Early March 2003
- Elvis' guns sell for $17k in Pflugerville
(KVUE News Online, March 10, 2003)
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- Photos: An Elvis 'invasion'
By By Gary Coronado
(Naples Daily News, March 10, 2003)
Elvis tribute artist finalists, left to right, Bobby Betz of Cape Coral; Marc Woodward, foreground, of Matthews, N.C.; William Stiles of Memphis, Tenn.; and Joel Harris of Lantana wait backstage before entertaining the crowd at Elvis Wayne's premier of the 'Elvis Invasion of Southwest Florida' competition at Celebration Gardens at Florida Sports Park on Sunday. Sixty percent of the proceeds will be donated to Bosom Buddies Breast Cancer Support.
- Car buffs roll over to Tupelo auto museum
By By FRANK FISHER
(newsobserver.com / Associated Press, March 10, 2003)
Move over Elvis, there's a new tourist attraction in this north Mississippi town known best as the birthplace of the king of rock 'n' roll. The Tupelo Automobile Museum, featuring more than 100 restored cars from 1886 to 1994, opened in December. Visitors to the 75,000-square-foot showroom get a tour through automotive history, from the sublime to the bizarre. ... What would a display in Tupelo be without a tribute to Elvis, who was born in a shotgun cabin only a couple of minutes away from the museum? The hip-gyrating legend's 1976 dark blue Lincoln, which he gave to a Denver police captain shortly after buying it for over $13,000, is a must-see.
- ...but the damp plays havoc with the heels
By Suzanne Carbone
(Melbourne Age, March 10, 2003)
When the rain began at 10am, it was apparent that wearing stilettos was not a good idea. But Grand Prix hostesses have to stand out from the crowd, even it it means dirt gets between their toes. It was more a day for plastic ponchos and gumboots for the dedicated race fans who converged on Albert Park yesterday. In a typical Melbourne day, it rained, the wind created umbrella havoc, a blue sky emerged and the sun kissed the faithful. ... Adding some sparkle to the grey day were those experts in sideburns and silver jumpsuits - the Elvis impersonators. Performing as Viva Lost Elvis, the trio had a rainy song tucked under their very wide sleeves: Suspicious Clouds, Blue Suede Gumboots, Can't Help Falling in Puddles With You and Soggy Bear. The rain does terrible things to fake chest hair, like turn it into a soggy, droopy mess. Just ask one of The Kings. "I hate it when my chest drops," said Elvis number one while adjusting his tuft. ...
- Tupelo future uncertain for GSC
By Henry C. Apple
(Courier News, March 8, 2003)
For the past three seasons, the BancorpSouth Center has served as the gracious host for the Gulf South Conference basketball tournament. However, its future in the birthplace of Elvis Presley could depend on how many people show up to watch the four-day event this year. Attendance numbers - or the lack thereof - could determine whether the GSC will give Tupelo another three-year deal to host the men's and women's tournaments.
- Guns fit for the King (and the Duke): Pflugerville auction features Western relics, rare firearms
By Dick Stanley
(Austin American-Statesman, March 7, 2003)
The 9 mm Beretta in the glass-topped wooden case is known to have been fired at least once. Calling it his "remote control," owner Elvis Presley blasted his television with it in an explosive commentary on singer Robert Goulet, who was performing on television at the time. "It's been written up all over," said Tom Keilman, 63, who's been "written up" himself for his and his son, Bud's, auction house and its unique firearms and Western relics known to fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars in final, gaveled bids. Years ago, for instance, they sold the shotgun wielded by Doc Holliday at the OK Corral gunfight for $250,000. The King of Rock 'n' Roll's 1934 Beretta, with gold overlay on its black grips forming the letters T.C.B., for Presley's motto "Taking Care of Business," is a star of the Keilmans' 26th annual auction this weekend at the Lion's Club meeting hall in Pflugerville. It starts at 10 a.m. today and continues Saturday and Sunday.
- Best Bets: A tribute to Elvis Presley (4th item)
(Naples Daily News, March 7, 2003)
SATURDAY-SUNDAY, MARCH 8-9.
"Elvis Invasion of S.W. Florida Competition," hosted by Elvis Wayne and featuring contest winner Irv Cass, will bring together 20 top Elvis tribute artists from around the country to compete for prizes beginning at noon Saturday and Sunday at Florida Sports Park's Celebration Gardens, 4750 Collier Blvd. Tickets are $25 each day or $40 for both days and must be purchased by money order in advance. Send to Elvis Wayne, 4809 Cortex Circle, Naples, FL 34112. Proceeds benefit Bosom Buddies, a breast cancer support group.
