Late July 2002
- `Elvis' and ACappella-Go! Wrap Up Space Needle's `Summer Sundays' Celebration
SOURCE: Seattle Space Needle
(Yahoo! Finance / BUSINESS WIRE, July 31, 2002)
The Space Needle's "Summer Sundays" concert series is ending as it began, with "Elvis Presley" and some `60s "shoop shoop" and "boogie woogie" bringing down the house.
On Sunday, August 4, the Landmark will close this portion of its six-month long 40th Anniversary celebration with encore performances by Elvis Presley impersonator Tracy Alan Moore of Lynnwood and the award-winning local women's trio ACappella-Go!
- Priscilla Presley Backs Show Based on Elvis Marriage
(Yahoo! News / Reuters, July 31, 2002)
Call it "Love Me Tender" or "Heartbreak Hotel." Elvis Presley's ex-wife Priscilla Presley and Los Angeles-based Immortal Entertainment Group on Wednesday unveiled plans to develop a musical stage show based on her legendary romance with the king of rock-and-roll. Immortal President David Codikow promises a lively and upbeat show like the current production of "Mama Mia," which uses songs from 1970s pop music sensation, Abba, but the as yet unnamed Presley show will span the 1950s, 60s and 70s. "This is going to be Priscilla's vision. It's her story. It's the king and the queen. It's the birth of rock-and-roll," said Codikow.
- A Love Story of A Man, His Music, and His One Great Love; 'Priscilla and Elvis' Immortalized
SOURCE: Immortal Entertainment Group
(Yahoo! Finance / PRNewswire, July 31, 2002)
Immortal Entertainment President David Codikow announced today that Immortal Entertainment and Priscilla Beaulieu Presley will create and co-produce a one-of-a-kind live musical theater experience based on the storybook love affair of Priscilla and Elvis. "Priscilla's relationship with Elvis was like living in a musical, we are just helping her to bring her story to the stage. Their love story mirrors many important moments in history, the story is as much about Elvis and Priscilla's romance as it is about the landscape of popular culture evolving before, during and after their relationship," stated Codikow. In the vain of other contemporary musicals, such as Mama Mia, this show will delight audiences both young and old. "I am looking forward to a partnership with Immortal," stated Presley. "This is a project that I believe will revive memories for us all, and impact and
excite a whole new generation."
- Elvis fans to flock to German village where The King lived
(Ananova, July 31, 2002)
Around 12,000 Elvis fans are expected to flock to two small villages in Germany for a special event next month. Bad Nauheim and Friedberg will jointly host the First European Elvis Festival from August 15 to 18. Elvis lived in Bad Nauheim for a while when he was stationed at the US Army barracks in Friedberg from October 1958 to April 1960.
- 25 years after Elvis' death, he still has us all shook up
By Deirdre Donahue
(Yahoo! News / USA Today, July 30, 2002)
Elvis had it all. The swivel. The voice. The ability to convince billions that, yes, love could make him so lonely, he wanted to die at Heartbreak Hotel. Aug. 16 will mark the 25th anniversary of Presley's death. But publishers are already lined up with at least a dozen books, from lavish $50 tomes to authorized bookazines to spiritual paperbacks, to mark the King's passing.
- Local boy returns to reopen "Elvis lives" debate
By Robert Richard Jorge
(onmilwaukee.com, July 30, 2002)
" ... in my senior year, Shorewood High School did Aristophanes' 'The Birds.' I auditioned, got cast and ever since then I've been involved in theater." That's native son Lory Lazarus speaking. A transplant to New Jersey ("To be near the New York theater"), this actor/musician/cabaret entertainer/comedy writer/composer-lyricist/still-a-cartoonist/maitre-d extraordinaire/mature playwright, is in town to assist with the world premiere of his latest musical, "Attack of the Elvis Impersonators," for which he wrote the book, the music and the lyrics. It debuts Fri., Aug. 2 at the Modjeska Theater on Mitchell Street.
- Elvis the noisy bridegroom arrested
(Ananova, July 30, 2002)
A Romanian bridegroom called Elvis has been arrested for playing music too loud at his wedding. Police handcuffed him and several of his guests before leading them away from the celebrations in Constanta. Elvis Mustafa was allowed to return after he paid a fine for public disorder offences.
