early February, 2005
Currently in the news: Songy/BMG UK's release of Elvis Presley singles
- Web Winners | If Cranky Cupid doesn't enthrall you, surely something will
By Reid Kanaley
(Philadelphia Inquirer, February 3, 2005)
Today we offer sites that may help you at getting even more news from the Web, mining tidbits from millions of blogs, learning logic, and throwing darts at the approaching Valentine's Day.
More news. Set this site to your own zip code, and it culls the net for the latest news on your hometown. The site also delivers links to news and entertainment sites, and press releases on hundreds of subjects, including Elvis Presley, Anglicanism, the oil and gas industry, and nicotine.
www.topix.net ...
[The Elvis Presley news page is at http://www.topix.net/who/elvis-presley - Ed.]
- LIVE: Elvis-Powered Sum 41 Rock The Tsunami Benefit
By Trevor Hargreaves
(ChartAttack, February 2, 2005)
Vancouver, BC, GM Place, January 29, 2005
Unfortunately, this show began with a decidedly mediocre set by Delerium. ... At one point, unflappable frontman [of Sum 41] Deryck Whibley even changed into an Elvis costume and sung a punked-up version of the Big E classic "That's All Right Momma." ...
- MONEYBAGS: Camping sculpture is bought by gallery for £40k
By Donna Watson
(Daily Record, February 3, 2005)
AN ART gallery has splashed out £40,000 - on a sleeping bag. But the battered bag is really a bronze sculpture which has been made to look as if it has been left behind by a homeless person. It was created by artist Gavin Turk and has been bought by Aberdeen Art Gallery. ... The artist is probably most famous for his sculpture of rubbish bags, called Pile, which was valued at £75,000. His work Pop featured a sculpture of himself as Sid Vicious posing as Andy Warhol's painting of Elvis Presley imitating a cowboy. ...
- Cost Trumps Patriotism in Canada Flag Pin Flap
(Reuters, February 2, 2005)
The next time a Canadian official hands you a lapel pin bearing an image of the country's maple leaf flag, take a closer look. That symbol of patriotism was likely made in China. Opposition legislator Charlie Angus attacked the Liberal government on Wednesday for ordering millions of "inferior quality" pins from a Chinese supplier rather than the Canadian factory that has been making them for 35 years. "They are selling off our cultural heritage like a bunch of roadside hucksters selling off hubcaps and velvet Elvis paintings," Angus told Parliament. ...
- Singing Valentines available from high school quartets
(The News Item, February 2, 2005)
Valentine's Day is just around the corner and if you are sick of giving just flowers and candy every year and want something original to surprise your sweetheart, nothing touches the heart like a love song. Shamokin Area High School [Northeast Pennsylvania?] barbershop quartets, coached by Jim Krebs and directed by Bonny Klinger, are offering singing Valentines again this year. The quartets will sing to your loved ones or friends at work, school or home on Valentine's Day. A rose and candy is included with each song. There are four quartets this year, two male and two female, with each one singing different songs. 4 in Achord is composed of Mark Sosnoskie (tenor), Steve Feese (lead), Bill Ebright (baritone) and Ryan Letcavage (bass). They can serenade with the Elvis Presley hit "Love Me Tender." ... For more information and to schedule an appointment, call Cindy Palmitessa at 644-1727. Make this Valentine's Day especially memorable by sending a singing Valentine.
- Liberace ghost haunts club
By Phil Kemp
(Megastar, February 2, 2005)
The ghost of powder-puff piano-plinking entertainer Liberace is scaring the hell out of people at a Las Vegas club he used to own. Not half as scary as one of the late high-campist's records or concerts, though, we'd wager. Liber-who? You might say. Well, as Elvis Presley was to screaming middle-aged women in his burger-guzzling rhinestone fat-suit 70s phase, Liberace was, well, just screaming. Contact Music website tells us that "staff of Carluccio's Tivoli Gardens" have reported "bottles falling from shelves, floating capes and women's toilet doors locking and unlocking themselves. Women's toilets, eh? Somewhere the cheese-crooning vampire in diamante wouldn't have been seen dead during his lifetime. ...
- Coco Palms to be rebuilt
By Jan TenBruggencate
(Honolulu Advertiser, February 2, 2005)
The Kaua'i Planning Commission has approved zoning and shoreline management area permits for the rebuilding of the venerable Coco Palms Hotel, set around Queen Kapule's ancient fishponds and a coconut grove that is more than a century old. The hotel, which opened in 1953, in its prime was considered the prototype Polynesian hotel. In addition to its tropical setting, it was decorated with artifacts of Pacific cultures and featured outrigger canoes, Hawaiian music and a nightly torch-lighting ceremony that was its hallmark. ... Retail, restaurant and office facilities will be spread around the project. The lobby, chapel and lagoon dining areas would be retained, as would the cottage where Elvis Presley stayed during the filming of "Blue Hawai'i." ...[Richard Weiser] said construction should start late this year, with the new Coco Palms opening in late 2007.
