Early April 2004
- In 'People,' we trust: Celeb-driven mag celebrates 30th anniversary
By REGINA MEDINA
(Philadelphia Daily News, April 7, 2004)
Not many people can call on IT gal Jessica Simpson to help celebrate their 30th birthday. People magazine can. ... Simpson, sans hubby Nick Lachey, was a logical choice for the anniversary cover, said Martha Nelson, managing editor for the magazine. ... If you looked at the magazine 50 years from now, "you would know that Jessica Simpson is of the moment right now," said Nelson. And capturing the moment is what People is all about. ... When Lennon was shot by Marc David Chapman outside the Dakota in Manhattan, "it was a huge shock and a tragic moment, and the decision was made to risk putting him on the cover as a tribute."
The magazine's editors "have since learned when someone dies suddenly, people want to reach out to read the last great story about that person...Tributes are something they want to read, it's an emotional need," Nelson said, citing John Ritter, Bob Hope and Katherine Hepburn as recent examples of tribute covers. Unfortunately, that lesson was learned after Elvis Presley left the house in 1977. The cover that week featured Ann-Margret and funny actor Marty Feldman and was, Nelson admitted, People's "biggest mistake."
- Junkie XL Remixes Michael Buble
(undercover.com.au, April 7, 2004)
Crooner Michael Buble has been given the Junkie XL treatment. Tom Holkenborg (aka Junkie XL) has reinvented Buble's new single 'Sway'. Of course this isn't the first time Holkenborg has undagged a performer. Junkie XL is the JXL who remixed the recent Elvis Presley hit 'A Little Less Conversation'. He wasn't allowed to called himself "Junkie" on the Elvis recording because the Presley estate didn't want to associatethe word "junkie" with Elvis. ...
- Thank you for the music: Abba studio closes
(Irish Examiner, April 7, 2004)
The sounds of ABBA, Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones have bounced off its padded walls.
Now, Sweden's most famous recording facility, Polar Studios, must shut down because the owners can't pay the rent. "It's a mistake being made right now," said Lennart Oestlund, part-owner and one of the studio's original sound engineers. "I see it as a museum of Swedish music history, especially ABBA." The Swedish pop quartet's record label started the studio in 1978 and the group recorded its last three albums there. However, the first big album recorded at Polar Studios was Led Zeppelin's In Through the Door, in 1978.
Hundreds of bands and solo artists followed, including Backstreet Boys, Genesis, the Beastie Boys, the Cardigans and Roxette - making Polar Studios a hot spot on the international music scene.
Swedish music fans compare it to Abbey Road Studios in London, of Beatles' fame, or Sun Studios in Memphis, where Elvis Presley launched a thousand hipshakers. ...
- Cobain's dark life left a shining legacy
By Edna Gundersen
(Yahoo! News / USA TODAY, April 7, 2004)
He generated a cultural tsunami and then vanished into rock's familiar undertow of tragedy. When Kurt Cobain killed himself 10 years ago this week, fans mourned another prodigy gone too soon and too suddenly. ... Unlike scores of young rockers who have been lost to drugs, suicide and catastrophe, Cobain, 27, didn't shrink into music's trivia quizzes. Nirvana's brilliant and tortured singer/songwriter resides alongside Jimi Hendrix and John Lennon in a pantheon of artists whose impact and earning power were undiminished by death.
Overstatement? Those who idolized Elvis Presley and The Beatles may sneer at the canonization of Cobain, whose brief career was sandwiched between the monster waves of '80s spandex metal and '90s bubblegum. But for Generation X, dwarfed by baby boomers on one side and millennials on the other, Cobain was a damaged demigod who articulated youth's impotent rage and alienation. For many, this week's gloomy observance carries more significance than hoopla over the 40th anniversary of The Beatles' U.S. arrival or rock's 50th birthday. ...
- George Michael: Exposed!
(rediff.com, April 6, 2004)
George Michael has always blazed a unique trail. And a hugely popular one at that. His albums like Faith, Listen Without Prejudice, Older and Ladies And Gentlemen have been big hits. Ladies And Gentlemen went platinum eight times in the UK. After eight years, the singer now releases his latest album Patience. The single Amazing is already riding its way up the music charts. A chat with the singer: ...
