Early August 2002
- Music industry revives Elvis
By Jeff Leeds
(Sun News / Los Angeles Times, August 6, 2002)
One of this year's best-selling albums is likely to come from a Mississippi singer and onetime delivery truck driver toting a radical sound and wicked dance moves. But he won't be touring - Elvis Presley has been dead for a quarter century. Next month "Elvis: 30 No. 1 Hits" will arrive in stores, backed by a$10 million marketing blitz that runs from a network TV special to random "Elvis sightings" on the Internet to a traveling exhibit o items, including the late singer's karate uniform, borrowed from his Tennessee estate.
- Entertainment listings for Tuesday 6th August: Elvis & Marilyn [Photography exhibition]
(This is London, August 6, 2002)
Nothing befits an icon better than a photographic exhibition: the image is, after all, what keeps their status alive. With 25 years having passed since Presley's death, and 40 since Monroe's, Proud Galleries have taken as good a reason as any to fill their walls with unalloyed, nostalgic beauty. Until Sept 5, Proud Central, 5 Buckingham Street, The Strand WC2, Mon to Thu 10am to 7pm, Fri to Sun 11am to 6pm, £3, £2 concs, 020 7839 4942.
- Multimedia Available: Elvis, Then and Now
SOURCE: Newstream
(Yahoo! Finance / Business Wire, August 6, 2002)
August 16 marks the 25th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death -- and today, Elvis not only remains popular -- his influence is everywhere. You can reach the story directly by going to http://www.newstream.com/cgi-bin/display_story.cgi?6704.
This multimedia news story is for free and unrestricted use on your news information site (and for print or broadcast too). Visit http://www.newstream.com to download video, audio, text, graphics, and photos. If you have any questions about the story, or about Newstream.com, please write to us at info@newstream.com.
- Elvis impersonators get fans 'all shook up'
By DANIEL J. VARGAS
(Houston Chronicle, August 5, 2002)
Lucy Salazar was one of a half-dozen Elvis impersonators who pulled out their jumpsuits and entertained about 100 fans to pay tribute to the King of rock 'n' roll, who died 25 years ago this month (Aug. 16, 1977.) The Saturday event was organized by the Houston-based Asian Worldwide Elvis Fan Club, which is neither entirely Asian nor entirely worldwide.
- `Elvis' comes to fund's aid
By Katie Baldwin
(Telegraph and Argus, August 5, 2002)
Fabulous Elvis prizes are up for grabs for the winners of a charity contest to find the best impersonator of the King "Rockin' in the Chapel" takes place at St Margaret's Church, Ilkley, on Friday, August 16 - the 25th anniversary of the King's death.
- HOW ELVIS CAME BACK FROM THE DEAD
By GEORGE FREW
(Gloucestershire Echo, August 5, 2002)
This month sees the 25th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death. And his career has been more alive in the last quarter of a century than in his final sad years. AT 2.30am local time, on August 16, 1977, Elvis Presley's last girlfriend found him slumped on the plushcarpeted floor of his personal upstairs bathroom in his Gracelands mansion in Memphis, Tennessee. ... When the news broke to a stunned world, they asked John Lennon for a quote and Lennon, just three years away from becoming another rock star gone before his time, replied with caustic honesty, "Elvis dead? Elvis died the day he went into the army." Certainly, the rock 'n' roll life force that had propelled Presley to fame had been systematically sucked out of him over the years, with Col Tom Parker perceived to be working the foot pump Parker was Elvis's first big mistake. ... All through their association, when the Colonel looked at Elvis, a cat looked at a King, but the cat saw dollar signs. Millions of them. ... But Presley was an original. Before Elvis, there were no such things as teenagers, just trainee adults, and there was certainly nothing that remotely resembled a youth culture. ... It was self-destruction on a biblical scale, a relentless and religious rejection of the sex and energy and good looks and talent that had once lit up the world . Yet, after they had put him in the ground at Graceland, Elvis's career took off like a rocket. ... For Elvis Presley is an American icon and the once and future King of rock 'n'roll.
