Late February 2002
- DeSoto Elvis plan: Tourist mecca or just a big nuisance?
By William C. Bayne
(Go Memphis, February 28, 2002)
Where developers see a $500 million Elvis-themed resort, Elsie Marsh of Walls sees a mammoth traffic magnet. "We don't need any more traffic on Goodman Road. It's bad enough as it is,'' said Marsh, who lives in the nearby Allen subdivision. Tonight, increased traffic will be among the concerns as the DeSoto County Planning Commission considers a rezoning proposal to allow the project to advance. The project, described for officials in Horn Lake last week by J. D. Stacy of Alpharetta, Ga., includes golf courses, wedding chapels, retail space, and replicas of Graceland and the White House, among other features. The development's impact, traffic and sewage disposal will be of concern, said Jim McDougal, a contract planner with the planning commission. McDougal said the commission staff has asked Stacy to provide a traffic assessment study.
- PUB SCENE: Facing the music
By Arti Mulchand
(
Straits Times, February 28, 2002)
SINGAPORE: No more happy hour at pubs hit by the recession. Tajie at Mohamed Sultan has closed after a failed rent negotiation, and so are other pubs for various reasons. ... It is not just the newcomers or the Mohamed Sultan belt that have been affected. Some other stalwarts are also feeling the pinch. Eight-year-old Elvis Place at The Concourse shut its doors over the Chinese New Year period. The Elvis-themed pub, which caters mainly to 'matured' expats in the petroleum industry, has been hard hit by the current recession. Also, this group of expats has shrunk in size. Owner Jerry 'Elvis' Wee, 53, explains: 'After hanging on for the last year, I don't think the economy is going to turn around soon. Elvis' target clients have been hard hit. I did not expect it to be this bad.'
- U2 Flies High at Gibson Awards
By Phil Gallo
(
Yahoo news, February 27, 2002)
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Irish rockers U2 began what should be an kudos-heavy week for them by walking away Tuesday with three prizes at the Orville H. Gibson Awards, honoring guitarists in various musical genres. U2, a nominee for eight awards at Wednesday night's Grammys, was named best guitar band, while the Edge took home the Gibson for best rock guitarist and Adam Clayton won for bassist. The eighth edition of the awards, presented at the Knitting Factory, included lifetime achievement honors to bluegrass banjo player Earl Scruggs and to Scotty Moore, the guitarist behind Elvis Presley and the Sun Studios.
- Johnny Cash Says Health is Improving
By JIM PATTERSON
(
Bastrop Daily Enterprises, February 26, 2002)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) _ The Man in Black is back. Johnny Cash turns 70 on Tuesday, and the long-ailing singer says he's beginning to feel the itch to perform again. He's even finishing work on a new album. ... His style has served Cash well since he emerged in the 1950s on Sun Records out of Memphis. At first, he was the somewhat grim rockabilly alternative to wild cats like Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis. His first public performance was opening for Presley. "That was at the Overton Park Shell in Memphis in 1955," Cash says. "I was an extra on an Elvis Presley show. I sang two songs." ... "He and Elvis were kind of in the same ballpark," says singer Glen Campbell, a fellow Arkansas native who first saw Cash perform in 1958. "He was very dynamic, but in a different way. If I could see anybody in their prime perform right now, I'd see Johnny Cash."
- My adventures with Elvis
By DAN BARON
(
Times, February 25, 2002)
Yeah, I met "the King" once. Or at least the men who would be king. In my first week at The Times, I was assigned to cover a tribute to Elvis Presley in Merrillville starring a bunch of Elvis impersonators, including one man who said he had been getting paid to pretend he was Elvis since he was 3 years old. Even a few rare sources who concede that journalists are almost human look at me when they hear aboutthis kind of story and ask: "Does your mother know you do this for a living?" Now that I'm leaving my position at The Times, I am reminded of how lucky I am to have had the chance to write about the high and the low, the funny and the tragic, and the many things in between that matter to people in the region. On that night of Elvismania, one would-be Elvis told me he had mimicked Presley in Manila, Philippines; Beirut, Lebanon; and many other cities around the world. "They just love Elvis in Beirut," he said. I tried to confirm this statement later that night, but was cut off by an overseas phone operator who apparently didn't understand the importance of fact-checking a comment by an Elvis wannabe in Indiana. ...
- Glove me tender!
