early February, 2005
Currently in the news: Songy/BMG UK's release of Elvis Presley singles
- Art festival, space show, Elvis tribute
(Orlando Sentinel, February 4, 2005)
Here are some events you may find worth crossing the county line to enjoy:
Osceola
Elvis Fest
The Elvis Presley Continentals Fan Club will have its 26th annual Elvis Fest from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at World Gate Resort, 3011 Maingate Lane, Kissimmee.
Cost is $3 for adults and $2 for children ($40 for Saturday's dinner and show).
Details: 407-281-9818.
- USA Network's Nashville Star Narrows Thousands of Contestants to Ten Finalists for Third Season
(Yahoo! Finance / USA Network / PRNewswire, February 4, 2005)
Country Music Talent Search Premieres Tuesday, March 1, on USA at 10:00 PM ET/PT -- All ten finalists have been named for the third season of USA Network's Nashville Star, a grassroots nationwide talent search for the next country music superstar, premiering Tuesday, March 1, from 10:00 - 11:00 PM (ET/PT) on USA Network. During the nine-week series, the finalists will compete for the grand prize--a recording contract with Universal South Records. While all contestants must be at least 18, there is no upper age limit, opening the competition to talented adults pursuing their dreams at any age.
And the ten multi-talented contenders are:
1. Justin David, 30, from Marshfield, MO. David learned to play mandolin at the age of four, and he wields the fiddle and guitar with the same virtuosity.
2. Jody Evans, 28, from Donaldson, AR. Evans is a police officer by day, rockabilly singer by night. He grew up on the music of Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly. ...
- Phil Spector sued over actress's death by parents
(Yahoo! News / AFP, February 4, 2005)
Legendary pop music producer Phil Spector has been hit with a lawsuit launched by the parents of an actress he is accused of murdering exactly two years ago, court documents showed. ... Spector -- the genius behind groups such as "The Ronettes" and famed for his work with Elvis Presley, Ike and Tina Turner and the Beatles on their "Let It Be" album -- remains free on one million dollars' bail.
- Elvis sighting in South Bend
By TOM LOUNGES
(Northwest Indiana Times, February 4, 2005)
Ladies and gentlemen ... Elvis may have left the building, but his collectibles remain behind and will be appearing live ... or at least as live as a bunch of inanimate objects can be ... next weekend in South Bend. The private collections of Hoosier Presley fans are sought for inclusion in an exhibit of Elvis Presley memorabilia which opens on Feb. 11 at the Northern Indiana Center for History, 808 W. Washington St. If local Elvis buffs would like to loan that stash of kingly treasures -- posters, photos, rare records, sweat-stained scarves, tour programs, Vegas menus, etc. -- collecting dust in boxes, the Center of History is eager to include them. The King's collectibles will be on display through May 6 at the center, in conjunction with "Processing Elvis," a traveling exhibit chronicling the day Presley was inducted into the U.S. Army. ... For information on loaning privately owned Presley items, call Marilyn Thompson at (574) 235-9664 or e-mail exhibits@centerforhistory.org. For information on the exhibit and/or the center itself, log onto www.centerforhistory.org. ...
- Ryman Auditorium to Host Bluegrass Awards Show
By Banjo_Bob
(Cybergrass, February 4, 2005)
A year ago, the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville was named Theatre of the Year by Pollstar for its historic significance and quality of entertainment. The Ryman has been considered the greatest place for bluegrass, country and acoustic music and many greats have played on its stage. From Bill Monroe, the father of bluegrass to current stars like Rhonda Vincent, the Ryman has been the unofficial home to bluegrass. This year will be the first year that the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) will host their World of Bluegrass annual convention and awards show in Nashville and the grand finale will be hosting the Awards show in the famed Ryman Auditorium. The IBMA Awards are the highest honor within the bluegrass community for their artists.
The Ryman also holds "Bluegrass Nights at the Ryman" hosted by Martha White Four - the longest running sponsor of the Grand Ole Opry. The Opry called the Ryman home for many years. The Ryman also has place where country music stars want to perform. Past and present stars have performed on its magical stage - stars like Johnny Cash, The Carter Family, Elvis Presley, Emmylou Harris, and many others. Bluegrass has also radiated from the stage with artists like Ricky Skaggs, Bill Monroe, Uncle Dave Macon, Del McCoury, Alison Krauss, Flatt & Scruggs, Ralph Stanley and more. Many of those who have graced the stage are also members of the Grand Ole Opry. ...
- Want to know what's popular? Just listen to phone ring
By TIM CAIN
(Herald & Review, February 4, 2005)
One of the most fascinating decisions of the digital age has quietly slid past most of us. Billboard magazine - the music chart source that has been tracking sales and airplay for more than 60 years - has started a new chart. The magazine is tracking top ringtone downloads. ... AFTER MY FIRST (and what will probably prove to be my last) visit to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, my references to it became "The Second Mistake by the Lake." (Cleveland's now-demolished Municipal Stadium, which sits at the bottom of Lake Erie, was the original "Mistake by the Lake.") This year's inductees - the 20th class - include U2, The Pretenders, The O'Jays, Percy Sledge and Buddy Guy.
