CD will include special, encoded video featuring Elvis' '68 performance of If I Can Dream, for viewing on your computer, as well as a link to the Red Cross web site for more information about how you can help. The CD will be available soon at retail outlets nationwide [ie, in the US], and online at ShopElvis.
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Eminem is Evil, Not Elvis
By Daniel Wirls
(UC Santa Cruz, dated February 26, 2001, appeared on newswires September 25, 2001)
Whether the controversial rap star Eminem won anything or everything at last week's Grammy awards is not the issue. That he was even nominated is a disgrace. That many music critics and others defend and even celebrate Eminem is the issue. Eminem is the moral equivalent of a virulent racist, and should be condemned as such. His women-hating lyrics and his hatred of gays puts his work in the same moral category as the ravings of white supremacists and neo-Nazis.
His defenders, mostly white, male cultural apologists have invoked three equally specious lines of defense or rationalization. One of them is an analogy: "Eminem is this generation's Elvis" . Eminem is only like Elvis was to that generation if one refuses to assess and compare the content of the message these musicians have produced. No lyrics from when boomers were young compare to Eminem's. And who is excusing sexist or racist (but utterly mild by comparison) lyrics from other eras in popular music? I would hope none of us would defend them.
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Vegas welcoming more country acts
(Courier Press, September 23, 2001)
Elvis Presley. Frank Sinatra. Wayne Newton. Music on the Las Vegas Strip used to have its own sound, and it rarely included a twang. Country music was relegated to small, off-Strip venues. Now, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw and the Dixie Chicks grace the glittering marquees of the ritziest resorts in Vegas, alongside staples such as Folies Bergere and Siegfried & Roy. Country music has seen a resurgence.
- Trammel offers 'face' time
(azcentral.com, September 23, 2001) (fourth paragraph)
Joe Trammel, aka "The Man of a Thousand Faces," has the dubious distinction of being the first man to ever perform in "Crazy Girls" at the Riviera as the show's 14th anniversary hits. His 15-minute act in "Crazy Girls" appeals to non-English speaking audiences because it's visual physical comedy like Jerry Lewis used to do and it's built on pop culture. Trammel spoofs movies that have been seen all over the world and oversees the production of all the props he uses. Trammel started his show business life as a five-year-old Elvis impersonator. Later, his involvement in martial arts earned him a black belt in Kenpo. He was the Arizona State Champion in 1982 in Kenpo and he won the Karate Olympics in New Mexico the same year.
- Say It, Don't Sing It: IFC's new documentary, Crossover
By Robert Wilonsky
(Dallas Observer, September 20, 2001)
Harry Belafonte found his place. He discovered that being a singer was no different from being an actor: both were artists who adapted and absorbed the voices of others and commingled them into the lone voice of the individual who can make others believe anything they say or sing. But the actor who transitions from film to album is often greeted with indifference or disdain. Musicians who move to the screen aren't so ridiculed. Billy Bob Thornton said, "movies kinda look like rock videos to start with, and they can make the transition to big, fluffy commercial movies, because they're an easy place to fit in." But there is another reason why it's more readily accepted: there is a far longer list of success among musicians who become actors, chief among them Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Barbra Streisand, David Bowie, Cher, even Elvis Presley, whose cinematic career amounts to dashed promise.
- Company bands its radio stations to make money
By Tim Kiska
(Detroit News, September 20, 2001)
Seven Detroit radio stations will simulcast a day-long radiothon to raise money for the victims of the World Trade Center Towers terrorist attacks. Among a banned list of song are included Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire" and Elvis Presley's "(You're the) devil in disguise".
- Stations Asked To Review Some Songs
By Leanne Potts
(Albuquerque Journal, September 20, 2001)
Clear Channel Radio has put out a list of songs which it suggests should not be played because they may be offensive to listeners. The list included songs with titles that suggested falling, dying, burning, bombing, doctors or flying on an airplace -- like the Gap Band's "You Dropped A Bomb on Me," AC/DC's "Shot Down In Flames" and Savage Garden's "Crash and Burn", Elvis Presley's "(You're the) Devil in Disguise", Elton John's "Bennie and the Jets", Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire". The list drew a blast of criticism so harsh that Clear Channel issued a public statement Wednesday clarifying that it hadn't banned any songs from its stations.
- Marriage applications slump 40% in Vegas
By KEN RITTER
(San Jose Mercury News / Associated Press, September 19, 2001)
The terrorist attacks last week rattled the Las Vegas wedding industry and cut the number of marriage license applications about 40 percent. Cheryl Vernon, a supervisor in the Clark County Marriage License Bureau, said that for three days after the Federal Aviation Administration stopped air travel, the number of marriage licenses dropped about 40 percent compared with the same dates last year. Wedding planner Cathy Carlson said she lost half her 10 daily bookings last week at the Graceland Wedding Chapel, with an Elvis theme, on the Las Vegas Strip. "First it was people who couldn't get here,'' Carlson said "Now it's people who are afraid to fly. We've had a lot of cancellations.''
