Late September 2003
- Tune in The Cat to go back in time for Elvis memories
By Tom Walter
(Go Memphis, September 27, 2003)
George Klein is taking his long-running Elvis Hour radio program to The Cat 98.1, beginning Sunday morning. The show will air at 7, followed by Breakfast with the Beatles at 8 and Redbeard's in the Studio at 9. Klein, an Elvis intimate, has been doing the show for 23 years. It includes music, updates about Elvis-related activities and a feature that goes back in time to events surrounding Elvis while he was alive. Klein also conducts interviews with contemporary musicians, as well as archived interview segments Klein taped with Presley.
The program had been airing on a small Arkansas oldies station. The Cat will be the show's fifth home in its 23-year history, which began at Sam Phillips's old WLVS-FM. Klein was a deejay at the station when Phillips suggested an hour devoted to Elvis, and said he would run it commercial-free. No commercials? That would be unthinkable today. "The Elvis Hour has bounced around but it has staying power. It's perfect for Memphis," Klein said. ...
- People: Oldies push aside whippersnappers
(Seattle Post-Intelligencer, September 26, 2003)
Feels like old times. First a remixed version of Elvis Presley's 1969 single, "Rubberneckin'," hits No. 1 on the charts. Now the Rolling Stones' 1968 hit, "Sympathy for the Devil," is roosting in the top spot after its recent reissue. ...
- Hirschfelds Go on the Block Thursday
(Newsday.com, September 24, 2003)
A toothy, grinning Liberace, drawn for the cover of Colliers magazine in 1954. A swivel-hipped Elvis Presley. A sly, bow-tied Bob Hope. Jack Benny, complete with violin. And we haven't even gotten to such theater icons as Ethel Merman, Carol Channing, Laurence Olivier and Stephen Sondheim. They are among the portraits of show-biz celebrities by caricaturist Al Hirschfeld to be sold Thursday, in an auction devoted solely to Hirschfeld's work, said Swann Auction Galleries which is holding the event. The sale will include Hirschfeld drawings, prints, books, letters and movie posters.
Hirschfeld died in January at age of 99 as preparations for the auction were under way. ...
- Weeki Wachee will remain open, for now
By MITCH STACY
(Gainesville Sun / Associated Press, September 23, 2003)
Weeki Wachee Springs will stay open, but its landlord will be keeping an eye on the venerable roadside attraction. The Southwest Florida Water Management District, after a marathon session Tuesday, voted 7-2 to keep the park's lease in place. But the agency wants frequent reports on the park's efforts to make needed repairs and changes that are expected to boost revenue.
... Hollywood's brightest stars were drawn to the attraction: Elvis Presley, Don Knotts, Danny Thomas and Martin Milner were among those visiting the mermaids in the show's heyday.
- The year of the big 3-0
By Kristina Wells
(Times Herald-Record, September 23, 2003)
It all started July 31, 2002. That's when the first card came. A nasty-gram of sorts, mailed to my home without return address and postmarked in New Jersey. The card, of course, reminded me that the Big 3-0 was less than a year away - 364 days to be exact. It wasn't signed. The penmanship was unrecognizable. And I really don't know anybody in New Jersey. So it began, the year-long journey "over the hill." See, my family treasures these decade birthdays. They've been known to send a singing Elvis to interrupt a relative's business meeting. They've tacked up "wanted" posters throughout town with a mug shot of a loved one who's turning 40. Nothing, among family, is sacred. ...
- After eight, it may be great for swifts
By Steven Beacom
(Newsday.com, September 23, 2003)
August 16 is etched in the memory of Elvis and Madonna fans. The King of rock and roll died that day in 1977 and the Queen of pop was born on the same date in the late 50s. Fast forward to August 16, 2003 and Dungannon Swifts manager Joe McAree was left singing the blues after seeing his team walloped 8-0 by Glentoran in the first group match of the CIS Insurance Cup.
- Auction to Be First of Just Hirschfeld's
By MICHAEL KUCHWARA
(Newsday.com, September 23, 2003)
A toothy, grinning Liberace, drawn for the cover of Colliers magazine in 1954. A swivel-hipped Elvis Presley. A sly, bow-tied Bob Hope. Jack Benny, complete with violin. And we haven't even gotten to such theater icons as Ethel Merman, Carol Channing, Laurence Olivier and Stephen Sondheim. They are among the portraits of show-biz celebrities by caricaturist Al Hirschfeld to be sold Thursday, in an auction devoted solely to Hirschfeld's work, said Swann Auction Galleries which is holding the event. The sale will include Hirschfeld drawings, prints, books, letters and movie posters. Hirschfeld died in January at age of 99 as preparations for the auction were under way. ...