- Elvis parade promises to light up Beale with fireworks, howitzers
By Michael Lollar
(Go Memphis, July 29, 2002)
The street known as the home of the blues will become the heart of rock and roll Aug. 10 with a red, white and blue salute to Elvis Presley including everything from Disney movie characters to an air show with a traditional "missing man" flight formation. The Beale Street parade will kick off Memphis's annual death-week tribute to Elvis, turning the annual rite into the "Elvis Presley 25th Anniversary Celebration of Life Parade." With up to 70,000 fans expected during the milestone anniversary week, the parade and nightlong street party are intended by Graceland and the city to thank more than 12 million Elvis fans who have traveled to Memphis since Elvis's death on Aug. 16, 1977.
- More than 100 Elvis impersonators gather in Collingwood, Ont. for annual festival
By ANGELA PACIENZA
(canada.com network / Ottawa Citizen, July 29, 2002)
The sleepy streets of this southern Ontario cottage community came alive over the weekend to the sights and sounds of a rock 'n' roll legend. Throngs of worshipers sporting Elvis Presley's signature sideburns clogged the main drag under a sweltering sun, hips gyrating to the pulsating beats of the king's songs thundering over loudspeakers. And inside a cool arena typically filled at this time of year with kids attending hockey camp, more than 100 polyester-clad performers, men and women aged five through 60, competed for the title of Canadian Grand Elvis Champion. Since its inception eight years ago, the festival has swelled to 70,000 visitors from across North America and is deemed the world's largest by Elvis Presley Enterprises, the corporate entity that guards the estate and legacy of the late rocker, who died 25 summers ago at age 42.
- Elvis soldiered with the best of 'em
By DON MOORE
(Sun Herald, July 28, 2002)
Elvis Presley would have probably made a good soldier. But it's tough to be a soldier when you're the rock 'n' roll idol of the Western world. By the fall of 1958, when he was sent to Germany as a member of the U.S. Army's 32nd Tank Battalion, 3rd Armored Division, the 23-year-old was already a celebrity. ... He was just about to begin production on "King Creole," his second flick, when he got the draft notice from the Memphis Selective Service Commission in December 1957. The notice was hand delivered to the front door of his Graceland home by Milton Bowers, head of the draft board. ... When he got a chance, the rock 'n' roll idol was a better than average soldier, performing well in the field during maneuvers.
- Elvis on the Net
By WARREN RICHARDSON
(Sun Herald, July 28, 2002)
Elvis may have left the building, but he certainly has a life on the Internet. For anyone seeking information about the King, there's a wealth of information about Elvis -- including an official site -- that will answer almost any question about his life, his music, his movies, and yes, even his women. [Lists a few sites.]
- Elvis: More than a legend
(Sun Herald, July 28, 2002)
To many fans, Elvis was the king of rock 'n' roll -- an untouchable superstar who shined above the rest. Most would have to settle for watching their idol on screen or listen to his songs over the radio -- and daydream that one day, they might catch a glimpse of him from afar. But to others, Elvis was their first kiss, a boyhood friend -- a man.
- You ain't nothin' but an icon
By George Melly
(Guardian Unlimited, July 28, 2002)
Is there really any more to be said about the first rock'n'roll superstar? George Melly comments on a collection of recollections and a 'celebration' of the King. Elvis: By Those Who Knew Him Best, by Rose Clayton and Dick Heard, Virgin, £18.99, pp405; Elvis: A Celebration, by Mike Evans, Dorling Kindersley, £25, pp608.
- If rock is devil music, these were his imps
By Robert Messenger
(Canberra Times, July 27, 2002, Panorama Section p. 10)
Rock 'n' Roll was the devil's music, came the cry from pulpits and the United States Senate in the mid-1950s, when white teenages first started to listen and dance to the sounds which had come enslaved from West Africa and been given freedom on the Mississippi Delta, from New Orleans to Nemphis, Tennessee, and on up to Chicago and St Louis. Rock's origins were the blues, which had been kept alive on the plantations of American's Deep South, and ragtime and jazz, both of which had started out under the white man's damnation of being "nothing more than nigger music". When it all started to meld together, the New York Daily News called the outcome "a barrage of primitive jungle-beat rhythm set to lyrics which few adults would care to hear". The Catholic Sun likened Elvis Presley's white rhythm and blues to a "voodoo of frustration and defiance". Within a decade of Presley and Carl Perkins bringing rock to white ears, Bob Dyland had taken the next step, electrifying folk music.
