Late May 2003
Also in the news: Lisa Marie Presley on Lisa Watch
- Rockabilly music inspires fashions based on vintage clothes, timeless cool
By Josie Lepe
(Mercury News, May 30, 2003)
Rockabilly -- a potent blend of country boogie, hillbilly, and rhythm and blues music -- sprang up after World War II. Icons like Elvis Presley and Carl Perkins helped give it international recognition in the '50s; groups like the Stray Cats made it mainstream in the '80s.
With such cool roots, rockabilly was a natural for attracting fashion fans who reflect the times and moods of the music: part greaser, part swing and part punk with a little bit of cowboy. Forties hair? Yes. Platform shoes, cherry prints, rolled-up jeans cuffs? Yes, yes and yes. Plus lots more, depending on your imagination, pocketbook and taste.
For true-blue followers, the place to see and be seen is the annual Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekender, which took place in April. Among the attractions are period music, fashions and hot rods. For more information, see www.vivalasvegas.net.
To dress the part for this or any other rockabilly occasion, try going through your parents' closets or grandparents' armoire. Or poke around estate sales, specialty stores and eBay.
- Inspiration from on 'High'
By M. SCOTT MORRIS
(Daily Journal, May 30, 2003)
Roughly 60 years ago, a group of kids left the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind in Talledega, Ala., with little more than gospel music dreams.
"We had this group up the road in Birmingham - the Golden Gate Quartet was one of the best there ever has been in the business," Clarence Fountain said during a phone interview from his home in Baton Rouge, La. "We thought we were as good as them." Barely into their teens, the Five Blind Boys of Alabama set their course and they've never wavered. "I wouldn't have anything else," Fountain said. "We were lucky enough to keep going. We went to Broadway. We've done a lot of things other groups couldn't do. The Lord blessed us good."
Some of those blessings will shine on Tupelo during the 2003 Elvis Presley Festival. The surviving members of the band now known as the Blind Boys of Alabama will take the stage right after Little Richard's performance Saturday, June 7.
"What we try to do for people is sing all the phases of gospel to them," Fountain said. "We try to sing the traditional and try to sing a little contemporary. We try to put it all in one package and make sure you don't miss anybody. That's how we try to do it."
- More unreleased Elvis goodies - Four-disc 'Elvis: Close Up' scheduled to hit stores July 1
By Troy Carpenter
(MSNBC News / Billboard, May 30, 2003)
BMG Heritage has set a July 1 release for "Elvis: Close Up," a four-disc box set featuring a bounty of unreleased Elvis Presley material. "Close Up" follows last year's RCA release of the box set "Elvis Today, Tomorrow, and Forever" and the single-disc collection "ELV1S 30 .1 Hits," which debuted at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 2.8 million copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan.
- 'Elvis: Close Up' With Lots of Previously Unreleased Tracks
(Curlio / Billboard, May 30, 2003)
Coming soon to record stores is the release of a new BMG Heritage box set of Elvis music. What makes this release especially great for big Elvis fans is that it will have lots of previously unreleased Elvis recordings. The collection will be on four compact discs, with each disc marking a different phase in Elvis' evolving career.
- 'Graceland' stirs debate
By LARRY P. VELLEQUETTE
(Toledo Blade, May 29, 2003)
Apparently "The King" is not the thing in Whiteford Township. When Monroe County central dispatch officials suggested last week that a small local road just north of the state line share the same moniker as the Memphis mansion where Elvis Presley died in 1977, a split township board got all shook up.
"It just didn't go here. It wasn't appropriate for our area. Graceland is Elvis," Township Supervisor Pam Dressel said. "We just thought it was an inappropriate choice of names for our township." By a vote of 3-2, with Mrs. Dressel casting the deciding vote, the township board rejected the resolution to rename Stewart Road - a small strip of roadway between State Line Road and the state line and just west of Whiteford Road - to Graceland Avenue.
In doing so, it became the first local government unit to reject one of the changes proposed by Monroe County Central Dispatch over the last three years to help avoid possible confusion for emergency response crews.
... When he selected Graceland from the database, Mr. Chrzan said he received no objections from any resident who called to inquire about the name. He said he was caught off guard by the Whiteford Township Boardıs rejection, adding that he hoped the delay and going through the process again won't affect local residents.
- CLINTON IN ELVIS' SHADOW! WHAT A HOOT!