- Memphis expects up to 75,000 Elvis fans
By MICHAEL LOLLAR
(Corpus Christ Caller-Times, August 4, 2002)
Floats are under construction, bands are rehearsing their takes on everything from "Love Me Tender" to "Jailhouse Rock" and everybody from the "Today" show's Katie Couric to Lisa Marie Presley are planning what to wear in Memphis in mid-August. The Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau estimates up to 75,000 visitors will turn the 25th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death into one of the few events in the country that will defy the ailing economy and 9/11's lingering travel angst.
- Former backup singer for Elvis living quiet life in Corinth
By JANE CLARK SUMMERS
(Daily Journal, August 4, 2002)
As a studio backup singer for Elvis Presley, Mary Johnson Lee grew accustomed to being anonymous. Millions of music fans around the world have heard her voice but don't know her name. From 1969-1973, Lee sang backup for Elvis and many other rising stars at Sun Records in Memphis. As part of a four-female group that called itself Southern Comfort, Mary, who also recorded as a solo artist, was a regular backup for Chips Moman's American Sound Studio in Memphis as well as Fame studios and Muscle Shoals Sound in Florence, Ala. She also worked as a backup singer at Stax and Hi Records and at several Nashville studios.
- [Image]
(
Yahoo! News, August 4, 2002)
Elvis impersonator C.J. Charlton, center, leads other impersonators in song at the Las Vegas Hilton Sunday, Aug. 4, 2002, in Las Vegas. The Las Vegas Review-Journal sponsored the event and will publish a photo and poster on Aug. 15, the day before the anniversary of Elvis' death. Elvis had a eight year run of shows at the hotel with 837 consecutive sellout shows. (AP Photo/Joe Cavaretta)
- Elvis joins Elvis for tribute concert today
(
Post Crescent, August 4, 2002)
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Lorge, who was nicknamed Elvis during his decade as a state legislator, will join fellow Elvis impersonator and Republican legislative candidate Gary Hill for a tribute concert today commemorating the 25th anniversary of Elvis¹ death. The concert will be held at 2 p.m. during the Bear Creek Annual Church Festival held at the St. Mary¹s Catholic Church festival grounds. Lorge will join Hill on stage to sing several Elvis songs at 2:40 p.m.
- Ladies and gentlemen ... here's Elvis
By Karen Moline
(Australian Women's Weekly, August, 2002, pp. 224-231)
An assessment of Elvis attempting to give an overall picture of the superstar. In spite of noting the good things said about him, Moline manages to say: "He was also one of the most tortured, lonely, megalomaniacal, narcissistic, selfish, ignorant, and just plain ol' messed-up hound dogs who ever lived".
[Anyone who knows anything about Elvis knows, yes, he was mixed-up, but he was a very caring person and definitely not ignorant - ed.]
- 'Elvis and Priscilla' make theater plans
(
Billboard, August 3, 2002)
Priscilla Beaulieu Presley and Immortal Entertainment are set to create and co-produce a musical theater production, "Elvis and Priscilla," based on her romance with the King. A nationwide contest will be held to cast the parts of Elvis and Priscilla Presley that she will judge with input from audience members.
- Elvis feud
(
Daily Record, August 3, 2002)
PRISCILLA Presley is in competition with daughter Lisa-Marie over a musical about the King, called Priscilla and Elvis. The late rocker's estate will have nothing to do with it because Lisa Marie has her own musical on the go, and she controls Elvis Presley Enterprises, which own his music. It means Priscilla can't use most of his songs. But the show must go on. With Priscilla as judge, producers are planning Pop Idol-style TV auditions to cast the lead roles.