What inspired you to dedicate a song to John Lennon and Elvis Presley?
In a strange way, "John & Elvis is dead" is written for a generation before mine. Something that most people don't notice about my career is that I have the career principles of a 1970s rockstar. The kind of principles everyone has given up now. Even though I am written about as though that was not the case, I have very old-fashioned ideas about modern music. ...
- Bridgewater gig for Godfather of Soul
By Carl Palmer
(Manchester Online, April 6, 2004)
SOUL music legend James Brown has announced a surprise concert - at Manchester's top classical music venue. The Godfather of Soul will belt out his own classics such as Sex Machine at Bridgewater Hall on Monday, June 28 and tickets at £40-a-head are now on sale. Brown, now 70, has had 122 chart hits - more than any other performer except Elvis Presley - and pioneered soul and funk music. His hits have included Living in America and It's a Man's Man's Man's World. ...
- Song of a lifetime
By Bob Shryock
(Denver Post, April 6, 2004)
Every year, two royalty checks arrive at Terri Godshalk's Warrington, Pa. home. They totaled $3,000 for years. Now they amount to under $1,000 and the figure is dwindling, like the memory of one of the most famous songs to emerge from the early, happy days of rock 'n' roll. Terri was born in November 1954, a month after her mother, Paulsboro native Joan "Joanie" Weber, recorded "Let Me Go Lover," and two months before it became a smash hit, roared to the top of the chart and overnight enabled sudden star Joanie to earn as much as $10,000 a week and appear on TV with Ed Sullivan, Perry Como and Dick Clark (American Bandstand). The Columbia label single sold a staggering 2.5 million copies. During its peak billboard position in 1955, Weber's recording of the song surpassed versions by Teresa Brewer (No. 6), Patti Page (No. 8), Sunny Gale (No. 17) and Peggy Lee (No. 26). She was a headliner in the new glitter town, Las Vegas: During one of her bookings, Elvis Presley was her back-up act. They once had breakfast together. She sang for Fidel Castro in Cuba before the Bay of Pigs. The teenager from Gloucester County was very big news. She was hot.
- Tourism's not just rooted in hotel business
By Richard Callison
(Scotsman, April 5, 2004)
THE fascination with Scottish heritage was highlighted last month when it was claimed that the ancestors of Elvis Presley, the late great king of rock 'n' roll, hailed from the sleepy hamlet of Lonmay in Aberdeenshire. Not only did this revelation send shockwaves through the village's residents, who are now hastily preparing for an influx of souvenir hunters, but it also served to draw attention to the subject of genealogy which is fast becoming a booming business. There is tremendous interest throughout the globe in Scotland and there are currently more than 20 million Americans claiming Scots descent, not to mention the millions more in Canada and Australia. ...
- Hollywood News > Stars speak on stars!
By Susan Guyett
(NewKerala, April 5, 2004)
If you ever thought that any rivalry existed among popstars, this should put it to rest. A poll conducted by the Rolling Stone magazine which voted the Fab Four as the greatest rock musicians in the last 50 years has revealed that legendary singers find each other truly inspirational, and many of them are each other's biggest fans ever. Here is what some of them had to say about their fellow greats, according to a report in News.com. ... Bono on Elvis: "In Elvis, you have the blueprint for rock 'n' roll - the highness, the gospel highs; the mud, the Delta mud, the blues. Sexual liberation. Controversy. Changing the way people feel about the world." ...Little Richard on Little Richard: "A lot of people call me the architect of rock 'n' roll. I don't call myself that, but I do believe it's true."
- Russian Fashion Week Opens, Bumps Off Elvis
By Godfrey Deeny
(Yahoo! News, April 5, 2004)
Minsk may be a long way from Graceland, but that doesn't prevent a designer from Belarus having an opinion about Elvis Presley. Ivan Aiplatov, 32-year-old father of two, who presented the best thought out collection in the opening weekend of Russian Fashion Week, took his bow in a T-Shirt that featured Elvis in profile except that the Hips was reduced to a mere quiff of black hair and death skull. Models in the show also donned T-Shirts bearing the image of Mickey Mouse, except the wee rodent was at the center of a crossbones, while the logo read "Mouse is Dead." ...
