mid January 2002
- Elvis Slightings [Letter to the Editor]
(Los Angeles Times, January 19, 2002)
The writer comments on the Los Angeles Times' coverage of 17th annual Elvis Birthday Bash at the House of Blues ("Behold the Many Moods of Elvis," by Randy Lewis, Jan. 8), regretting that the article didn't mention the founder or the emcee.
- National Archives' greatest hit: The King and I (am not a crook)
By KATHY LALLY
(Atlanta Journal-Constitution / Baltimore Sun, January 18, 2002)
Discusses the historical meeting between US President Richard Nixon and Elvis Presley in December 1970 and the fact that a photograph of them shaking hands has become the most requested document of the National Archives and Records Administration, outstripping requests for a photo of the USS Arizona being blown up at Pearl Harbor. It is the meeting of "two worlds, both in decline".
- Death the Ultimate Career Move in Pop World
By Paul Majendie
(Yahoo Daily News / Reuters, January 17, 2002)
The 2002 hit parade certainly has proved the pop cynics right -- death is a great career move. Two years before his death from a drug overdose in 1970, legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix provided the ultimate epitaph for rock stars whose sales soar beyond the grave: "Once you're dead, you're made for life.'' From John Lennon to Elvis Presley, from Jim Morrison to Kurt Cobain, the music really does live on. The cash registers keep ringing well after the bell has stopped tolling. The trade paper Music Week, listing the previous posthumous chart toppers in Britain, showed what an eclectic group they are -- Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, Elvis Presley, John Lennon, Jackie Wilson and Freddie Mercury. "We know the dead sell. Jimi Hendrix still shifts 20,000 albums a week,'' said Mike Shalett, founder of the New York-based company SoundScan that helps to compile the U.S. album charts. Bob Marley, who died of melanoma and brain cancer in 1981 at the age of 36, is still the best-selling reggae artist in the world. Presley was reported to have sold 300 million albums in the first seven years after his death. And now there is even talk of an album hit parade for the deceased. "But we don't know what to call the chart. It's a tough
one,'' Shalett told the Scottish Daily Record newspaper.
- Skydiving Elvis leaps for charity
(Ananova, January 17, 2002)
An Elvis Presley lookalike took part in a sky dive over the east coast to raise money for charity. Dave Walker, of Scarborough [England], carried out the feat in Bridlington, East Yorkshire. The ambulance driver says he may sign autographs but told fans they'd have to be 12,000 feet up in the air to get them.
- Govt confirms Elvis has left the building
(News Interactive Australia / Daily Telegraph, January 12, 2002)
THE [Australian] Federal Government has backed down on plans to buy Australia any "Elvis" super helitankers credited with saving hundreds of homes and 14 firefighters' lives in the Black Christmas crisis. Acting Prime Minister John Anderson made the announcement yesterday, despite Prime Minister John Howard saying just last week that he was considering purchasing three of the Erickson S-64F air cranes. After an aerial inspection of the Shoalhaven fires, Mr Anderson also refused to give any assurance that the Federal Government would help meet the cost of leasing the helitankers to fight future fires. However, he said the Howard Government had agreed to pay the $800,000 bill for flying Georgia Peach and Incredible Hulk to Sydney. RFS Commissioner Phil Koperberg said the helitankers would still be used to fight bushfires, but would be leased. Commissioner Koperberg agreed it was sensible for the Federal Government not to buy the aircraft. "The last thing you would want to do is create conflict between the states if there is more than one fire," Mr Koperberg said. He said it was more economical to lease three helitankers during the bushfire season than purchase just one.
- Elvis Festival in Parkes
By Kathryn Attwood
(ABC, January 15, 2002)
The Elvis Festival in Parkes is over for another year leaving some colourful memories. This year, fans travelled from places including Sydney,Gunnedah and Goulburn to attend the town's 10th annual festival. Committee member and owner of Gracelands Restaurant, Anne Steele says a majority of the weekend's events including the Sunday morning gospel service were very well supported. Spike Jones from Sydney and Ashley Penny from Orange were judged joint winners of this year's look-a-like competition, and Ian Harris from Kyabram, near Sheparton sang "The Wonder of You" to win the sound-a-like competition.