- Walk a Mile in Their Shoes
By Jason Miko
(Reality Macedonia, February 2, 2005)
There is a grand R&B/blues song from the 1960s originally written and recorded by Atlanta, Georgia singer and songwriter Joe South titled "Walk a Mile in My Shoes." It has been covered or interpreted by such other musical giants as Bryan Ferry and Elvis Presley and the chorus goes like this:
Walk a mile in my shoes
just walk a mile in my shoes
Before you abuse, criticize and accuse
Then walk a mile in my shoes
The songwriter is stressing that you've got to know how I feel and what I'm going through before you can accuse me or point out my flaws and you can only do that by being in my position. You've got to be in my shoes in order to understand me and before you can accuse me.
These lyrics came into my head the other week when I was reading an opinion piece by Dr. Nicholas Whyte of the International Crisis Group (ICG) on the Institute for War and Peace Reporting web site. His opinion piece was about Kosovo, based on the ICG's new report on Kosovo and at one point he makes a sweeping statement about Kosovo pontificating "Serbia does not really want it anyway." ... It is absolutely necessary, in my opinion, to know how a people feel and think before making such policy pronouncements. ...
- Usher leads Soul Train shortlist
(BBC News, February 2, 2005)
Chart-topping R&B star Usher is leading the field at this year's Soul Train Awards, with five nominations. The singer, whose album Confessions has sold close to eight million copies in the US alone, is already in the running for eight Grammy Awards. Newcomer Ciara - who recently beat Elvis Presley to the UK number one spot - has four nominations, while Alicia Keys has three. The Soul Train Awards ceremony will take place in Hollywood on 28 February.
- Happenings Feb. 2, 2005: Theatre
(contactmusic.com, February 2, 2005)
SON OF ELVIS SIGHTED AT THE 7-11. Welcome to Lantanahoochie, where Tennessee Williams meets the Twilight Zone. This ghostly satire written and directed by Paul Wells, serves up a steamy portion of humor and intrigue in a dying town full of dark secrets and broken dreams. Its only claim to fame is as the home to Elvis Presley's only son, some say. And the title tells you where he was sighted. The play has mature themes and opens Feb. 4 and runs through Feb. 27 at the Pacifica Spindrift Players Theater, 1050 Crespi Drive. Call 359-8002 for reservations.
- ELVIS WINES TO HIT UK
(contactmusic.com, February 2, 2005)
A selection of wines bearing late rock 'n' roll legend ELVIS PRESLEY's image are due to hit UK stores this year (05). The wines titled KING CAB, JAILHOUSE RED and BLUE SUEDE CHARDONNAY have already had huge success in America and feature a picture of the singer on their labels. BRIAN PECK, SIGNATURE WINES' vice president, says, "We realise people buy the wines for the novelty of Elvis being on the label. But we put good wine in there as well so that once they have tried them customers come back. "People are really taking to them." The late rock star is currently number one in the UK single with a re-issue of IT'S NOW OR NEVER.
- Mississippi State's White steps into spotlight
By Dick Patrick
(USA Today, February 2, 2005)
Tan White played in the shadow of a superstar in her first two seasons at Mississippi State. Since then she's often been overlooked on a team that can get lost among all the elites in the Southeastern Conference. But White might be the best thing to come out of Tupelo, Miss., since Elvis Presley and Tupelo honey. The 5-7 senior guard leads the country in scoring at 22.6 points a game. ...
- Doctors outsell Elvis
By Patrick Sawer
(Evening Standard, February 2, 2005)
Fed up with yet another cold and wet morning waiting for a Tube train, two doctors decided to vent their frustration in song. The result is a surprise internet hit based on the Jam's classic No 1, Going Underground. More than 50,000 copies of the doctors' version, protesting against strikes and delays, have been downloaded from their website and they are getting around 1,000 emails a day asking for a copy. ...
- Hee-Haw Cast and Musicians Rally For Bobby Thompson Benefit
(Cybergrass, February 2, 2005)
In this years' 11th Annual McReynolds Memorial Concert at the Gallatin Civic Center on Thursday, February 5, one of Gallatins' residents, Grand Ole Opry star and bluegrass legend Jesse McReynolds remembers one of country music's greatest unsung heroes -- banjo picker Bobby Thompson. Thompson, a former member of Jim & Jesse's Virginia Boys band and cast member of the "Hee-Haw" TV show, was stricken with MS in 1985 and was forced to retire from music in 1987. He has carried this cross without complaint and with dignity, and it is perhaps for this reason that the man stirred such an outpouring of support from his famous friends in the music business. ... Thompson has a considerable musical legacy. He was in great demand as a studio musician in Nashville, recording with too many names to mention them all here, but we'll name a few: Johnny Cash, Marty Robbins, Hank Snow, Tammy Wynette, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Loretta Lynn, Bill Monroe, Dolly Parton, Perry Como, Eddy Arnold, Les Paul, Connie Smith, Merle Haggard, Trini Lopez, the Monkees, Olivia Newton-John, Melanie, Jimmy Buffett, Dr Hook, Leon Russell, Neil Young, etc., etc. ...