- The Voice of North Idaho
By RIC CLARKE
(Coeur d'Alene Press, April 5, 2004)
The faded black-and-white photo says it all. It shows a young, star-struck disc jockey posing with an even-younger Elvis Presley. The year was 1957, and the location was KNEW's radio station high atop Spokane's South Hill. The disc jockey was "Bubblehead" Bob Hough, who was ramrodding a runaway cultural revolution throughout the Inland Northwest over the airwaves. His following was huge, and his style utterly unique. The irrepressible, jabbering DJ was an icon to a generation of transistor radio rock-and-rollers.
Then, for another 13 glorious years, he was all ours. "The Hougher" closed out his radio career in 1990 as a multifaceted broadcaster at Coeur d'Alene's KVNI. Hough did it all.
... Hough started with a morning show, then switched to the night shift. He helped bring Elvis to Spokane for a concert as Hough's popularity was skyrocketing. He created a Sleep Rockers Club with more than 900 members, many of whom made KNEW's parking lot their second home. "The thrill of bringing rock and roll to Spokane was just unbelievable. We could do no wrong," he said. "After midnight, I had people who just camped there, listening to the radio until their battery ran down." ...
- Midland presents 'Elvis' tribute show
(Newark Advocate, April 5, 2004)
The Midland Theatre presents Elvis in a live, on-stage performance at 8 p.m. April 23. Mike Albert's "Ultimate Tribute" show has become known worldwide for the respectful portrayal of the late Elvis Presley. Mike Albert, a Canton native, showed a passion for singing at an early age. He began his career using sing-a-long tapes of Elvis' hits. An appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show and being featured in six music videos on the national show, "A Current Affair," exposed the world to Mike's talents. Mike has won several major world "Elvis" contests, and demand for his shows resulted in putting together a seven piece Big "E" Band, to emulate the sound Elvis' band had in the Vegas shows and on tour.
- Gathering of fun and funds
By Susan Guyett
(Eindystar.com, April 5, 2004)
These jeans are real jewels: Among the items up for auction at an April 24 fund-raiser benefitting the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America are jeans signed by both Priscilla and Lisa Marie Presley. How Elvis Presley's ex-wife and daughter got involved with the Indianapolis gala is a matter of connections. Seems Vision Incentive Inc. founder Kathy Butler, who is on the foundation's board of directors, has a sister who is director of licensing for Elvis Presley Enterprises. That means she knows when the Presley women will be around Graceland and when to ask for such favors. So two tiny pairs of jeans have mother/daughter autographs. These jeans are not for wearing, mind you. But they're perfect for collectors to frame and enjoy. In tune with the "Jeans to Jewels" theme, organizers got Bill Cosby, Bob Newhart and Sandi Patty to sign other jeans. The $125-a-ticket gala will be at the Hyatt Regency. Awards will be presented to Chuck Larsen, Blair Kiel, Dr. David Hollander, Beth Ann Ross and Fifth Third Bank. Call (317) 259-8071 for information. ...
- Terry Sanford turns 50
By Stacy Peterson
(Fayetteville Online, April 4, 2004)
This year Terry Sanford High School celebrates its 50th anniversary in the brick campus that is so familiar on Fort Bragg Road. These halls of the former Fayetteville High School listened to teens discussing Elvis Presley's shaking hips on ''The Ed Sullivan Show.'' They enclosed cries when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. They listened to protests of the Vietnam War and more recently heard fear from the attacks of Sept. 11. ...
- Family's anger over Elvis death
By STEVE KORNACKI
(Epping Forest Guardian, April 4, 2004)
A FAMILY has spoken out after a delivery driver who was speeding when he struck Elvis impersonator Eddie Cowperthwaite was given a 12-month driving ban and fined £800. Mr Cowperthwaite's family said Minh Hoang "should have got banned for life". Stratford magistrates heard how Hoang, 29, was driving his red Fiat Punto at 45mph on a 30mph road, went through an amber traffic light and was looking at a text message a friend was writing when he knocked Mr Cowperthwaite down shortly after midnight on April 20 last year.