- Long live the King
By Jeremy Dauber
(Christian Science Monitor, September 23, 2003)
Certain infernal regions must be frostier than usual. Stephen King got the National Book Award. Well, not the Award, exactly, but the annual medal of the association that gives the National Book Awards, which is presented, according to a recent New York Times story, "for distinguished contribution to American letters." Still, considering that other recipients have included John Updike, Philip Roth, and Toni Morrison, King doesn't have anything to be ashamed of in the company he'll be keeping.
The big question that's occupying the chattering classes, though, is whether the company he's keeping has any reason to be ashamed of him. ... I'm actually more worried about King's defenders than I am his accusers. Ultimately, the accusers are going to be proved right or browbeaten into submission by the judgment of posterity. There was once a package of Elvis' greatest hits called "Fifty Million Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong." This, of course, is idiotic; fifty million Elvis fans can be wrong. Tens of millions of people were wrong about that whole flat earth thing. The point is that that the Elvis fans aren't wrong, and the reason we know they're not is that chill we get in the back of our neck when we hear The King croon "Love Me Tender" or "Mystery Train." A chill in the back of our neck a little like the one when we read a later King's "Night Shift" or "Different Seasons." ...
- Cornell dean offers an entertaining mix of sociology and rock 'n' roll
[Book review]
By Richard P. Carpenter
(Boston Globe, September 22, 2003)
All Shook Up: How Rock 'n' Roll Changed America
By Glenn C. Altschuler
Oxford University, 240 pp., illustrated, $26
What a different time it was. In the early 1950s, popular music was dominated by performers such as Patti Page and Perry Como singing sweetly about doggies in the window and prisoners of love, respectively. People, even youngsters, more often than not wore coats and ties or skirts and dresses, reserving jeans for cleaning out the garage. Conversation was polite, and sex was . . . well, a taboo subject. On the surface at least, many American families resembled the characters in the treacly TV show "Leave It to Beaver."
Then along came rock 'n' roll. It came from juke joints and street corners and hillbilly hoedowns and revival meetings. It was black, and it was white. It sprang from the young and was for the young. And partly because of it, America would never, ever be the same. "All Shook Up," by Glenn C. Altschuler, places the music in its cultural context by detailing the rise of rock 'n' roll, the efforts to stop it, and the backgrounds of the key players, from Little Richard to Frankie Lymon to Buddy Holly to, oh yes, a young truck driver named Elvis.
The story is told in prose that, if not always as vibrant as its subject, is eminently readable -- a significant achievement considering that the author is also serving up a slice of sociology (the book is part of the Oxford series "Pivotal Moments in American History"). But it's not until Page 127 that Altschuler, a professor and dean at Cornell, drops in a phrase like "cognitive dissonance." He traces the beginnings of rock to the years after World War II when the "massive migration of African Americans from South to North and farm to city" was reflected in the sounds and words of rhythm and blues, once called race music. The themes were earthy, the language humorous, and the content often sexy. Wynonie "Mr. Blues" Harris "made a career of bellowing about sex," and Big Joe Turner found love "nothin' but a lot of misery." This was some distance from, say, Kitty Kallen singing, "If I Give My Heart to You."
The same was true of the sounds coming out of the Sun Records studios in Memphis, where producer Sam Phillips recorded songs by black men such as the Prisonaires and Little Junior Parker and white men such as Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and the performer who fused the white and black sounds while putting on quite a show: Elvis Aron Presley. Disc jockeys began to play the new music, and one of them, Alan Freed, gave it a name, rock 'n' roll, although, as Altschuler notes, Freed hardly invented the phrase in an "inspirational flash," as he later claimed. The term had been around a long time as "a black euphemism for sexual intercourse." Teenagers, who after World War II began to become members of an "increasingly self-contained . . . universe," tuned in to the music, identified with it, made it their own, and spent money on it.
It would be nice to accept Phillips's claim that he and Elvis "knocked the [expletive] out of the color line," but a whole lot of shaking was going on apart from the music. The emergence of rock 'n' roll, Altschuler writes, "coincided with great ferment in the movement to grant civil rights to African Americans." In 1954, the doctrine of "separate but equal" facilities for blacks and whites was struck down by the Supreme Court, to be followed by such events as lunch-counter sit-ins and freedom marches. Phillips, the author says, "was, perhaps, closer to the mark in asserting that . . . `we hit things a little bit, don't you think.' " They, and many others, certainly hit things hard enough so that rock 'n' roll, with its nudging of black and white youths closer together, became a target for segregationists.
It became a target for many parents, too, as they saw control of their youngsters slipping away, shuddered at the sexiness of the music, and believed that songs like Bill Haley's anthemic "Rock Around the Clock" bred juvenile delinquency. (Altschuler is wise enough not to dismiss the delinquency claim altogether, noting that although the vast majority of young fans remained orderly, "rhythm and blues did release inhibitions and reduce respect for authority in enough teenagers to give credibility to charges that the music produced licentious behavior.") The generational battle was on, and, perhaps not surprisingly, there are a few references to Boston-area organizations joining the drive to ban the music or at least tone it down.