- Cash machine 'issue' hardly worthy of MPs' grilling
By JOHN BOWKER
(Scotsman, February 2, 2005)
TREASURY select committee meetings can be defining moments in the often-lengthy lifespan of a financial scandal, but they can also be a complete waste of time. For those who have not attended these must-see events, they involve a cross-party group of MPs grilling senior members of the financial sector on a key issue of the day - usually concerning the lives of Mr and Mrs Consumer. As political events go, they are a treat. Committee chairman and Dumbarton MP John McFall takes obvious glee in putting down top executives - men who usually have considerably more power and cash than himself. At yesterday's meeting on cash machine charges, he granted a "gold star" to Benny Higgins, head of retail banking at Royal Bank of Scotland.
... But yesterday was not a high point in the committees history. "What to do about cash machines that charge the public for extracting money?" it asked. Not exactly the apocalypse. ... Come on," you can imagine McFall telling his constituents. "Remember that time you were in a motorway service station and wanted a newspaper, but had no cash?" "Yes," the punter would eventually splutter. "To take money out, it would have cost me three times the price of the paper. Outrageous! So I had to buy a Best of Elvis Presley double cassette to go with my paper in order to justify the cost, etc etc." ...
- Golden oldies mark passages for many North Iowans
By MARY PIEPER
(Globe Gazette, February 1, 2005)
Rock 'n' roll songs of the 1950s have special meaning for North Iowans who came of age in the era of poodle skirts and sock hops. ... John Cunningham of Mason City said one of his favorite '50s songs is "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley and the Comets. "It has a pleasing combination of rhythm and blues that vibrated a person into wanting to get up and shake a leg and do some dancing," he said. Cunningham, whose other favorite '50s artists include Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley, said he doesn't understand much of the music young people listen to today. However, he appreciates most of it because he remembers how many parents and religious leaders tried to ban the music he and his friends liked because they thought the content was objectionable. "In the 1950s, rock 'n' roll had a tradition of driving old folks up the wall," he said.
- Still crazy after all these years
By ROB WILLIAMS
(Winnipeg Sun, February 1, 2005)
Sum 41 have developed a reputation as a maturing, serious band. But after seeing them live, let's put those rumours to rest. Sure, the Toronto-based quartet tackle topics like HIV, world affairs and teen suicide, but those songs are offset by others dealing with drinking too much beer, moronic authority figures and a very explicit epithet about Anna Nicole Smith. Throw in a bizarre Elvis Presley impersonation by vocalist-guitarist Deryck Whibley and a man in a beer bottle costume and you'd be hard pressed to find anyone among the 1,600 fans at a sold-out concert Sunday at Burton Cummings Theatre who would say Sum 41 have straightened up. ...
- Elvis roadside rock revival bid
(BBC News, February 1, 2005)
There are calls for a well-known landmark, which had a link to the King of Rock and Roll, to be rebuilt. A roadside rock, daubed with the name Elvis, had for decades greeted drivers as they made their way home to the coast at Aberystwyth. But recently the rockface has been chipped away and this prompted people who remember it to contact the BBC. They want to see the music legend's rock again, as does a man responsible for painting it more than 40 years ago. John Hefin, from Borth, a former head of drama at BBC Wales, and his friend David Meredith, from Llanuwchllyn, near Bala, painted the rock in 1962.
They had written 'Elis' on the rock in support of a politician, but days later their handy work had been altered to read, 'Elvis'. The Elvis Rock lies on council land just inside the Powys border on the A44 in the Plynlimon range. ... Mr Meredith added: "We never mentioned it to Islwyn Ffowc Elis, but I'm sure he would have been pleased to have been associated with Elvis." The politician and novelist died last year, aged 79. The BBC's Where I Live website in mid Wales has received several emails from people who remember the rock. One person who emailed in said: "It has been sadly missed. Last year the rock was still in the same spot but it was in pieces." Another commented: "Perhaps now would be a good time to reinstate it with everything that is happening with Elvis. I do not condone graffiti, but this rock was a Welsh national monument." Powys County Council, which owns the land where the rock is located, said it was unaware the Elvis Rock had been chipped away.