By J. Grant Swank, Jr.
(MichNews.com, May 28, 2003)
Bill can't strut his stuff on his own steam? Give me a break, fella. Bubba can do what Bubba wants for public relations off the charts. But the Clinton Presidential Library must be dealing with personality disorders of some sort. They are admitting they are relying on a heavy dose of Elvis plus to plug Bubba's worth at Bubba's library. So it goes when Elvis is no longer around to defend whatıs what.
Billboards for Bill are going to be strewn on either side of the highways weaving their paths to Little Rock. Foundation officials state they are going to bridge the Graceland hoopla with the Bubba mystic. Imagine that for flaky management. The library execs conclude that anyone wanting to cruise around Elvis' pad would also get behind the wheel to traipse another 140 miles to bask in the Bubba wonder. After all, Skip Rutherford, director, muses to media: "Elvis was the presidentıs musical hero."
Ok. Now if the Bill billboards are not sufficient, the library is going to set up a show-me stand of Billyıs Elvis record collection, according to NewsMax. It'll be right there at the Little Rock's Cox Creative Center near the close of this year. Mark it down. Go see. Can't miss it. Got it?
But billboards and a visual are not enough. There has to be the gasp coming from Rutherford's lungs. He pants: "Clinton was 'Elvis.'" That's what the press nicknamed him. I think there's a natural linkage." According to The Left Coast Report, there is indeed a tie between Bubba and Elvis. "Oneıs the King of Rock while the otherıs the King of Crock."
Amen. Preach it, brother. Let it never be forgotten and all that rot.
- The King's Legend Lives On At Port Richey Restaurant
By STEVE KORNACKI
(Tampa Tribune, May 26, 2003)
If Graceland merged with Pizza Hut, it would be Elvis Pizza. They play Elvis and nothing but Elvis in the 25-seat restaurant, which opened April 18 and is decorated as a shrine to The King.
``The bottom line with this is that we love Elvis,'' owner Dino Fotopoulos said. ``His memory lives on, and he was the greatest entertainer ever. ``I've had 67-year-old women come in here, mesmerized by the music. We have people waving to us outside, and stopping for pictures. We get a lot of foot traffic and business is growing. People love the Elvis menu names.'' Those include the Blue Hawaii and Viva Las Vegas pizzas, the Love Me (chicken) Tenders, the Hunka Hunka Burger and All Shook Up Buffalo Wings. Not forgetting the grilled peanut butter and banana sandwich, Presley's favorite snack.
Fotopoulos and his wife, Rita, are expecting a child in August, and, Dino said, ``If it's a boy, it's Elvis.'' ``Aron will be the middle name,'' said Rita.
Every pickup, delivery or restaurant order at Elvis Pizza ends with an employee saying, ``Thank ya'. Thank ya' very much.'' Some deliveries are made by Elvis impersonator Victor Mercado, who is accompanied by ``bodyguard'' Lisa Marie Woods. A pink Cadillac convertible is being sought for deliveries.
Six posters from Graceland adorn the restaurant walls, along with other memorabilia, including an autographed photo of Joe Esposito, Presley's best man when he married Priscilla on May 1, 1967. ``I've got every Elvis song on either a 45 or album,'' Dino Fotopoulos said. ``I sang `Suspicious Minds' on a karaoke night in Australia. But `Kentucky Rain' is my favorite.''
He runs the store with Rita and his brother-in-law Dino Chilimigras. He knows the restaurant business as well as he knows all things Elvis. ``We own a restaurant, Friendship House, in Rock Falls, Ill., and Tremors, a pizza restaurant on the west side of Chicago,'' said Fotopoulos, whose family moved from Sydney, Australia, to Chicago when he was 12. ``We take a lot of pride in our pizza, and have both the Chicago-style deep dish and New York-style thin crusts,'' he said. ``We make our own dough and red sauce from scratch daily. Our spaghetti and pasta are made to order. The chicken tenders are from chicken breasts.''
The Pizza Has Left The Building
Fotopoulos said he decided to quit his job as a property appraiser in Chicago and open an Elvis-themed eatery while vacationing in Australia with his wife in January. ``We were in a restaurant in Albany, on the west side of Australia,'' he said, ``and they were playing Elvis and were just packed. I thought, `I've never seen a place like this in the States.' I told my wife we had to build a place like this.''