- Govt foots helitankers bill, plans national fire strategy
(Canberra Times, January 12, 2002, p. 1)
The [Australian] Federal Government pledged yesterday to coordinate a national firefighting strategy as it signed a [AUD]$800,000 cheque for two giant helitankers leased from the United States. Acting Prime Minister John Anderson toured yesterday the NSW South Coast where 40 homes were lost as a fire swept through several holiday towns at the height of the state's bushfire emergency. With three helitankers still dumping their 9000-litre water loads on the area, Mr Anderson said the Federal Government would pay for the transport costs of Georgia Peach and the Incredible Hulk, relieving the NSW Government of the $800,000 burden. The two helitankers were brought from the US and have spent the past few days with Elvis the aircrane on loan from Victoria, bring a huge 45km fire-front on the south coast under control.
- Marvin's Window: Happy birthday, Elvis, from a late-blooming fan
By Marvin Robertson
(Kingman Daily Miner Online, January 11, 2002)
Robertson attended a three day impersonator contest in Laughlin. He was not a fan of Elvis's in 1950s and '60s. "This weekend, I had a second chance to relive those days of youth and had a glimpse of what I missed. Keeping an open mind to new experiences can lead to interesting and enjoying times. ... I came away impressed with the range of music performed by Elvis during his career. Listening to recordings has given me a new appreciation of the great talent and voice that seems to have been overshadowed by some wild hip movements. ... Thanks to all you Elvis fans for keeping the legend alive so we latecomers can enjoy his great musical talent. Happy Birthday,Elvis from a new fan!"
- Helitankers resume fire fight after safety delay
( ABC, January 9, 2002)
Three helitankers have taken to the air to fight bushfires on the New South Wales south coast after safety fears grounded them for much of the morning. Helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft are joining helitankers Elvis, Georgia Peach and the Incredible Hulk as they water-bomb fires in Morton National Park. The helitanker Elvis is from Victoria and joined the New South Wales fire fight after Christmas. The other two helitankers were brought in from the United States earlier this week and took to the skies yesterday.
- Praise for Elvis and Gentleman Bob
(Canberra Times, January 9, 2002, p. 4)
New South Wales Premier Bob Carr has earned the tag "a gentleman's gentleman" for his visit to Fishermans Paradise, a fire-ravaged hamlet on the [NSW] South Coast. Residents and firefighters battling the fires of the South Coast also praised Elvis, the waterbombing helitanker, as a "saviour". Queensland firefighter Mick Patch said Elvis got him out of a tight spot and came to the aid of his colleagues, who came from as far afield as northern Queensland and West Wyalong in NSW.
- The Stax Report: Special "Elvis" Edition!
By Stax
(Film Force, January 9, 2002)
Stax here with a Special Edition tribute to Elvis Presley! Today would have been The King's 67th birthday so I've decided to honor that by recommending some Elvis gems that are available on video. Now, I know Elvis didn't exactly make an astounding contribution to the world of film. Still, he was a pretty big movie star in his Hollywood heyday before his idiotic starring vehicles ruined any chance he had at establishing himself as a legitimate actor. His lousy later films also hurt his singing career; most of the songs he recorded during the mid-to-late 1960s (mainly movie soundtracks) are among his worst. One can still look at Elvis' early film work and wonder "what might have been" had he only continued to work with solid directors and actors, and if he had not always taken the advice of his scheming manager Colonel Parker. [These films are recommended:] Elvis '56; Elvis: The Movie, 1979, dir. John Carpenter; Flaming Star, 1960, dir. Don Siegel; Wild in the Country, 1961, dir. Philip Dunne; Heartbreak Hotel, 1988, dir. Chris Columbus; One Night with You; Elvis Meets Nixon, 1997, dir. Allan Arkush; Elvis - That's the Way It Is (Special Edition), 1970, dir. Denis Sanders.
- Elvis tribute to be theme of county fair
By Hala Ali Aryan
(Union Tribune (San Diego), January 9, 2002)
DEL MAR -- Del Mar Fairgrounds officials couldn't get Elvis Presley to attend this year's event, so they did the next best thing. They decided the theme of the 2002 San Diego County Fair, formerly known as the Del Mar Fair, will be "Elvis: A Tribute to the King of Rock & Roll." Fairgrounds staff announced the theme to the Fair Board yesterday with a birthday cake. Yesterday would have been Elvis' 67th birthday. Fairgrounds General Manager Tim Fennell said he figured that 2002, the 25th anniversary of Elvis' death would be the right time for an Elvis-themed fair. The fair will celebrate the singer's career with Elvis tribute entertainers who will perform on the fairgrounds' 10 stages nearly every day of the fair. An Elvis Presley movie marathon will show on the big screen in the Paddock with a different movie each night. This is the only fair that Elvis Presley Enterprises has officially sanctioned outside of Graceland for showing Elvis memorabilia, fairgrounds officials said.