By Evening Press reporter
(
This is York, February 25, 2002)
THE wife of York Elvis Eddie Vee is to appear on TV to complain that her husband is turning her house into a Heartbreak Hotel by refusing to do any housework. Eddie, also known as Graham Cambridge, is a house-husband who does NOTHING around the house, according to his wife of 18 years, Jane. The pair, from Welham Road, York, are to appear on ITV's Family Values, presented by writer and director Kay Mellor, who was astounded when Graham said on the show: "If you have a dog, why bark yourself?" Graham told the Evening Press: "I don't do washing and ironing, they're no-nos. You don't expect to have to do women's work. A lot of the women on the show were on my side, saying if she doesn't want you, we'll have you and do your washing and ironing. I don't do any of the men's jobs either, apart from change the odd fuse." But his attitude is to be put to the test. In the first of two programmes, to be screened on Monday, March 4, at 10.50pm, Eddie is set a challenge to clean his own blue suede shoes or risk ending up lonesome tonight. He has to spend the day helping round the house and then report back in the second show.
- Nic Calls it off with Lisa Marie: Nic Cage dumps Lisa Marie Presley after she pressures him to give up movies
By Kel Laurence
(Woman's Day [Australian edition], February 25, 2002, p. 12-13)
Lovestruck Lisa Marie Presley gave Nicolas Cage an ultimatum: "It's movies or me!" The hot-headed actor decided he'd rather work for a living than be kept by the Presley millions. ... Lisa Marie tried to control Nic with her fortune - forcing him to choose between life as her kept man or his Hollywood movie career. After weeks of squabbling, hot-headed Nic finally told her he wanted to end their relationship. ... Woman's Day sources reveal how Elvis Presley's little girl tried to persuade Oscar-winner Nic that her millions were enough for both of them to live on and he no longer had to put in 18-hour days working on set. She tried to convince him to spend more time learning about her religious belief, Scientology, and leave Hollywood for Florida to a start a family of their own. ... Much as Nic has told friends he loved Lisa Marie, he just wasn't willing to give up his career, settle down and live his life off the Elvis fortune. "Nic felt she was being too controlling and demanding of his time," his friend explains. ... her beliefs became another point of conflict for the couple. ... Lisa Marie's friends are not surprised at the split, after warning her over Nic's womanising ways and poor relationship record. ... And Nic once told a friend, "I love women, but no woman can ever own me ... I don't know if I'll ever be able to settle down."
- Dishwasher, Elvis fan will be missed
By WAVENEY ANN MOORE
(
St. Petersburg Times, February 24, 2002)
Troy Crotts will have to tell his two young sons that Danny Murphy, the pleasantly eccentric dishwasher at Coney Island Sandwich Shop, has died. Murphy was as much an institution as Coney Island, which itself has been around since 1926. Give or take a few weeks when he walked out after a spat with the owners, Murphy had worked for the sandwich shop about 26 years. He stopped last March after being diagnosed with cancer of the lungs, liver, stomach and connective tissue. In June, Coney Island co-workers and customers treated him to a trip to Elvis Presley's Graceland in Memphis. He died Wednesday, five days after his 46th birthday and an hour before getting his wish to be moved to the same nursing home as his elderly mother, Margaret. ... "He was a big Elvis fan. I mean, anything and everything to do with Elvis. His dream was always to go to Graceland, and thanks to the people of St. Petersburg, he was able to make it. He was like a kid in a candy store. He has an Elvis outfit that he made. The day we went to Graceland, he wore his Elvis outfit all day. People were stopping him and taking his picture. He had his 15 minutes of fame."
- Elvis' face to grace some U.S. quarters
(
Atlanta Journal-Constitution / Associated Press, February 24, 2002)
MEMPHIS -- Don't be surprised if you're looking through your change one day and spot not the face of George Washington -- but Elvis Presley. Elvis Presley Enterprises has licensed a Maryland company to replace Washington on the Tennessee version of some 2002 quarters with the colorized face of Presley. The coins went into production this month through the International Collector's Society. It uses a process that fuses a color portrait of Elvis over the face of Washington. The Tennessee quarters already have a musical theme on the flip side, with a guitar, fiddle and trumpet stamped on the quarter over a "Musical Heritage" banner. Pete Davidson, senior licensing manager for Elvis Presley Enterprises, said the British crown colony of Gibraltar mints Elvis coins as part of its currency, but the refaced quarter is the only Elvis option in U.S. currency. Some have questioned the coins' legality. Tim Viertel, special agent in charge of the Memphis office of the U.S. Secret Service, said defacing U.S. currency is a crime that amounts to a misdemeanor with a fine and up to five years in federal prison. But he said the new Elvis quarters are in a "gray area" since they are not being produced as part of a deceptive scheme. "I don't know of a U.S. attorney's office around who would prosecute it," Viertel said.