They moved to New Port Richey two months ago to be closer to family and open Elvis Pizza. Fotopoulos created the menu names and drew the restaurant logo - a flying Elvis in jump suit and shades, hoisting a piece of pepperoni pizza. He said he's looking for a New Port Richey location and hopes to build Elvis Pizza franchises ``from here south down U.S. 19.''
``I've registered the name and logo and made it a franchise,'' he said. ``I've also checked about the name, and we're OK just so it's not Elvis Presley Pizza.'' Not that there's any mistaking the focus of his establishment. ``I could've called it Dino's Pizza,'' Fotopoulos said. "But it wouldn't be the same.''
Elvis Pizza, 8115 U.S. 19, is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday, and 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. Saturday. The restaurant is closed Sundays. ``The King rests,'' Fotopoulos said.
- "Idol" is TV, Not Music
By DAVID MENCONI
(News Observer, June 02, 2003)
Conventional wisdom in the music industry holds that teen pop is dead. It is, and it isn't. The teen-pop aesthetic lives on in the Fox reality show "American Idol," which just wrapped up its second season. Look beyond the show's sky-high ratings, though, and it's not exactly thriving -- aesthetically or even commercially. ...
... Reality shows usually don't create lasting careers. Just ask the members of O-Town, Eden's Crush or Flickerstick, groups whose fame barely outlasted the reality shows that launched them.
... "Do any of these people have a career after their first single or album?" asks Jeff Pollack, a Los Angeles-based entertainment consultant. "You can manufacture interest, but ultimately it's about how musical they are -- not compared to each other but compared to the rest of the world where they'll have to compete with Avril Lavigne and Michelle Branch.
... Like classic-rock radio or the oldies concert circuit, "American Idol" represents another example of the tyranny of the familiar. This particular universe presents popular music as a Las Vegas showroom where music is wallpaper, and vocal histrionics are the height of artistic expression. It's all about fitting in.
But fitting in is overrated. Think about some of the enduring musical breakthroughs of the past -- the Beatles, Elvis Presley, Nirvana. None of those artists fit the conventional mold of stardom for their time. Instead, they shattered boundaries and created new paradigms, which the music industry (and popular culture) exploited quite profitably. Something new and different is the last thing you'll get out of "American Idol." ...
- Ex-Financial Advisers Sue Michael Jackson
(Gainesville Sun / Associated Press, May 26, 2003)
Is Michael Jackson in big financial trouble? Like so much with the pop star these days, it depends on who you ask. A lawsuit against the singer paints a less-than-rosy picture of his financial health. The suit by his former financial advisers says Jackson is heavily in debt, and is near the brink of bankruptcy. The suit claims Jackson's spending has created "a ticking financial time bomb waiting to explode at any moment."
The suit was filed by Union Finance and Investment Corporation of South Korea. The suit claims Jackson owes the company $12 million in fees and expenses, plus interest. The suit also seeks punitive damages.
But a Jackson family attorney isn't buying the "financial time bomb" story. Brian Oxman said he sees "no signs" of any impending financial disaster for Jackson. He said he can't say for sure what Jackson's financial situation is but he says he can say it "for a reasonable certainty."
Forbes magazine estimated last year that Jackson was earning $50 million dollars a year at the height of his popularity in the 1980s and '90s. The magazine reported he had amassed $500 million over his career, and that while he has $200 million dollars in debts, his net worth is about $350 million. His assets include his Neverland ranch in the hills above Santa Barbara, Calif., as well as homes in Southern California and Las Vegas. Most of his assets are in musical holdings worth about $450 million dollars, including much of the Beatles' catalog and songs recorded by Elvis Presley.
- Meet and greet
By MARY ANN FERGUS
(Houston Chronicle, May 24, 2003)
They were all there, the kissed and the unkissed, the one born on his birthday and the one who turned 18 the day he died. It was the first Elvis "meetup," an event arranged via the Internet and carried out on a Wednesday night in Houston and 71 more cities around the world.
At the Central Market in Houston, a limited-edition Silverado with a hood mural featuring Elvis at three stages of life sat in the parking lot, a sign that more than gourmet shopping was happening inside the River Oaks-area store.