- Viva Elvis
(
Boston Globe, August 3, 2002)
By Doug Warren
This summer has witnessed some of the most influential figures in American popular music making history all over again. Bob Dylan is set to return today to the Newport Folk Festival - the stage where he revolutionized folk music - for the first time in 37 years. Bruce
Springsteen, who has released ''The Rising,'' a record that attempts to capture the soul of America after the Sept. 11 attacks, is on the verge of a major international tour. But perhaps the biggest musical buzz of the season surrounds a singer whose impact remains inescapable nearly 50 years after he exploded onto the scene and 25 years after his death Elvis Presley is having one incredible summer. ...
- Elvis' songs are being repackaged to lure a new generation of fans
By RICHARD HARRINGTON
(
Miami Herald / Washington Post, August 3, 2002)
Elvis Presley's wake has now lasted longer than his career. In fact, 25 years after his death, Elvis is No. 1 again, thanks to Nike, the World Cup and an obscure single dressed up with a little drum 'n' bass for the new millennium. The refurbished Elvis tune, A Little Less Conversation, was Billboard's No. 1 single on the sales chart recently, selling eight times as many copies as 'N Sync's new Girlfriend remix. About the same time, the single also opened at No. 50 on Billboard's Hot100 (which measures radio airplay as well as sales), marking Elvis' 152nd appearance there. No other act in history has even reached 100. A Little Less Conversation has topped the charts in England, Australia, Japan and several other countries. And that's just the beginning ... The Aug. 16 anniversary of Elvis' death in 1977 at age 42 will set off a flood of projects and marketing opportunities. ...
- Magazine to publish lost Elvis interviews
(Times of India, August 3, 2002)
By
Elvis Presley preferred plain clothes ... [as below].
- Elvis returns with pearls of wisdom
(Yahoo! News / UK Reuters, August 3, 2002)
By
Elvis Presley preferred plain clothes ... [as below but with quotes from Esquire].
- Elvis speaks! New pearls of wisdom from the King
(Yahoo! India News / Reuters, August 3, 2002)
Elvis Presley preferred plain clothes to sequined jumpsuits off-stage, blamed fried foods for his weight gain, and swung his hips to "put on a show," according to new snips of old, unpublished interviews. Men's magazine, Esquire, on Friday said it will run a page of quotes in an upcoming issue that were culled from a handful of never-before-seen interviews the entertainer gave from 1954 to 1972. Esquire's plans coincide with the 25th anniversary later this month of Presley's death back on Aug. 16, 1977.
- Elvis Re-Covered
(Waveguide, August 2, 2002)
By
BBC Choice marks the 25th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley with a special edition of Re-Covered, on Sunday, August 18. Ronan Keating starts the show with his rendition of the Elvis classic In The Ghetto. The Flaming Lips perform Suspicious Minds; Liberty X sing Hound Dog; and Darren Hughes covers Can't Help Falling In Love. Programme host Dermot O'Leary provides viewers with a detailed history of Presley's career.
- DOGS' HOME WORKERS STUNNED AS PUP ELVIS IS STOLEN
(This is Bristol, August 2, 2002)
Staff at Bristol Dogs' and Cats' Home are reeling from shock after a seven-month-old puppy was stolen from his kennel. The sable-coloured, pomeranian cross, named Elvis, went missing from the animal centre in Albert Road, St Philip's, on Wednesday afternoon. He had been at the RSPCA home since he was four weeks old. He arrived in a terrible condition, terrified of everything. After six months of loving care from staff and volunteers, Elvis has turned into an extremely friendly dog. The home's manager, Lynn Gilman, is shocked and upset by his theft and today urged the public to help find Elvis.