- Dotmusic offers unlimited music downloads
By James Moreton
(net4nowt.com, March 6, 2003)
BTs music website, dotmusic, today launched the first legal music service in Europe to offer unlimited downloads from a major record label supported service. The launch of dotmusic on demand, powered by OD2, represents a quantum shift for legal music services in Europe and is the first genuine alternative to illegal services such as Kazaa. The service, powered by Peter Gabriels digital distribution company OD2,will offer more than 150,000 tracks from major record labels including Universal, BMG, EMI and Warner Music - plus hundreds of smaller independent labels. Users can download tracks from an incredibly diverse range of artists, from Ms Dynamite to Elvis Presley. The catalogue also includes many rarities such as Coldplays first EP, of which only a few thousand were made.
Subscribers to the dotmusic on demand unlimited package are able to download and play as many tracks from the catalogue as they wish for a monthly fee of £9.99, less than the cost of one album.
- Elvis Meets Ovid in Off-Bway Musical, 'Heat Lightning,' Opening March 5
By Kenneth Jones
(Yahoo! News, March 5, 2003)
Featuring a score by George Griggs and a book by Griggs and Paul Andrew Perez, Heat Lightning is inspired by the myth of "Cephalus and Procris" - from Ovid's "Metamorphoses" - and concerns the story of an Elvis-obsessed wannabe rock star who finds himself in an extramarital affair, which eventually leads to an explosive climax. Directed by Jeremy Dobrish (The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, abridged), the staging continues to April 20 at the Kirk, within the Theatre Row complex on West 42nd Street.
- It's cool for copycats
By Barry Gordon
(edinburghnews.com, March 5, 2003)
WHAT do Abba, Britney Spears and The Ramones have in common? They're all successful recording artists who have entertained different generations of music-lovers. But something slightly more sinister now links them as well: their ability to spawn armies of pop-music clones. Are they bona fide music-lovers paying respect to their favourite band? Or failed musicians and bad karaoke singers cashing in on someone's more talented legacy? Whatever you think, tribute band infatuation has become an integral part of today's music scene. "They're not failed musicians," protests Tom Solley, head salesman of Impresario Productions Limited, a Livingston-based production company that produces tribute shows, and which was set up by Gavin Dickson, former keyboard player and Benny Andersson stand-in for The Abba Experience. "Karaoke quotations syndrome is used by people who've either had too much to drink or don't know what's going on around them. "Millions of youngsters go to nightclubs to be fed recorded music. Our people emulate those they like to see - we're packaging up tribute shows by public demand."
Yet when they originated, tribute bands were all about giving fans the opportunity to see artists who had either kicked the bucket such as Elvis, broken up like Abba, or were no longer interested in playing live any more, like Cher. These days, though, practically anybody who's skimmed the Top 40 can have their carbon copy traipsing town halls and Ibiza night-spots. And it's hard to understand why a group such as the recently defunct Hear'Say should inspire two tribute acts. Isn't this a clear sign that tribute fever has gone utterly barmy?
Solley doesn't think so. "Kids have an in-depth knowledge of S Club and all the bands, but the only live entertainment they get in Scotland is the pantomime once a year or the Singing Kettle. Social clubs have not kept up with the times, they do not put pop shows on. So that's what we're giving them.
- Mardi Gras Revelers Forget War Worries
By MARY FOSTER
(Statesman / Associated Press, March 4, 2003)
Thousands of revelers shook off the fear of war and the struggling economy Tuesday as they celebrated Mardi Gras with a vast and raucous street party under a bone-chilling fog rolling off the Mississippi River.
The problems with Iraq and North Korea were drowned out by the music and good cheer of Fat Tuesday. The only evidence was in costumes of duct tape and plastic, along with ``Bomb Iraq'' bull's eyes. ``It's cold, the world is going to hell, but how can you stay home?'' asked Michael Patrick of Baton Rouge, who was decked out in Elvis Presley splendor. ``It's not the best day, but it's better than the rest of the world where it's just Tuesday.'' The annual festival is held before the fasting and penitence of Lent, the period between Ash Wednesday and Easter. It ends at midnight Tuesday. A dozen maskers calling themselves the Krewe of Homeland Security wore plastic drapes and duct tape, with colored dots representing smallpox. They handed out Mardi Gras Alerts, declaring the security status as purple, green and gold, the traditional Carnival colors. ``We figured if Tom Ridge could keep us safe for the rest of the year, we could keep everyone safe for Mardi Gras,'' said Jane Gardner Aprill of New Orleans.