- Statue of 13-year-old Elvis Unveiled
(Fox News, January 9, 2002)
Tupelo, the Elvis Presley Birthplace, now features a permanent reminder that the singer was a kid before he was king. A 350-pound bronze statue of a 13-year-old Elvis was unveiled here Tuesday to coincide with the 67th anniversary of the singer's birth. The statue was created by sculptor Michiel VanderSommen, at a cost of US$50,000, which was paid by the Tupelo Visitors and Convention Bureau. Henry Dodge, chairman of the Elvis Presley Memorial Foundation, said the idea of portraying Elvis as a young teen-ager was first suggested by a fan from Ireland. "We chose 13 because that was the age his family left and went to Memphis," Dodge said. "He lived here until he was 13 and nobody can really take that from us." Dodge said the goal was to depict Elvis in his "innocence and humbleness." The chief challenge to getting the right look was the lack of photos depicting Elvis at that age. A pair of old photos helped. Dodge also talked with Elvis' contemporaries to find out how tall the boy was, how he dressed and how he carried his guitar. The final product depicts a boy who doesn't quite resemble the face the whole world knows. The 13-year-old dressed in overalls carries a guitar at his left side with his right hand reaching forward. "The most important thing in the sculpture is the gesture he makes," VanderSommen said. "The gesture I tried to depict is him moving forward to the future." Joe Pacula, who was visiting with his wife, Pat, from Toronto, Canada was impressed by the decision to capture Elvis' early years in bronze. "I think the concept is brilliant," he said. "You couldn't do another Graceland. You had to do something different."
- Elvis served under retired colonel
By JENNIFER P. BROWN
(Kentucky New Era, January 8, 2002)
When Hopkinsville resident Thomas Dooley was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, in the late 1950s, one of the soldiers under his command was Elvis Presley. To the world, Elvis was destined to become the greatest celebrity of the 20th century. To Dooley and the Army, he was just a soldier. "I don't remember much about it, other than he was a good soldier and he did what he was supposed to do," the retired Army colonel said. In fact, Dooley and his wife, Kitty Dooley, aren't even sure they ever saw Presley at Fort Hood. But they do remember the stir that surrounded his arrival at the Army installation. "One night the MPs stopped a car outside Elvis' barracks. It was the (commanding) general's daughters trying to find Elvis," Kitty Dooley said. ... Dooley, 88, retired from the Army in 1969. His link to Elvis is a distant memory, and by his estimation, hardly worthy of any mention.
- Elvis fans vote Love Me Tender as his most romantic song
(Ananova, January 8, 2002)
Elvis Presley's hit Love Me Tender has been voted his most romantic song. Always On My Mind came in second place with Can't Help Falling In Love a close third. The poll was compiled by record company BMG to celebrate what would have been Elvis's 67th birthday today. A BMG spokesman says the simplicity and pure sentiment of Love Me Tender makes it so popular with fans. The Top 10 tracks in the poll are: 1. Love Me Tender; 2. Always On My Mind; 3. Can't Help Falling In Love; 4. Are You Lonesome Tonight?; 5. It's Now Or Never; 6. The Wonder Of You; 7. Wooden Heart; 8. I Just Can't Help Believing; 9. Suspicious Minds; 10. In The Ghetto.
- Bin Laden Has Become America's Most Spotted
By Jennifer D'Angelo
(Fox News Channel, January 8, 2002)
The U.S. military, trudging through caves and blasting through rocks in Afghanistan in search of the elusive Usama bin Laden, might be looking in the wrong place. At least if recent reports to the FBI are any indication. Callers to the agency have reported seeing the bearded evildoer just about everywhere but central Asia. ... But even as bin Laden seems on his way to upstaging Elvis as America's Most Spotted, Valiquette says there is little or no truth to the [various] claims [of sightings].