- Fake cop with Elvis ID fined after bogus arrest
(
Ananova, February 23, 2002)
A fake policeman whose ID had a photo of Elvis on it fined people for urinating outside at Munich's Oktoberfest. The 28-year-old has been found guilty of posing as a policeman at a court in the city. He fined an Italian visitor around £15. When another man refused to pay, he 'arrested' him and took him to the nearest police station. Staff arrested him when he showed them the fake ID. The ID was actually a fake US driver's licence with a photo of Elvis Presley, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung reports. He later confessed that he didn't get beyond a police training course. The man from Munich, who hasn't been named, has been fined 2,800 euros (just over £1,700).
- Second-chance Elvis Lottery Winners Journey to Graceland
(
Yahoo News, February 22, 2002)
MIDDLETOWN, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 22, 2002--The Pennsylvania Lottery has announced the first four winners of a trip to Graceland in the Elvis(TM) instant game second-chance drawing promotion. ... The Graceland trip winners were drawn from entries received for the first of four second-chance Elvis(TM) instant game drawings. In each of the second-chance drawings, the Lottery selects four trips-for-two to Graceland and 260 entries to win an Elvis Presley prize package consisting of a limited edition print, a movies and music collection, a jacket, a watch, a T-shirt and a playing card set. Each trip winner will receive two Elvis Presley prize packages.
- Sunday with Elvis Proves a Religious Experience
By KAREN MILLER
(
Naples Daily News, February 22, 2002)
I've never been much of an Elvis fan and apparently that goes for many of my friends, because I couldn't find anyone to accompany me to Porky's Last Stand on Sunday to see Chris Purtee's "Tribute to Elvis Presley." ... Purtee's show consists of three sets with three costume changes, the first featuring the " '50s Elvis," the second the " '60s Comeback Medley," and the third the "Las Vegas Elvis," where Purtee gives his scarves away to hysterical women in the audience. ... As the performance progressed, I was in awe of the devotion of the crowd. During Purtee's second set and apparently the favorite of the crowd (partly due to the look of Purtee's tight leather pants, from the way the women were whistling), Purtee wooed the masses with the gospel song, "I'm Saved," complete with billowing smoke and an evangelistic posture. Men and women alike were waving their arms as if at a revival meeting, and at least two people dropped to their knees in praise of I'm not sure who - Purtee, Elvis, God or maybe all three, but it was a bizarre display.
- Dead stars dominate UK charts
(
CNN, February 21, 2002)
Singer Aaliyah, who reached number one in the UK charts with a single released after her death, has been knocked from the top spot by George Harrison, who died in November. ... Ben Knowles, Editor of New Musical Express magazine, told CNN he could not recall two posthumous hits in a row reaching the top of the charts. He said pressure for tracks to be released after an artist's death came from both fans and record labels. "Record labels know they can sell a lot more records after an artist's death -- hence the number of Elvis records that are released. In the case of George Harrison, the company can get away with it because the money is going to charity. But I can't imagine George Harrison would have had another number one hit during his lifetime". ... Previous posthumous chart toppers in Britain include Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, Elvis Presley, John Lennon, Jackie Wilson and Freddie Mercury. Elvis Presley was reported to have sold 300 million albums in the first seven years after his death.
- Gold miner seeking motherlode in Elvis
By WILLIAM BAYNE
(
CinciNow, February 19, 2002)
A developer wants to build a resort on the property in DeSoto County, Miss., just south of Memphis, where Elvis and Priscilla Presley spent their honeymoon in 1967. JB "Chase" Stacy said he will go before the DeSoto County Planning Commission later this month to seek zoning for the proposed $500 million development, just miles south of Memphis, across the Tennessee and Mississippi state line. Stacy outlined his plans for the Elvis Presley Ranch Resort earlier this week, saying his plans include two championship golf courses, retail, entertainment and residential areas, and replicas of the famed honeymoon cottage for rent. His attorneys, Stacy said, believe he won't need permission from Elvis Presley Enterprises to use the name "Elvis Presley Ranch" because the ranch once belonged to the entertainer. However, Elvis Presley Enterprises exercises tight control over the use of Presley's name. And efforts to reach the company for comment have not been immediately successful. "It seems to me that this development is going to benefit everyone," Stacy said. "I would have no problems with a contract with (Elvis Presley Enterprises), but we do not have one." When Presley owned his part of the property, it was known as the Circle G Ranch. He sold it in 1974.