And tone it down they did. With the protests and the realization that "bleaching" the music could be profitable, the hard-edged rockers were suddenly in competition with such pretty boys as Frankie Avalon and Fabian, and the lyrics became stunningly vapid. The approach of the end of the decade found "Elvis in the Army, Buddy Holly dead, Little Richard in the ministry, and Chuck Berry in jail." But after the lull, there was a revival, and rock 'n' roll, with its swagger and sass, is with us still, and it may well be true that, as Danny and the Juniors sang, it will never die.
Weighty issues such as race, sexuality, and generational battles aside, much of the fun of the book is in the anecdotes: A mortified Little Richard faces the wall as he recites the original bawdy lyrics of "Tutti Frutti" to a woman songwriter hired to clean up those words. Fats Domino racks up phone bills of $200 a month to talk to his beloved wife, Rosemary. "American Bandstand" host Dick Clark somehow emerges unscathed from the payola scandal of the '50s despite having fingers in many musical interests. Pat Boone pontificates in a book of virtually all but useless advice for teenagers. A young Jerry Lee Lewis pounds out "My God Is Real" boogie-woogie-style at church services. Such stories more than make up for a stretch that tells more about the war between music licensers ASCAP and BMI than some of us may care to know, even if that fight was relevant to the struggle to keep rock 'n' roll off the radio.
It is refreshing, too, to learn that the experts of a half-century ago were no better at predicting cultural trends than are today's authorities. Altschuler cites a banner headline in the music industry publication Cash Box: "Rock and Roll May Be the Great Unifying Force!"
- Celebrity Obsessions: Share Your Story With 20/20
(ABC News, September 22, 2003)
Are you obsessed with your favorite celebrity? For some people, it's Madonna, for others Cher, Tom Cruise or Elvis. Are you obsessed with your favorite celebrity?
Do you feel like you have to know what he or she is up to at all times? Do you have a "shrine" at your house with photos, posters? Do you feel like you learn life lessons from your favorite celebrity? Do you spend a lot of your time thinking about this person? If so, 20/20 wants to talk to you. Fill out the form below, if you would like to share your story with 20/20.
- What's Online: ELVIS EDUCATION
[3rd item]
By CAY DICKSON
(Houston Chronicle, September 22, 2003)
There will never be another Elvis. You need only to hear the name, and your hips and lips loosen up, and you're ready to rock and roll. Take your blue suede shoes on over to the Elvis Presley Impersonater's Correspondence School, at www.wwiaviation.com/urlvis, and put some finesse on your moves. Be sure to notice the great typos, such as the misspelling of impersonator in the school's name, because they add almost as much to the site as the content. Get tips on picking the right manager, preferably one who doesn't think of grease as a food group. Print out the shopping list to make sure you've got the ingredients to eat like the King did. There are several categories that give you the essential tips you'll need to become a great impersonator.
- Meet 'Mr. Pointy's' Maker: You'll find Takashi Murakami teasing you somewhere between high art and low
By Ariella Budick
(newsday.com, September 22, 2003)
Here are a few snapshots of contemporary culture: The Marshall Field's catalog features a silk dressing gown with the Superman logo for $59.95. Nearly 19 million grown-up Americans are regular viewers of "SpongeBob Squarepants," and they buy about $500 million worth of SpongeBob merchandise. J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter saga has proved to be a literary sales phenomenon - among adults. And the plaza at Rockefeller Center is currently surmounted by a 30-foot cartoon creature with a tapering head and an oversupply of limbs. His name is "Tongari-kun," or "Mr. Pointy," and he is the brainchild of Takashi Murakami, the hyper-hip Japanese artist who became an international celebrity last year when he designed a series of Louis Vuitton accessories in bright, nursery colors.
... We have been here before - 40 years ago, during the spectacularly enigmatic trajectory of Andy Warhol, a virtuoso of gnomic pronouncements about art and a master of blurring boundaries between high and low. Warhol made wallpaper and oil paintings, he divided serious critics and delighted rich collectors, he elevated Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe into contemporary deities, and he did all that with an impenetrable poker face.
Murakami doesn't deny the Warhol precedent - indeed he cites him and Jeff Koons, a pop artist with a flamboyant, baroque sensibility, as his idols and role models. Murakami's meticulously choreographed career suggests the work of infuriating purists is never done. While Warhol adored the imagery of mass production and Koons reinterprets souvenir-stand kitsch, Murakami is out to update an assortment of Japanese traditions: the iconography of ancient animist religions, 16th century screens, 19th century woodblock prints and 20th century cartoons. ...