None of it, however, would have been possible without John Lomax and his son Alan. ... Lomax died in Florida last weekend, aged 87. ... In 1933 father and son were able to hit the road after being provided with portable disc-recording equipment by the Library of Congress. John became head of the library's archive of folk music. ... The material the Lomaxes gathered was wide-ranging, from pure blues to fiddle tunes to labour camp songs, slave narratives, cajun music and songs from many ethnic communities.
- There's Only One Elvis (Second paragraph)
(Waveguide, July 26, 2002)
BBC One marks the 25th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley with There's Only One Elvis, on Sunday, August 11. The programme celebrates the Elvis phenomenon and reveals the man behind it. It traces Presley's career from the day he first gyrated out of Memphis in 1956 and his provocative wiggle shocked the world, to his formulaic film career with beautiful girls and dodgy scripts. Self-confessed Presley obsessive Frank Skinner said: "I'm completely obsessed with Elvis. I 've got a piece of wood from a fence at Graceland. I've got a hair from Elvis's horse, and I bought a shirt which supposedly belong to Elvis at auction. I paid £11,200 for it."
- Remembering Elvis
(Entertainment Tonight, July 26, 2002)
ELVIS PRESLEY may be gone, but he is definitely not forgotten. Aug. 16, 2002 marks the 25th anniversary of the passing of the King of Rock 'n' Roll with the release of a new Presley collectible. "Elvis: His Best Friend Remembers" is a one-of-a-kind acknowledgment from "DIAMOND JOE" ESPOSITO, one of Presley's best buddies and confidants. Esposito provides a candid commentary of the close to 20 years he spent on and off the road with Presley, beginning with their U.S. Army adventures. Among those stories are "Elvis Buys a Chimp," "Germany 1959," and "A Kiss from Don Ho." Both the DVD and VHS versions of the tribute, which hits stores on July 30, also include extremely rare photos, home movies, classic performances, newsreels and interviews. In addition to "Elvis: His Best Friend Remembers," Universal Studios Home Video will release 'Change of Habit,' Presley's last motion picture, in DVD for the first time. Tune in to ET tonight for more on the 25th anniversary tribute to Presley. And watch as some hip-swiveling impersonators do their best impressions of The King.
 
- Radio 2 to commemorate anniversary of Elvis's death
(Ananova, July 26, 2002)
Radio 2 is marking the 25th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley next month, with a four-part series looking back at his career. The station's Paul Gambaccini and Stuart Maconie, Richard Williams of the Guardian and Paul Sexton from Billboard will present a show each. They will each give a personal account of their chosen area of Elvis's life. Each programme features archive material, alongside new interviews with those closely associated with Presley. Elvis starts on August 13 at 8.30pm.
- Tabs slight Elvis sightings
(Philadelphia Daily News, July 25, 2002)
The supermarket tabloids don't write about Elvis anymore. Could that mean he isn't alive, after all? There was a time when tabs like the National Enquirer, the Star, the Globe, and the Weekly World News paid rapt attention when people reported seeing Elvis buying peanut butter at their supermarket. There was a time when Elvis headlines were a tab staple. "Photo of Elvis Cured My Cancer." "Elvis Refrigerator Magnet Weeps." "Elvis' Grave Is Empty." "Jimmy Hoffa Found in Elvis' Grave." And, of course, "Elvis Seen at Burger King." "Elvis Seen at K-Mart." The Weekly World News claims credit for launching an avalance of sightings with its "Elvis Is Alive" front page in 1988. However, these days, an "Elvis sighting" is just as likely to be a member of the "Flying Elvis" skydiving team or a candidate in Wisconsin's Republican gubnatorial primary (Really. Former state Rep. Bill Lorge is an Elvis impersonator.) campaigning as the real King. And, in any case, the supermarket scandal sheets no longer care. The National Enquirer, which in 1977 sold 6.6 million copies of a single issue when it ran a photo of Elvis in his coffin (purchased from a Presley cousin), has switched from Elvis sightings and invasions by aliens to TV trends and celebrity gossip.
- Elvis: between the covers
(Philadelphia Daily News, July 25, 2002)
IT'S HARD TO imagine anything - anything at all - anyone could possibly want to know about Elvis Presley that has not been written about. Just out this summer is a book called "The Girls' Guide to Elvis" in which author Kim Adelman reports that the king possessed an "uncircumcised, average-sized" sex organ and thought it "very important" that his dates wear white panties. ... Elvis seems to have brought out the urge to write in everyone he knew. Books about him have been authored (usually with a professional writer's help) by his ex-wife Priscilla ("Elvis and Me"), his secretary Becky Yancey ("My Life with Elvis"), his hairdresser Larry Geller ("If I Can Dream"), three bodyguards he fired ("Elvis: What Happened?"), a pair of Presley cousins ("Elvis: Precious Memories"), former girlfriend June Juanico ("Elvis: In the Twilight of Memory") and many, many more.