- Group helps kin deal with cancer: East Bay organization gives free counseling at weekly meeting
By Alexandra Krasov
(Alameda Star Times, March 4, 2003)
According to the American Cancer Society, about one in every 3,000 families is affected by the disease. The East Bay Cancer Support group caters specifically to the needs of those families. The group is free of charge, independent and nonprofit. Founded in 1995 by the group's current executive director, Kristen Severson, East Bay Cancer Support offers services for children, teens and their parents. ... The East Bay Cancer Support Group's fifth-annual Fund-Raising Gala starts at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the Blackhawk Country Club, 599 Blackhawk Club Drive in Danville. The dinner-dance includes entertainment by The Madrigals of Castro Valley High School with an appearance by "Elvis Presley," Brenda Boykin and Sugar Beat.
- Heaven Star Channels Elvis... Again! [Review]
By Daniel R. Coleridge
(TV Guide Online, March 4, 2003)
Last fall on 7th Heaven, Rev. Eric Camden (Stephen Collins) had an Elvis Presley-inspired dream sequence, where he dressed up and sang Vegas style. And it looks like Collins still hasn't gotten The King out of his system. This month, the actor comes out with a self-titled cover album, Stephen Collins, which has "one Elvis song. We decided to do 'Rock-a-hula Baby' because it's only been covered once before. His other songs are so familiar, and so many people have done 'em - what more can you do to 'Don't Be Cruel' that hasn't been done before? But 'Rock-a-hula' is such an insane, demented, and utterly silly but wonderful song that it makes people want to dance." Still, it's weird enough to hear Elvis sing it. But, um, the dad from 7th Heaven?! "Music has always been inside me," Collins says. "It's strange. There was a moment early on in my career, where instead of diving headfirst into musical theater, I got tagged as a serious actor because of doing All the President's Men. Now, people are like, 'You sing?'" Does Collins fear becoming a punchline, like other familiar TV personalities who've segued into song? (Think David Hasselhoff and John Tesh.) "Oh sure, I sort of expect that," he says good-naturedly, "but I think if you listen to my music, it is what it is, and it's pretty good. It's just great old rock 'n roll songs covered by a great band. I even have a [blurb] on the album that says, 'Whatever the opposite of cutting edge is, that's what you're holding in your hand.' There's nothing new, but the songs are really well done."
- 'Elvis' changed Russell career
By Luaine Lee
(Center Daily / Knight Ridder Tribune, March 3, 2003)
Actor Kurt Russell had one career he was passionate about. And it wasn't acting. All that ended when he was 23, and he had to start all over again.
That passion was baseball. And he was good enough to play professionally, but he tore his rotator cuff, marking the end of a promising career.
It was two years before he was able to work again. "I was dealing with having a dream taken away and I was succeeding at it, so that made it extra disappointing," he says, seated in a hotel room that overlooks a stunning view of the Hollywood hills.
Russell had been a child actor, appearing in his first film at 9 and playing later in several Disney movies. After his baseball injury, he returned to acting merely as a means to regroup.
"I also realized I had to move on past that and find something new. There it was right there in front of me -- but I didn't know it, didn't think about it as an answer to my problem at that time. It was just something, 'Well, I'll go do that again, I'll go make some money.' And I really didn't know whether it was something I could really become interested in, really deeply care about."
He might have gone on uninspired and unfocused if it hadn't been for John Carpenter's unorthodox move to cast him as Elvis Presley in the TV movie, "Elvis," for which he captured an Emmy nomination.
- So you want to be Dynamite?
By Charles Shaar Murray
(thisislondon.com / Evening Standard, March 3, 2003)
Lots of people want to be in show business. A high proportion of these want to be in the music business: not necessarily as a performer, but as a journalist, a producer, a studio engineer, a manager, a publicist or a talent scout, even though many of these jobs - particularly in the junior echelons - can be remarkably similar to walking behind elephants with a shovel. There are many ways to get into "the business", but these days the least recommended path would be to apply for a job at a major record company. Apart from being drastically oversubscribed, these jobs can take a very long time to develop into anything more than a succession of menial tasks. If you want to jump the queue, the trick is to get something going for yourself: if you get good at it, the majors will be beating a path to your door. Start a band, a website, a club, a pirate radio station or an independent label.