The rock before it was chipped away after it had been freshly painted
- They're giving school food a good name: Bedford cafeteria gets top grade from magazine
By TOM SPOTH
(Lowell Sun Online, February 1, 2005)
It's pizza day at the Davis Elementary School cafeteria, and the students couldn't be happier. Second-grader Rory Lavery, 7, says pizza is her favorite food. In between bites washed down with chocolate milk, she offers the highest of compliments for the school fare. ... It wasn't the quality of its pizza that earned Davis a mention in Nick Jr. Family Magazine as one of the top 10 elementary-school cafeterias in the nation. In its February/March edition, on newsstands now, the magazine cites a healthy menu and a vibrant cafeteria staff as Davis' strengths. Nick Jr. selected its top 10 based on interviews with food and nutrition experts, examination of menus, and conversations with kitchen staff and school officials.
... Ginny Baudanza, an outgoing and good-natured woman who has run the school's kitchen for the last five years, says she tries to make lunchtime a unique and interesting experience. Her methods include not only introducing the kids to new meals, but dedicating lunches to the Boston Red Sox, Mardi Gras, even Elvis Presley. Earlier this month, the cafeteria staff celebrated The King's birthday by "dancing and boogying around," dressing up in honor of Elvis, and serving his favorite dishes, Baudanza says. Rob Clickstein, director of food service for Bedford schools, says the district tries to shy away from fried foods, a choice with which Elvis would surely have disagreed. Whole-wheat bread and fresh fruits and vegetables are integral parts of Bedford's menu. ...
- 50 years after Dean, finding rebels is harder
By John Silcox
(Journal Gazette, February 1, 2005)
The piercing gaze. The defiant sneer. The restless angst. A young Marlon Brando had it. So did Elvis Presley, early in his career. But nobody symbolized that spirit of rebellion like the immortal James Dean. Ah, but those were simpler times. America - 50 years after Dean's death - seems to be strangely lacking in pop culture icons of rebellion or dissent.
... Against the backdrop of 1950s values like self-restraint, generational harmony and knee-jerk patriotism, it was easy to identify who the cultural rebels were, says Indiana University history professor John Bodnar. Elvis, in particular, became a symbol of the broader changes that were taking place in American society after World War II. Not only did he flout sexual conventions and transcend racial barriers with his raw energy and rockabilly music, but he aggressively pursued a personal agenda of fame and self-fulfillment that distanced him from the older ideals of putting family and community needs first. "Even if he didn't clarify this in his own mind, that's how the culture saw him," Bodnar says. But as purely pop culture figures, Presley and Dean weren't rebels the way Webster's defines it.
"I think there's a lot of ambiguity in the way the term rebel was used then and now," Bodnar says. "A real rebel would have wanted to undermine traditional values of a (political) system. I don't think they wanted to do that. They stood for fostering the pursuit of personal pleasure over the sacrifice of personal pleasure," Bodnar says. Even if Presley and Dean were rebels without a cause, it didn't matter. What made them so threatening then - and why they still appeal to us today - is the way they pushed the boundaries of personal style and individualism, says Dr. Will Miller, a licensed psychotherapist and ordained minister with Purdue University in West Lafayette.
To Miller, who is best known for his "Why We Watch" segments on Nick-At-Nite and his frequent guest appearances on the nationally syndicated Bob & Tom radio show, Hollywood;s trio of rebels in the 1950s seemed more authentic and original, unlike many of today's matinee idols, who seem to be carefully marketed creations of agents and publicists. And in a time of relaxed reporting and less hyper tabloid journalism, it was easier in the 1950s to sustain that rebel image, Miller says. Based on those arguments, it's hard to make a strong case for any modern-day rebels - real or fictional. While rap stars like Eminem or 50 Cent may be petulant and offensive to some people, it's hard for them to have the same impact that Dean or Presley did. Sports stars like Randy Moss and Allen Iverson may be coarse, juvenile and defiant at times, but it's usually in the name of self-promotion. ...
- Bob Marley: king of reggae, champion of the oppressed
(Yahoo! News / AFP, February 1, 2005)
Rastafarian reggae legend Bob Marley rose to superstar status in a career cut cruelly short by cancer, championing through his music the rights of the oppressed and his vision of "One World, One Love." Marley, who would have celebrated his 60th birthday on Sunday, died in 1981 aged just 36 leaving a staggering legacy of music which continues to influence the world's leading artists even today. Some 400,000 people, most of them foreigners, are expected to crowd Addis Ababa for a month of festivities that kicked off Tuesday to mark what would have been the king of reggae's 60th birthday. Marley was Jamaica's proudest son, and the first true superstar to come from the developing world, but he had the humblest of beginnings. ... But his early death earned him a lasting place among the legendary popular figures of the 20th century alongside such greats as Elvis Presley Jim Morrison. And through his music and his image printed on millions of T-shirts and posters every year, Marley lives on.
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