- Elvis nuptials ties bishop up in knots: Anglican primate all shook up by gyrating, marrying minister
By Roberta Avery
(Toronto Star, July 25, 2002)
As COLLINGWOOD, dubbed Elviswood, gears up for its annual Elvis convention, the bishops of the Anglican Church of Canada are developing suspicious minds about the hip-swivelling reverend known as Elvis Priestley. "I feel that mixing the Anglican teaching with an Elvis ministry is in poor taste so I have asked him to relinquish the exercise of his ministry," said Ron Ferris, the bishop of Algoma. Dorian Baxter, a Thornhill public school teacher and an ordained Anglican priest who is a "priest on leave" from Ferris' Algoma diocese in Sault Ste. Marie, said he is outraged at the suggestion. "I refuse to resign from holy orders. Using the King to serve the Lord I have reached tens of thousands of people," said Baxter, who dons an Elvis suit and belts out Presley's music as part of his ministry. Besides Ferris, two other bishops have expressed disapproval, Baxter admits. Last year, Baxter, 53, who won the Showstopper Award at the Collingwood Elvis convention in 1996, trod on the blue suede shoes of the organizers of the Collingwood event by conducting Elvis funerals. When they called Baxter's Elvis funerals "despicable" and made it clear his presence in Collingwood wouldn't be appreciated, Baxter took off to Elvis celebrations in Memphis, Tenn., where he was given a welcome fit for a king, he said.
- Elvis - the last days and the resurrection
(Capital Ten Television, July 24, 2002, 8.30 -9.30 pm)
An Australian television documentary rehashing the various negative videos and interviews, concentrating on sensationalism and actions of fans out at the extremes. This documentary did not celebrate Elvis's life and talent or explain his continuing popularity.
- 2002 Elvis Fest turns $16.8K profit: gate receipts show big jump over 2001 figures
By M. SCOTT MORRIS
(Daily Journal, July 23, 2002)
The 2002 Elvis Presley Festival turned a $16,845.87 profit, but that's not the whole story. According to information released Tuesday by the Downtown Tupelo Main Street Association, the 2002 festival collected $105,697.36 in ticket sales, a significant increase over the $66,365.10 collected for the 2001 event. "You can see we're growing," said Debbie Brangenberg, executive director of the association. "That has a lot to do with Tupelo's community spirit, and it has a lot to do with the entertainment provided by Malcolm White Productions." This year's event featured high-profile headliners B.B. King and Charlie Daniels.
- Sheena Easton sings in Sin City, raises kids
By Serena Kappes
(CNN, July 23, 2002)
When you think of Las Vegas, images of Wayne Newton and Elvis probably come to mind first. But here's another performer to add to the roster of stars whose names have appeared in lights along Sin City's famed Strip: Sheena Easton.
- In the Crossfire: Playing the economic blame game
(CNN, July 23, 2002)
With corporate scandals brewing on Wall Street and the stock market taking a beating, Americans are seeing their retirement savings plans shrink. Some Republicans have suggested the roots of the current troubles began under the Clinton administration's watch, while Democrats have criticized the GOP congressional leadership for blocking reforms in the 1990s and President Bush's policies for contributing to the economic slowdown. Ann Lewis, former White House communications director in the Clinton administration, and Ron Kaufman, a former political director and adviser in the first Bush administration, step into the "Crossfire" with hosts Paul Begala and Tucker Carlson. START OF INTERVIEW: LEWIS: ... You know, when you send a signal to companies that you're to have a gentler, kinder regulator and they need not worry so much, we shouldn't be surprised. When you send the signal very clearly to investors that they cannot rely on the numbers that start coming out of these companies, let us not be surprised. But we've now heard, I guess, two versions of the Republican policy. Ron tells us the economy is going to come back because Elvis is going to come back, and you're going to tell us that it is all Bill Clinton's fault. Let's have some positive economic policy, but let's be clear. What was the Clinton record? Putting Arthur Levitt at the Securities and Exchange Commission, who was the champion of small investors, who fought for transparency, fought for accountability. Who was trying to prevent Arthur Levitt from putting in those reforms? The Republican congressional leadership. ...
Go to Mid July 2002
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