... Traditionally, independent labels have always had a far better idea of what was really happening in the street cultures than the increasingly slow and bloated majors. All of the great US rock, blues and soul labels of the Fifties and Sixties were independents: Motown, Atlantic, Chess and Sun are merely a few of the most prominent examples. Island and (shock horror!) Virgin Records began as indies though, like all of the above, they became absorbed by the corporate giants, making extremely tidy sums for their founders in the process.
The roster of great artists who got their start from the legendary indies includes Elvis Presley, Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye, Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Otis Redding. In the Seventies, Stiff Records launched Elvis Costello and Madness; in the Eighties, Rough Trade established The Smiths. Reggae and hip-hop were classic independent areas: NWA - the LA rap posse whose graduates include Dr Dre, producer of mega platinum albums for Eminem and Snoop Dogg, and rapperturnedactor/director Ice Cube - started out selling their first album from the boots of their cars.
- Attend concert, help child with scoliosis
(seacoastonline.com, March 3, 2003)
A benefit concert for Hayley Low, 5-year-old granddaughter of Peggy Abbott of Portsmouth, will be held at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 11, in the Portsmouth High School auditorium.
Hayley, who lives in North Carolina, suffers from life-threatening scoliosis. Hayley's scoliosis is so severe it will require a surgery that will replace her ribs with a structure made of titanium. This structure will prevent the continuous curvature from crushing Hayley's vital organs. This surgery is only being performed in a hospital in Texas. To have this surgery done, Hayley's family must raise $80,000. A group, Hearts for Hayley, has been formed to assist. Katie Low, a freshman at Portsmouth High School and resident of Newington, approached Elvis and the Memphis Boys, who at her request have agreed to perform a benefit concert. The administration at Portsmouth High School has agreed to allow Katie to have the concert in the auditorium. Elvis and the Memphis Boys will be performing favorites from Gospel songs to "Jailhouse Rock" in authentic costumes, with a light and laser show.
- Another pair of BUBBA HO-TEP reviews from the Egyptian!!!
(Ain' I Cool News, March 3, 2003)
Two reviews of "Bubba Ho-Tep" at the Egyptian theater in Los Angeles.
[First review] ... the basic premise: Bruce Campbell is an elderly Elvis Presley and Ozzie Davis is an aged JFK. The duo team up to save their nursing home from the titular Bubba Ho-Tep. While just the first part about Bruce as Elvis had me reaching for my wallet, the rest was just too dang cool to pass up. ... "Why Bubba Ho-Tep?"
A valid question, and Don had a good answer. He explained that the "official" version of the King's demise involved being found dead on the crapper, his pajamas around his ankles. No true fan would ever accept that as how the King of Rock n' Roll shuffled off his mortal coil; no way Elvis went out like that. "Bubba Ho Tep" is the story of what really happened to Elvis. It is a fun and strangely touching tale of what happens when a legend has to reflect upon his life and wonder how things could have been different and more fulfilling. Oddly enough, it takes a 4,000 year old Egyptian menace to snap the King out his funk and give him one last chance to be the hero he always wanted to be. With a man who may or may not be JFK at his side, The King kicks some mummified ass. As strange as it sounds, the film actually works. Sure, it's a B-movie, but it's a testament to the power of independent movie making, because there's no way in hell this movie would be made by a studio. I don't think it qualifies as high-art, but it doesn't need to. It's a cleverly written, fairly well produced, and fun story that takes an outrageous premise and manages to find a heart and emotionality that you might not otherwise expect. Bruce and Don make an interesting foray into the mind of a rock legend, and create a fairly believable portrait of a man who has had the highs and lows and is left with the same regrets any other mortal would have. Not only is the story a worthy addition to the legend, it reminds us at the same time that the legend was really just a man. ... "Bubba Ho Tep" is a vision of Elvis' later life worthy of the legend of the King and a fun movie to boot. I came back to the web, put on my ELV1S playlist and just kept it looping. It's still going.