- Elvis Has Entered the Building
(KFYR TV, August 2, 2002)
ELVIS MAY HAVE DIED 25 YEARS AGO THIS MONTH... BUT THIS IS STILL A GOOD DAY FOR FANS OF THE KING. ZIMMERMAN'S FURNITURE RELEASED ITS ELVIS PRESLEY FURNITURE COLLECTION. SOME OF HIS BIGGEST FANS CAME INSIDE TO CHECK OUT THE NEW LINE. THERE ARE TWO DIFFERENT BEDROOM SETS.... ONE IS THE GRACELAND COLLECTION WITH THE *LOVE ME TENDER* BED AND THE *BURNING LOVE* MIRROR. THE OTHER IS A HOLLYWOOD COLLECTION WITH A LEATHER PLATFORM BED AND A PLATINUM RECORD MIRROR. BUT THE COLLECTION WON'T STOP WITH THE BEDROOM. Gene Zimmerman\Zimmerman's Furniture: There's been such a huge amount of interest in it, that there's gonna be entertainment centers, there's gonna be leather furniture. YOU CAN FIND SUBTLE TRACES OF ELVIS IN THE FURNITURE COLLECTION... HIS INITIALS IN THE HARDWARE AND HIS SIGNATURE INSIDE A DRAWER. ZIMMERMAN SAYS BEYOND THE LEATHER AND ENTERTAINMENT COLLECTION, THERE WILL EVENTUALLY BE A DINING SET.
- Game Launch Advisory: An Post National Lottery Elvis
SOURCE: MDI Entertainment, Inc.
(Yahoo! Finance / BUSINESS WIRE, August 2, 2002)
The An Post National Lottery Company today launched Elvis(R), a
licensed instant lottery game featuring logos and other imagery associated with Elvis Presley(R), according to an announcement by MDI Entertainment, Inc., which is the official licensee for Elvis Presley(R) lottery games and promotions. The Elvis game features 1.4 million tickets . Each ticket costs 2 euro and gives lottery players the opportunity to win a cash prize of up to 1,000 euro. Additionally, the game features hundreds of 25 euro instant cash prizes and four Graceland trips for two.
- Elvis and Ace Cannon returning to Cotton Festival
By Jerry Jordan
(Bastrop Daily Enterprise, August 2, 2002)
The Cotton Festival opens Tuesday, Oct. 8, and closes Sunday afternoon, Oct. 13, at 6 p.m. Normally, I would be the last person to listen to an Elvis impersonator, however, if you missed Jerry Griffin last year, then you missed a treat. This Texas businessman has Elvis down pat. If you closed your eyes and listened to him sing Elvis' songs you absolutely could not tell the difference. In addition to beautiful costumes, he has personality-plus and he is a great crowd pleaser. We all know that P.J. Jones is a diehard Elvis fan. Her husband James tried to get her to go home about midway through the show. Not P.J., she was still there at the very end. She even went down to the stage hoping to receive one of the traditional Elvis scarves. Griffin will perform Thursday night.
- Late, great songwriter unknown but not unsung: Rediscovered Laura Nyro still strikes a chord
By Todd Leopold
(CNN, August 2, 2002)
For a time in the late '60s and early '70s, Laura Nyro was probably the most successful songwriter in the world. ... On her own, Nyro didn't fare quite as well commercially, but still had the respect of the music business. ... Nyro was the daughter of a jazz trumpeter and grew up listening to Miles Davis and John Coltrane. But she was also influenced by Motown, Philadelphia soul, and "in her early days, she was an Elvis freak," says Houskeeper.
- Elvis' Marriage Musical
(Lycos / Reuters, August 1, 2002)
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.
- Elvis is quite a salesman for a guy who died 25 years ago
By Tom Maurstad
(Sun-Sentinel, August 1, 2002)
In recent weeks, he has had the top-selling single in Europe and America. Several of his songs, meanwhile, are showcased in Disney's big summer movie, Lilo & Stitch. He's on the cover of a special TV Guide. And before the summer's over, he'll have a new album, some new books and three new DVDs released, joining his outlet mall's worth of merchandise already available. Not bad for a guy who's been dead for 25 years. "Elvis is not behaving the way dead celebrities are supposed to behave," says Gilbert Rodman, author of Elvis After Elvis: The Posthumous Career of a Living Legend. "He is circulating in ways that don't really make sense, at least for anyone other than Elvis."