- LISA MARIE LEAVES NIC SHATTERED: Why she dumped him for old flame
(
National Enquirer, February 18, 2002)
A HEARTBROKEN Nic Cage is completely crushed after long-time girlfriend Lisa Marie Presley coldly dumped him - and the pain is even worse because she left him for an old fiance. That's the untold story behind the recent headline-making breakup of Elvis' 34-year-old daughter and the 38-year-old Academy Award winner. ... Right before Super Bowl weekend, Lisa Marie hooked up again with her ex-fiance John Oszajca. They were together in Orlando, stayed in Disney's Animal Kingdom hotel and did some sight-seeing. "And they discovered that there was still a lot of chemistry between them."
- 'The ladies just seem to love him': Elvis impersonator from Farragut says he's still perfecting his show
By KEISHA BRUCE
(
Bristol Herald Courier, February 18, 2002)
Call him the king of the nursing homes. Residents often are seated an hour before he arrives. Some have pictures of him beside their beds. Once, a nursing home administrator was called in to help free him from an elderly woman's grasp. Chris Baratta, an Elvis impersonator with a background in medical care, spends a lot of his time preening to adoring crowds -- many of whom are in wheelchairs. He sings and dances and gyrates, swiveling his pelvis in true Elvis fashion, for the local elderly. ... While he says he simply has no idea whether the real King still is alive, Baratta said he had a close encounter in 1961. While riding in the back of his parents' car in Los Angeles, Elvis pulled up beside on a motorcycle, giving him and his sister a close-up of one of the world's biggest stars. Elvis rode next to them for about a mile on Sunset Boulevard. "He was smiling and we were waving," Baratta said.
- With a song in their heart ... High schoolers deliver Valentine's Day cheer in the form of singing telegrams as part of a fundraiser for a trip to New York
By KRISTEN RASMUSSEN
(
Providence Journal, February 15, 2002)
No Valentine's Day is complete without the soft strains of Elvis Presley -- just ask the more than 100 residents who were serenaded by his romantic airs yesterday. OK, so it wasn't the King himself, but based on responses gushed by the lucky recipients, it might as well have been. ... Six members of the Mt. Hope High School chorus and vocal ensemble performed a singing-telegram medley of romantic songs at local nursing homes, schools and some businesses, but the majority of telegrams were delivered to homes. "It's great to see that something we like doing makes other people happy".
- A Songwriter's Path
By Stephan Burnett
(
Edson Leader, February 15, 2002)
The One is a song about your first real love and having to let each other go so you can follow your heart and dreams and be true to yourself. That's the way Edson's own Colleen Rayner describes her song called, The One, set to be released in late March. ... From three generations ago to today, it seems the creative genius of Rayner's family has been visited once again through Colleen's writing ability. Recently, Colleen and her fiance, local entrepreneur Ed Warnock, took a trip down to Nashville to record, The One. Afterward, Colleen and Ed tripped to Memphis and toured Graceland. "He's still alive," says Colleen with a laugh and a mischievous look. After a little pause, she adds, "The energy of Elvis is alive in Graceland." The trip to Nashville and the sidetrip to Memphis and the home of Elvis was the end of a long and winding road for Colleen. ...
- Stars' heroes thrill and disappoint Mojo survey
By Hugh Davies
(
National Post Online / Daily Telegraph, February 15, 2002)
LONDON - The stars of the music world picked their heroes this week, with Sir Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards sticking to the guitar idols of their youth, and others, like Billy Bragg and Debbie Harry, opting for long-dead novelists. ... Jagger chose Chuck Berry, even though the rock pioneer eventually disappointed him. "He was an oddly cheap character. He never had a good band, he was always rude to everyone. He became too much of a parody of himself. "I never met Elvis either because John Lennon once told me he was a real disappointment. So I said I'd take his advice because I had already had it with Chuck and I didn't want that to happen again with Elvis."
- Shop gets ahead with Madonna's famous hat
By David Ayrton
(
Lancashire Evening Telegraph, February 15, 2002)
WHEN a cap once worn by Madonna went on sale at an East Lancashire shop, fans clamoured to get their hands on it. The hat, modelled by the Material Girl on the cover of Italian Vogue in 1992, was sold for £395 within 24 hours of arriving at Pride Records, Rawtenstall. It was the latest bit of showbiz memorabilia to find its way to the shop, launched in 1998 by Alison Sharples and Janice Percy, who now deal as much in such goods as they do in old vinyl. For £295 you can pick up a rose gold Goddess of Love necklace with a diamond inset which belonged to Mae West. A pair of Clark Gable's gold cufflinks are available at £350. The shop has recently sold a pair of solid silver cufflinks once worn by Elvis Presley and an autograph by Marylin Monroe.
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