- POP SALE FLOPS: Shop for Elvis Presley
(dotmusic.com, September 19, 2001)
An auction of rock memorabilia has failed to find bidders for items as odd as Elvis's medical records. The reserve price of $29,330 was not matched for the documents at the Hard Rock Cafe today. The auction, organised by Mick Fleetwood's firm Fleetwood Owen, has also failed to find bidders for a red baize snooker table once owned by the Rolling Stones. And no one offered the $17,600 required for a stretch limousine used by the Spice Girls in the 1998 Brit awards. Other items up for auction include unseen footage of the Beatle's Magical Mystery Tour and a customised mini used by the Spice Girls. Elvis featured heavily with his army sewing kit and an early reel-to-reel recording of 'That's All Right Mama' all going under the hammer. In two days time Sotheby's are to put Sex Pistols memorabilia up for auction.
- For sale: One guitar, no love lost
By J. Freedom du Lac
(Sacramento Bee, September 18, 2001)
Paul Simon once scored a major hit singing about the "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover." One he didn't mention, though, was leaving little more than a good guitar behind when you bail. Yet that's apparently what Simon did when the folk-rock legend divorced actress Carrie Fisher, after a brief marriage. Now, in an online auction, Fisher is offering an Ovation guitar that Simon played in multiple concerts -- including his 1981 reunion show with Art Garfunkel in New York City's Central Park. The item is just one of dozens of pop-music treasures currently on the auction block at www.fineartsbrokerage.com. Other highlights of the "Rock & Roll Experience" auction (which closes Thursday) include: Madonna's denim jacket; Bruce Springsteen's blue jeans; A letter written and signed by John Lennon; An Elvis Presley guitar; The red velour shirt that Presley wore in the 1965 movie "Girl Happy." And then there's Glen Campbell's rhinestone cowboy suit. Bidding for that one starts at $1,500.
- Star-struck: PHILLY MAKES THE 'A LIST'
By Stu Bykofsky
(Philadelphia Daily News, September 11, 2001)
MAKING CENTER City their own over the weekend were two Hollywood leading men - Mel Gibson and Nicolas Cage. Gibson made the scene with a male pal (reportedly a doctor) while Cage clung to current love Lisa Marie Presley. Also along for part of the ride was her daughter, Danielle, 12, and his son Weston, 10. ... Saturday night was a marathon as Nick, Lisa and the kids rolled into La Veranda (Pier 3) at 10 p.m. and were treated to a huge meal - a little bit of most everything on the menu. Lisa Marie was in jeans and a stylish blue T-shirt, while Cage was in a rust-colored Prada suit. After dinner (and dumping the kids and picking up friends in their limo), they zoomed to Zanzibar Blue (Broad & Walnut) for a sampling of desserts (Lisa Marie loved the lemon meringue martini) washed down by drinks - Glenlivet 18 on the rocks for him, Belvedere for her. Then they were off to Warmdaddy's (4 S. Front), where musician Bobby Rush was held over for their 1:30 a.m. arrival. More Glenlivet for Nick, while Lisa Marie switched to Absolut and grapefruit juice. They left around 2, strolled past Swanky Bubbles (10 S. Front), which was closing but reopened for the star party. They asked for disco to be played, and Nick and Lisa Marie danced and nuzzled while the group guzzled four bottles of Cristal champagne ($400 each) and hung until about 5:30 a.m. (2:30 Left Coast time).
- Perhaps we could use a plague
By DAVE BARRY
(
Detroit Free Press, September 9, 2001)
The United States of America is in the midst of a national weight-gain epidemic, as indicated by the Surgeon General's just-released "Report on Obesity in America". And the situation is getting worse. This summer, for the first time, Walt Disney World was forced to close for two consecutive days because of vacationers getting wedged in the turnstiles. The national weight problem is especially troubling for our young people, because as they have become fatter, their role models have become skinnier. Your modern pop stars -- you Britney Spears, your Christina Aguilera, your Britney Aguilera, your Christina Spears and your Back 'N' Street Sync Boys -- have the body fat of a Bic pen. These stars have to be in superb shape because their musical acts consist of sprinting frantically back and forth across the stage. When I was a youth, it was easier to relate, physically, to the popstars, who tended to be less-mobile, larger-dimensioned artists such as Elvis Presley, Fats (Fats) Domino, and Luciano (Really Fats) Pavarotti. These artists did not sprint. Sometimes they took actual naps on stage.
- Philip Palazzolo celebrated Italian roots
By Kim Kozlowski
(
Detroit News, September 7, 2001)
Philip Palazzolo died from a heart attack on September 5, 2001 at the age of 66. He was a master carpenter who ran a family business in Eastpointe with branches in Hamtramck and Shelby Township. He was drafted into the US Army and served for two years in the tank division, where he met Elvis Presley. Though he didn't know Presley well, Mr Palazzolo spent enough time with him that he brought stories about him back home.