Henry Newinn, a 60-year-old Viet-namese immigrant who credits Elvis for his assimilation in America, led the testimonials around a table in the store's second-floor community room, high above the French country bread, Vallee d'aspe cheese and Lilyput capers in sherry. "He didn't give me money, but he gave me strength," said Newinn, a retired engineer living in west Houston. "I thought, if Elvis can do it - from rags to riches - then I can do it."
"I've lost two husbands, but I've still got Elvis," said Heights resident Candy Presley, 54, who changed her last name when she was 30.
... In the end, we all just want to be understood. That basic longing drove the creation of Meetup.com, the Web site that arranged the Elvis "meetup" and thousands more such gatherings to discuss topics ranging from 2004 presidential candidates to witchcraft.
The year-old Web site has drawn more than 318,000 people from 561 cities -- from Milwaukee to Madrid. It seems we really just want to hang out with our own kind.
- Memphis in tune with Elvis estate
By RONNIE GLASSBERG
(Charlotte Observer, May 24, 2003)
In Memphis, Tenn., pictures of Elvis Presley and Graceland, his former mansion turned museum, appear on most of the Convention & Visitors Bureau's promotional materials. But the agency's vice president of communications rarely needs permission. "Graceland's over 20 years (old) now; it's really well established," said Denise DuBois Taylor. "They've worked out the kinks."
Taylor has a set of photos that Elvis Presley Enterprises allows her to use. For an unusual item, she'll send them an e-mail: "We're going to be working on this promotion. If you have a problem, let me know," she said. Taylor, who has worked for the visitors bureau for the past decade, can't recall any disputes. She doesn't need permission to identify Memphis as the home of Elvis Presley or Graceland. "Those are just statements of fact," she said. "There's nothing to debate."
Bobby Davis, a spokesman for Elvis Presley Enterprises, described the relationship as "very warm, very friendly. Elvis and Memphis, there's a connection between the two," he said. "You have really a perfect marriage of a city and an artist."
- Bailey, volunteers pull together for 2003 Elvis Festival
(Daily Journal, May 23, 2003)
Q: What excites you about the 2003 Elvis Presley Festival?
A: Numerous things excite me. Most important is the benefit of working to improve my community. I take pride in building a group effort to make the festival successful that ultimately makes downtown a better place and therefore all of Tupelo and Lee County better.
The family effort of all pulling together excites me as well. There is no better thrill than to stand on the stage during the middle of the night and overlook the large crowd and realize that's why we go through all this effort. All of these people are in Downtown Tupelo and investing in our community, and many of them are staying overnight.
Q: Have you met any musical heroes because of your position with the festival?
A: Spending time with B.B. King (in 2002) on his bus was a personal thrill. He was very personable and I enjoyed talking about his and Elvis' beginnings in Memphis together and their friendship.
He was deeply moved when I gave him a picture of him and Elvis as young men with their arms around each other. He autographed a copy for me.
B.B. was and is a major player in today's music. The North Mississippi Allstars (who will perform this year) are stars of the future. They are very easygoing guys from Mississippi who are proud of their past and they love music. ...
- In Brief: Britney, Elvis - Britney sells her gear, Elvis rarities due
(Rolling Stone, May 23, 2003)
Britney Spears is auctioning off fifty-six of her stage costumes and other pieces of memorabilia through gottahaveit.com. Proceeds will benefit her foundatikon to help children in need. ... Eighty nine rare Elvis Presley tracks, including a concert in Texas, will be included in the new four-CD compilation, Close Up, due July 1st ...
- Party Pair Keep Elvis, Aliens In Toy Chest
By SUSAN M. GREEN
(Tampa
Tribune, May 22, 2003)
Who says the life of the party has to be alive? It might be packed away in boxes in little warehouses behind Charlie and Crista Murphy's south Brandon home. ``We've got 6-foot balloons, 10-foot balloons, little tiny balloons,'' said Charlie Murphy, who helps his wife run a party supply business called Helium Plus. ``We've got aliens in two different colors.''
The Murphys also have a 7- foot-tall figurine in a Chicago Bulls basketball jersey; a baseball player, armor-clad knight and swashbuckler statues that are almost as tall; and, for those on a budget, life-sized cardboard cutouts of Elvis, in your choice of jeweled white jumpsuit or gold lapels. Props come in table-size versions popular for weddings or bar mitzvah celebrations. The couple cater mostly to corporate customers, building elaborate backdrops for banquets or retreats. ...
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