Mr Cowperthwaite, 32, of Bushfields, Loughton, who had changed his name by deed poll to Elvis Aaron Presley, suffered severe head injuries and died at the Royal London Hospital despite a seven-and-a-half-hour operation. Mr Cowperthwaite had just finished a performance at the Bancroft Arms pub, Mile End, when the accident happened as he was crossing Burdett Road. Hoang admitted driving without due care and attention. ...
- A Shrimper Takes The Bait
By STEVE KORNACKI
(tbo.com, April 4, 2004)
Ralph Cooper has been a shrimper for nearly a half century, and catching and selling crustacean bait has been equal parts work, love and adventure. ... His late wife and co-worker at Cooper's Wholesale Shrimp, LaVader, known to all as "Pee Wee,'' supplied shrimp for Elvis Presley near the northern end of her delivery route in Yankeetown.
... The round-trip delivery drives covering more than 100 miles daily could get monotonous, and Pee Wee was known to pull over and cast her fishing rod into the water when that happened. That's what she was doing the day she met a stranger requesting a handful of shrimp that left her truly "all shook up.'' "There was a guy fishing off an old barge near Yankeetown, sitting in an old rocking chair,'' Ralph Cooper said. "He saw her coming down the road and waved to her. Pee Wee gave him a handful of dead shrimp from those she kept on the side of the truck. The first day, she did not even notice who it was. The second day, however, she recognized him. "It turns out Elvis Presley was bumming shrimp off Pee Wee. He was fishing there because they were filming a movie in town.'' That film was ``Follow That Dream,'' a 1962 release in which Presley played Toby Kwimper, whose family faced local opposition in trying to homestead on the beach. ...
- Guess who I saw today!
By KEN BECK
(Tennessean, April 4, 2004)
Once in a lifetime - perhaps twice, if you're lucky - your path may cross the path of somebody famous. It may be a movie star, singer, author, politician or athlete, but probably not a newspaper writer. ...
Barry M. Bishop, Tullahoma
In 1963, I was standing outside the RCA recording studio in Nashville, waiting for the chance to see Elvis Presley. I was holding my 5-year-old daughter, who was wiggling, and I told her to be still so I would not drop her, when Elvis said to me, ''Don't drop her,'' and pushed her back into my arms. I got his autograph but was so excited that he touched and spoke directly to me.
- How to identify loneliness in relationships
By Offra Gerstein
(Santa Cruz Sentinel, April 4, 2004)
Loneliness is one of the most painful emotions of all. Being lonely is defined as "being apart from fellows or companionship, characterized by sadness, desolation, or the feeling of emptiness." Does being in a relationship provide immunity from loneliness? The need for connection is vital for survival and emotional well being. The human infant is born with the capacity to cling that Freud termed the "grasping instinct." ... Elvis Presley's lyrics in the song "Heartbreak Hotel" said it clearly: "I get so lonely I could die." This is not just a dramatic overstatement, but a very accurate description of the deep devastation that lack of contact brings. Shunning people who do not conform is a severe punishment in some groups. Human connection energizes life. ...
- Starved for vinyl? Eat More has your fix
By DON FERNANDEZ
(Atlanta Journal-Constitution, April 3, 2004)
... Eat More Records - a Gwinnett County touchstone for tunes - will be celebrating its 25th anniversary in a month, a landmark for a private enterprise and even more remarkable considering its specialty. It's been around since 8-tracks were still edgy and is now witnessing the phenomenon of MP3s. This is an old-fashioned record store. No aisles of electronics. No mammoth ads touting deep discounts and computer deals. No flighty clerks who have no clue what you're talking about. ... "How can you download this?" Freireich said, holding up a 1956 Elvis Presley EP in its original sleeve, a $25 item. ... The biggest vinyl sellers are no surprise: the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Elvis, The Who, Bob Dylan, Jimmy Buffett and AC/DC to name but a handful.
- Waylon and Elvis Grab Some Chart Action: Posthumous Compilations Enjoy Lively Retail Traffic
By Calvin Gilbert
(cmt.com, April 3, 2004)
Great music doesn't die. It just gets repackaged. That's the way it looks this week after Waylon Jennings and Elvis Presley scored the highest-debuting titles on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart. With a shortage of brand new releases from current superstar acts, RCA's marketing department devised a successful strategy to push Ultimate Waylon Jennings and Elvis: Ultimate Gospel. ...
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