- Elvis is "alive" at Bonne Terre home
By LINDA BAYLES FITZGERALD
(Daily Journal, January 8, 2002)
If you thought the king was dead, there is one Bonne Terre woman you need to know. Elvis is definitely in the building at Judy Wilfong's house, and as long as she lives, so does he. ... Eddie Wilfong, Judy's husband has always supported her desire to collect Elvis memorabilia. On a tour of her house she says frequently, "Eddie bought me this." She has every album Elvis ever made. Not only every record album, but every eight-track, every audiotape, and every CD as well. When Wilfong greets you at the front door of her home, she's wearing an Elvis tee shirt. The walls of her living room, dining room, and kitchen are graced with pictures, clocks and collectible plates and many play music -- Elvis music. Trophy cases and shelves display commemorative bottles, decanters and statues and many of those play music. ... Elvis lives in every room in Judy's home except one. That's Eddie's room. And in there Mark McQuire will always be playing baseball. But that's a springtime story. For now, "Happy Birthday, Baby," all 67 of them.
- Annual birthday bash for Elvis fans
(Sun News Myrtle Beach, January 8, 2002)
Dick's Last Resort, Barefoot Landing, U.S. 17, North Myrtle Beach, will honor what would have been Elvis Aaron Presley's 67th birthday with its annual birthday bash from 5 to close tonight. Festivities include an Elvis karaoke contest, and performances by Dick Driftwood and the Cholesterol Cowboys and Elvis impersonator Mike Helms, aka "Big E." Winners of the karaoke contest are crowned via crowd response. The first-place winner gets $100, second place gets $50 and a $25 gift certificate to Dick's is the third-place prize.
- POP MUSIC REVIEW: Behold the Many Moods of Elvis
By RANDY LEWIS
(Los Angeles Times, January 8, 2002)
At the annual Birthday Bash, performers playfully and lovingly pay tribute to Presley's varied influences, from roots music, R&B, pop, country and beyond. If Elvis hadn't existed, surely we'd have been forced to invent him. That theory never rang truer than at the 17th annual Elvis Birthday Bash, held Sunday at House of Blues in West Hollywood, just two days shy of what would have been the King's 67th birthday. The infinite malleability of Elvis the man, the musician and the pop-culture icon sustained a nearly five-hour show with dozens of performers who, by turns, paid reverent, ironic, cynical, heartfelt, joking or just plain impenetrable tribute to Presley's music and public image. Anyone not familiar with Presley's culture-changing synthesis of American roots music undoubtedly would have been perplexed trying to pinpoint a unifying factor as various acts emphasized the multiple facets of his music. Country, blues, R&B, pop, bluegrass, Hollywood hokum -- all except the gospel music closest to his heart -- got ample air time. In some respects, the annual tribute turns into a "top this!" challenge to each succeeding talent roster.
- Every Man (And Woman) an Elvis: Imitators Honor Presley on the King's 67th Birthday
By Buck Wolf
(ABC News, January 8, 2002)
I am weak. I have given in to temptation. I have once again written about Elvis. I officially retired Elvis from The Wolf Files two years ago, when the King would have turned 65. Now, on Jan. 8, it's the 67th anniversary of his birth. Big deal, you say? But just wait ... The entire world will flock to Memphis in eight months. At least it will seem that way. August marks the 25th anniversary of the King's passing. Elvis may have died a fat middle-aged man strung out on drugs. But he will always be the quintessential American rock star, enshrined as a dashboard statuette and rendered in black velvet. Once again, Elvis beckons, and I am giving in. In celebration of Elvis' birthday, I bring you some of the most unusual Elvis impersonators. Fat white men once held a tight grip on the Elvis impersonation market. But these days you can find Mexican, Asian, Serbo-Croatian and even lesbian Presley clones in their white spangled jumpsuits. Indeed, the range of Elvis impersonators is as diverse as America itself. By some estimates, there are as many as 35,000 Elvii, performing, often for free, at all sorts of venues.
- 1500 flee South Coast towns: bushfire flare-up threatens homes
By Danielle Cronin and AAP
(Canberra Times, January 8, 2002, p. 1)
About 1500 residents and holidaymakers were forced to flee [NSW] South Coast towns yesterday as bushfire flare-ups threatened homes. ... Rural Fire Service Commissioner Phil Koperberg said the bushfire crisis was far from over, with Shoalhaven and other South Coast areas posing problems for firefighters. ... The blaze - which has already gutted 40 homes in Shoalhaven - is now threatening properties in Cudmirrah, Berrara and Fishermans Paradise. ... Meanwhile, two more Elvis-style helitankers arrived in Sydney yesterday. They were being assembled last night and could be in use as early as today. One may be needed to replace Elvis, leased from Victoria and due to return soon, in the battle on the South Coast.
Go to Early January 2002
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