- Dueling Elvis musicals
(CNN / Reuters, August 1, 2002)
Immortal Entertainment is developing a musical based on the romantic relationship between Elvis and 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu, who would become known around the world as Mrs. Presley, Variety reports. Priscilla Presley granted Immortal the life rights to her story. In a statement about the proposed play, she said the pairing "will revive memories for us all and impact and excite a whole new generation." With most of Presley's musical rights unavailable, the Immortal stage show will instead focus on the music of the period. Meanwhile, Elvis Presley Enterprises -- the estate of the King -- has approved a different stage show being prepped by New York-based producer Jon Pollard ("I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change") along with producers Bernie Kukoff and Dena Hammerstein. The musical, which will draw deeply on Presley's substantial music catalog, was being scripted by playwright Joe DiPietro, also of "I Love You, You're Perfect." Pollard and his troupe are hoping for a winter workshop of "Can't Help Falling in Love" in Gotham. The tuner showcases the effect of the King's music in a small depressed town in the heartland.
- Priscilla Presley Plans Project
(Yahoo News! Associated Press, August 1, 2002)
Mix together Elvis Presley, "American Idol" and the Abba musical "Mamma Mia" and you get the latest project from Priscilla Presley. Elvis's ex-wife has just signed a deal with Immortal Entertainment to create a musical based on her relationship with the King of Rock and Roll. Immortal says it will be a contemporary yet nostalgic musical, like the Abba production. The leads for the show will be found through a nationwide search, along the lines of Fox's "American Idol." Priscilla Presley will judge the contest, but there will be an audience participation aspect as well. The winners will portray Elvis and Priscilla.
- Priscilla Presley backs show based on Elvis' marriage
(Times of India / Reuters, August 1, 2002)
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.
- Elvis musical planned by ex-wife
(Ananova, August 1, 2002)
Elvis Presley's ex-wife Priscilla has unveiled plans to turn her romance with The King into a musical. The actress, who met the late singer at the age of 14, announced plans for the show to coincide with the upcoming 25th anniversary of Presley's death on 16 August. She has teamed up with Immortal Entertainment to put the couple's turbulent The as-yet-untitled musical is expected to run along similar lines as the smash hit Mamma Mia!, which is based around the songs of Abba. But it is not yet known whether the production company will be able to include any of Presley's original music.
- Elvis returns to Cornelia: Joni Mabe's 3rd Annual Big E Festival is a hunka, hunka fun
By Julie Phillips Jordan
(Online Athens, August 1, 2002)
Athens artist and Elvis adorer Joni Mabe is gearing up for her biggest Big E Festival ever -- and not just because a representative from NBC's ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' has informed her they'll be doing a live remote from her ''Panoramic Encyclopedia of Everything Elvis'' in Cornelia next week. It's also not just because CBS news and NPR will be reporting on her 3rd Annual Big E Festival on Saturday. Nope. Mabe has already earned her place in the Elvis fanatic spotlight on, among other TV shows, the ''The Howard Stern Show,'' and in magazines and news articles.
- The Elvis Mob
(Waveguide TV & Radio, August 1, 2002)
On the 25th anniversary of his death, BBC One explores the private life of Elvis Presley as told by his physician, bodyguards, drivers, fixers, golfers and confidants. These men pledged 24-hour allegiance to Presley, protecting their evermore eccentric charge from the rest of the world and himself. The Elvis Mob tells how Presley never gave an in-depth interview and the testimonies of these characters reveal a darker side of his character a world away from his stage persona. The programme is shown on Thursday, August 15.
- BBC1 marks anniversary of Elvis's death with documentary
(Ananova, August 1, 2002)
BBC1 is to explore the private life of Elvis Presley in a documentary to commemorate the 25th anniversary of his death. It will feature interviews with his physician, bodyguards, drivers, 'fixers,' golfers and confidantes. The Elvis Mob will be shown on Thursday August 15. According to WaveGuide.co.uk, the interviews reveal a darker side of Elvis's character, very different to his stage persona.
Go to Late July 2002
|