- West Virginia Lottery To Launch Elvis Presley Instant Game
By Elysa Gardner
(
Excite News / Business Wire, September 7, 2001)
The Elvis Presley(R) Instant Lottery game licensed exclusively by MDI Entertainment, Inc. (OTC BB: LTRY) is now on sale to the thrill of Elvis(R) fans in West Virginia, the company announced today. This Elvis(R) Instant ticket is the first MDI promotion with the West Virginia Lottery and brings to 41 the number of lottery jurisdictions that have launched MDI games and promotions.
- Can king of pop bounce back?
By Elysa Gardner
(
USA TODAY, September 7, 2001, page 1A)
Exactly 2 weeks ago, radio stations across the world were granted access to a new single from one of the country's most instantly recognizable and famously elusive superstars. The song was called You Rock My World, and the singer was Michael Jackson, who after a long sabbatical is finally poised to re-emerge on the pop music scene. He made a splash Thursday night dancing with 'N Sync at the MTV Music Video Awards and will appear again tonight and Monday at a pair of concerts in his honor at New York's Madison Square Garden, marking his first performance on a mainland American stage in 11 years. ... Jackson, who turned 43 last month, faces a considerable challenge in trying to re-establish himself as a viable pop star. Anyone tracking media reports on the performer over the past decade has read less about a brilliant artist and more about a man whose personal quirks and problems have invited ridicule and far worse.
Before the major law suit that began in 1993, there had been speculation about Jackson's behavior, from his apparent serial plastic surgeries to his preoccupation with children and pets. Many even perceived his two failed marriages -- to Lisa Marie Presley and to Debbie Rowe, who gave him two children -- as transparent attempts to build a facade of normality.
- ROCK NOTES: Bits and pieces (3rd item)
(
Boston Globe, September 7, 2001, page C15)
... Elvis Presley will become the first-ever inductee in three music halls of fame; the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame member will be welcomed into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in Nashville on Nov. 27. ...
- Elvis Presley Gets Gospel Honor
By JIM PATTERSON
(
St Petersburg Times, September 4, 2001 - select AP Newswire in right hand menu)
The king of rock 'n' roll has secured the ultimate honor in the music genre he loved first and best - gospel. The Gospel Music Association announced Tuesday that Elvis Presley is among the latest inductees into its Hall of Fame. The others are Doris Akers, Wendy Bagwell & The Sunliters, Keith Green, Kurt Kaiser, Larry Norman, The Rambos and Albertina Walker.
- LIFE IN THE POP LANE - I'll be there: King of Pop, Prince of Weird: Michael Jackson pays tribute to himself
By Renee Graham
(Boston Globe, September 4, 2001)
He has spent half of his career as the world's biggest pop star, and the other as the world's biggest punch line. That's all people seem to remember now about Michael Jackson - the child-molestation scandal, endless plastic surgeries, his weird marriage to Lisa Marie Presley, and any number of antics, real or imagined, that have kept the tabloids flush for years. But somewhere behind the loopy behavior, behind the headlines, is one of the best entertainers the world has ever seen, one who as a precocious kid made perfect pop chestnuts, one who rewrote the record books with "Thriller", one who proved just how entertaining music videos could be.
- NFL Beat: Fibbing about your age is old news, punter says
By Quwan Spears
(Sacramento Bee, September 1, 2001)
There was an Elvis sighting inside the New York Jets' locker room this week. This time around he's a punter. The impersonator is Tommy E. Parks, aka "Elvis," whose disputed age this week became as much of a controversy in New York as that of Little League pitcher Danny Almonte. His story is a strange blend of deceit and perseverance. A native of Tupelo, Miss., as was Elvis Presley, Parks initially listed his age as 29 with the Jets until it was later learned he's actually 32. Parks said he lied about his age to avoid being discriminated against after his minor-league pitching career dead-ended in 1998 and he decided to give his NFL punting dream another chance. "To me, it only matters how I perform for the team. Is it morally wrong?"
- Underground Rock: Nick Cave
By Gina Arnold
(Metro, August 30-September 5)
When Cave played an acoustic show at the Palace of Fine Arts this spring, the Bohemian crowd pretty much lost its collective cool at his feet. Instead of watching quietly and barely applauding, they behaved as if they were at a Backstreet Boys concert, yelping, "I love you" and (figuratively, anyway) wetting their leather pants. Does Cave, a darkly humorous but somewhat scary presence on the music scene for almost 20 years, deserve such accolades? In a word, yes. The Australian former punk rocker is a cross between Jughead Jones and Elvis Presley, with a touch of Robert Johnson. He sings gloomy modern blues tunes about death and the devil, and he does so in a weirdly basso profundo voice that can, when it needs to, outshoot his loud and frightening East German-derived band, the Bad Seeds.
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