- All TV: Slickly unoriginal
(Star-Ledger, September 22, 2003)
AS THE MARQUEE name driving the new NBC series "Las Vegas" (tonight at 10, Ch. 4), James Caan is typecast, and it's a good thing. The sandblasted 1970s superstar, who plays a supersmart, supertough casino security expert named Ed Deline, has spent quite a bit of time in dens of sin, both onscreen ( "The Gambler," "Honeymoon in Vegas" ) and off (until he entered rehab in the early'90s, he was a legendary hard-partying macho man). His presence grants instant credibility to his character and the series. Caan doesn't have to act the part of a tough guy with a righteous streak; you assume these qualities the second you see him.
If all of "Las Vegas" felt as true and hard as Caan's performance, it would be a great TV show. But it's just okay. It's loud, fast-paced and lavishly, sometimes ridiculously well-produced. The opening shot of tonight's premiere starts with an overhead shot of a dead body in the desert, then soars down the Las Vegas strip, enters a casino, flies past craps tables and slot machines and hotel hallways, then reveals the impeccably shod feet of Mr. Caan, who's shot from such a low angle that he seems to be 70 feet tall.
... "Las Vegas" has personality; too bad it's made from bits and pieces of other films and TV shows built around casinos and gambling. The borrowing is so relentless and blatant that the show sometimes feels like a guided tour of a film geek's DVD collection. The gratuitous slow-motion, vertigo-inducing whip-pans, Sinatra music and detailed explanations of casino operations are borrowed from the 1995 Martin Scorsese drama "Casino"; so is a line about how the Mob used to deal with problem people ("bury them alive in the desert"). The nighttime driving shots with casino lights reflected in car windshields recall the series "Vega$" and "Crime Story," as well as the recent "Ocean's 11." (The pilot sent out by NBC even uses a remix of the latter's signature soundtrack song, Elvis Presley's "A Little Less Conversation.")
- FACTBOX - EMI gets down to talks with AOL Time Warner
(Forbes, September 22, 2003)
British-based music company EMI Group Plc said on Monday it was in talks with AOL Time Warner over a merger with the U.S. media giant's recorded music business that would create the world's number two music company. AOL Time Warner is also holding talks with German rival Bertelsmann AG [BERT.UL] over a recorded music joint venture.
Following are data on each company:
EMI GROUP PLC
Ranking: the world's number three music company
Artists: Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Norah Jones, Robbie Williams, Coldplay, Queen, Kylie Minogue, Paul McCartney, Snoop Dogg, Moby, The Vines, Utada Hikaru. ...
WARNER MUSIC
Ranking: the world's number four music company
Artists: Madonna, Alanis Morissette, REM, Missy Elliott, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Enya, Bjork, The Cure, Jewel, Natalie Merchant, Faith Hill, Linkin Park, Phish, Josh Groban, Kid Rock. ...
BERTELSMANN MUSIC GROUP (BMG)
.Ranking: the world's number five music company
.Artists: Elvis Presley, Christina Aguilera, Whitney Houston, Alicia Keys, Santana, Eros Ramazotti, Outkast, the Dave Matthews Band, The Foo Fighters, Avril Lavigne, Britney Spears. ...
- Shooting death in Spector mansion ruled homicide: Record producer had said actress may have shot herself
(CNN, September 22, 2003)
After a nearly eight-month investigation, the shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson, whose body was found in the mansion of legendary record producer Phil Spector, has been ruled a homicide, coroner's officials said Monday. Clarkson, 40, was found dead in Spector's home February 3. The couple had met at a blues club earlier that evening. "It was a single gunshot wound to the head and neck by another," said Los Angeles County coroner spokesman David Campbell, who declined to release the autopsy results or discuss details of the report pending a review by state prosecutors.
Spector, 63, was arrested on suspicion of murder the same day Clarkson's body was found but was released after posting $1 million bail that day. Sheriff's officials presented their case to the Los Angeles district attorney Thursday after examining more than 100 pieces of evidence, including the handgun used in Clarkson's death.
... The winner of two Grammy Awards, Spector produced records for Elvis Presley, Ike and Tina Turner, and John Lennon, and brought international fame in the 1960s to such groups as the Ronettes, the Crystals and the Righteous Brothers. He is credited with revolutionizing the recording industry for his concept of the "wall of sound," a technique that combined instruments, vocals and sound effects in the studio. ...
- The King and I
By David Greenwood
(icnetwork.co.uk, September 22, 2003)
OPERA star and father-of-three Bryn Terfel likes nothing better than to listen to Elvis Presley as he takes his sons to school. And the Pant Glas-born superstar may quit the inter-national scene by his mid-40s to spend more time with his family in North Wales. In a revealing interview on Sue Lawley's Desert Island Discs on BBC Radio 4, Terfel said his favourite tune was Return to Sender. He also told how his family would sing along to Elvis together. "Because of those special times, it is the one I would take with me onto the island," he told Lawley. ...
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