[Second review] ... You know the plot. Elvis and JFK fight a Mummy in a Retirement Home. There are moments of the movie that are classic Bruce comedy. If the whole movie had been like that it would have been much more enjoyable. Unfortunately, the movie tried to be way to serious with what it was. Elvis constantly had inner monologues about how he missed Priscilla and Lisa Marie. How life meant nothing. How he missed being big. We get some flashbacks on how he ended up being in the Mud Creek retirement home, and while funny they go along with the whole taking this way to seriously. How the hell do they expect us to take a Mummy that sucks souls out of ass of an convalescent seriously. The whole thing gets tired real fast. You laugh out loud at the cheapness of the bug creatures and Campbell's Elvis moves, but you have to deal with a very hollow plot that tries so very hard to pull you in. Before you burn me at the stake for saying crap about the man who is a God in the message boards, just hear me out. This movie is bad. Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad. But aren't most Campbell films bad? Poorly made, poorly acted, but thats why we love his movies. It's the kind of cheese that ends up being cult film. Campbell's Elvis is quite impressive, I'll give him that. Campbell is great in the film. He delivers the kind of comedy we've come to expect from him. He's "takin care of bidness," yeah "TCB" all the way. But the film just doesn't equally deliver. It's no surprise to me why this film hasn't been picked up by a studio, even though studios release mainstream crap every week that is often worse. This is definitely one of those low budget films that, if it makes it to dvd, will join the other cult movies as fun, after midnight viewing. The worse thing had to be the presentation of the film. Sure it's an indie film, but it was obviously shown from a VHS tape with tons of grain and many sound problems. While I hardly think it was worth the nine bucks it cost to see it, I'll take the great appearance by Campbell as a fair trade (though I never did get my Necronomicon signed).
- RED ROBINSON: A pioneering rock 'n' roll DJ remembers Elvis, the Beatles -- and some hot lyrics
(macleans.ca, March 3, 2003)
THE WALLS of Red Robinson's Vancouver offices are a photographic history of his long run as Vancouver's pre-eminent rock 'n' roll disc jockey -- one of the first in North America. As a teen, he literally talked his way onto Vancouver radio station CJOR in 1954 by phoning in voice impressions. His after-school show earned raves and rebukes for playing the black American pioneers of rock, and rhythm and blues, well before the likes of Bill Haley, Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly brought the beat to the white mainstream. Robinson, still boyish-looking at 65, is among 80 DJs whose contribution to the music is recognized in a special exhibit at Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Now Red Rock Diner, a musical tribute to Robinson's career, is in the midst of a 30-city Canadian tour. Vancouver Bureau Chief Ken MacQueen recently met Robinson in his memorabilia-filled office. ...
Haley's Rock Around the Clock was the first national anthem of rock 'n' roll. You've got to understand the society and why it was so important for people like him and Elvis Presley to happen. It made black music acceptable to the masses.
In 1956, the first real rock 'n' roll concert in this town was held at the Kerrisdale Arena. I emceed that with Bill Haley and his Comets. Backstage I'm talking to Bill saying, "It must be great to be on top of the world." He said, "Red, we're finished. This young hillbilly cat" -- I knew who he was talking about, Elvis Presley -- "that guy has the looks. He can sing anything put in front of him. He's going to take the world by storm. We're going to be yesterday's news." And he was right on. ... [About Elvis] Aug. 31, 1957. Empire Stadium. Outdoors. Twenty-five thousand people. It was frightening. I was 20. He was 22. You've got to understand, Bing Crosby, Sinatra, nobody could rent a stadium before Elvis. I spent 5 1/2 hours with him. He was bored, young, single and what did we talk about? Cars. Girls. Football. He loved football. I loved football. We talked about guy things. He was really a down-to-earth man. What happened later, who knows? I think he didn't know who he was later. Same thing happened to Marilyn Monroe. My wife makes a good observation. She doesn't think an Elvis or a Marilyn is ever meant to get old. I'll say this about him. It will sound funny but I don't care. I never met a man that handsome. This guy was perfect.
- One day I'll sing with Tom, says Terfel
By Hannah Jones
(icwales.co.uk /Western Mail, March 1, 2003)
SADLY, it isn't going to happen. As much as you want Bryn Terfel to sing Elvis or swing out to Frank Sinatra - a personal idol of his - the bass-baritone won't dare emulate those he deems "the greats".
Of course Terfel, the quintessential liederof the operatic pack, isn't known for his renditions of Suspicious Minds or I Left My Heart in San Francisco. But to watch him, as you're sat next to him, breaking out into a Sinatra refrain in between nibbles on a fondant fancy, is something quite special. ... "I'm not going to do songs by Sinatra or Elvis or people like that as you can't match them," says Terfel.
"Nobody could sing like Sinatra, the way he relaxed into a song.
"Why would anyone want to hear me do that? ... So as he begins to prepare for the three-day musical celebration in Bangor this August, Terfel is already planning who he'd like to invite to share the stage with him in the future. Sadly, both Sinatra and Elvis have left the building. "So it's got to be Tom Jones hasn't it?" he smiles.
"Him, Elton John or Shirley Bassey but Shirley always goes on holiday in August. "But I'm going to keep asking Tom and I'll get him one day and maybe Shirley will change her holiday plans.
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