But a recent mailing list discussion helped crystallize my concerns and at least help explain in part why, in my mind, it's more important that Lynyrd Skynyrd or Alice Cooper - or even The Spinners - get in the Hall before Percy Sledge and The Pretenders. To an outsider, Halls of Fame are how organizations recognize the best of their best. Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth may be the best baseball has to offer, and The Beatles and Elvis Presley may be music's key movers and shakers, but Halls also recognize the quietly great - Ozzie Smith and Tony Perez, The Kinks and The Isley Brothers.
Right or wrong, they're how people outside of the fanatical base view the importance of those who participate in the sport or play the music, because the inductees are recognized as the best by those who control entrance to the Halls. ...
- Long after 'day the music died,' the Big Bopper's legend lives on: Rock 'n' roll's 1st tragedy claimed the star from Beaumont 46 years ago today
By RON FRANSCELL
(Houston Chronicle / Beaumont Enterprise, February 4, 2005)
The plane crash that took the lives of J.P. "Big Bopper" Richardson, Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens is one of rock music's pivotal moments, more significant than an electrified Dylan or that little show at Woodstock. Why? After the crash in Clear Lake on Feb. 3, 1959, rock 'n' roll changed. Singer Don McLean immortalized the moment as "the day the music died" in his pop-dirge American Pie. But it was Holly, Valens, the Bopper and their pilot who died. The music (and the audience) merely changed forever. By 1959, the little world of rock 'n' roll had shrunk even further. Elvis was in the Army, Chuck Berry was still on the rise (and soon headed for jail), Little Richard was in seminary, and Jerry Lee Lewis was effectively blacklisted.
... Richardson had already become a local radio legend in Beaumont. He was born in nearby Sabine Pass and grew up in Beaumont's Multimax Village, a World War II housing development. He'd been hanging around the KTRM studio since his days at Beaumont High School, where he graduated in 1947, and somebody finally gave him a job. The pudgy, shy, crew-cut, chain-smoking "Jape," as he was known to friends, hosted an easy-listening show for years, but when station owner Jack Neil wanted to capitalize on teenagers' growing demand for rhythm-and-blues music, Jape created a jive-talking alter ego he called "The Big Bopper." ... Richardson was buried in Beaumont. From Germany, U.S. Army Pvt. Elvis Presley sent a wreath of yellow roses encircling a guitar. ...
- The sweet smell of excess
By Maria Puente
(USA Today, February 3, 2005)
It's a good thing Elvis has left the building, because even he might be dumbfounded by a freakish fad: public auctions featuring weird celebrity ephemera. Such as the 3 tablespoons of water said to have been touched by The King at a 1977 concert, which recently sold on eBay for $455. Then, someone else paid thousands for a "guest appearance" by the cup that held the water from which Elvis sipped nearly 30 years ago. In recent years, someone paid nearly $1,500 for a billiard ball from Elvis' pool table. A hanging macramé plant holder from Graceland, complete with a plastic fern, went for $633. And someone else paid $748 for a tree limb that "mysteriously" broke off and fell to the ground during Presley's funeral at Graceland in 1977.
We all know that Elvis' fans can be wacky, and Elvis himself has pride of place in the dead-celebrities pantheon. But does that explain the excitement surrounding the Feb. 15-17 tag sale of ordinary household items that belonged to the late Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis? Sotheby's expects to raise at least $1 million auctioning such things as her glass jars, wicker baskets, duck decoys and dirty oven mitts. And some experts think that estimate is way low - that many items will go for 10 times the estimates. Spending big bucks on an authentic antique that once belonged to the Kennedys is one thing, but spending hundreds of dollars for a couple of Jackie's Mason jars?
"There are a lot of bored and lonely people out there, and this would be their one little thing they can say was once part of a Kennedy estate," says Lynn Dralle, author of The 100 Best Things I've Sold on eBay. Or perhaps it's a grotesque manifestation of "celebrity worship syndrome," which some experts think affects a growing number of people in our celebrity-saturated culture. A recent study of the fascination with the famous suggests that the human need for ritualized idol worship has been transferred to celebrities, and in some cases can amount to psychotic behavior.
"Once you start becoming addicted to having to have information about your favorite celebrity, you need more and more extreme things to feel connected," says James Houran, a psychologist and co-author of Celebrity Worshippers: Inside the Minds of Stargazers. "You buy their personal effects even if they have no intrinsic value - anything to give the illusion or feed the feeling of having a close personal connection to the celebrity."
A boom in collecting
Whatever the motivations, there's no doubt the celebrity auction business is growing. ... A decade ago, the major houses conducted one or two Hollywood or rock-memorabilia auctions a year; today they each do up to a half-dozen a year - and that doesn't count the scores more at regional auction houses and on eBay. Meanwhile, collecting in general is now an estimated $120 billion industry worldwide, with 110 million collectors just in the USA.
But lately it seems some celebrity auctions have crossed into the realms of the creepy and icky. Like the time an empty hair-color bottle used by Kurt Cobain sold for $175. Even august Christie's once sold George Harrison's half-eaten toast.
At least Elvis, Jackie, Kurt and George aren't around to watch the gavel come down on their most prosaic or intimate possessions. No such luck for some very much alive celebrities who have been the subjects of bizarre auctions: In recent years, people have tried or succeeded in auctioning chewing gum said to have been discarded by Britney Spears; a cough drop supposedly spit out by Arnold Schwarzenegger; what are said to be the baby teeth of Jack Nicholson; and the dirty socks of Bryan Adams.
"People put celebrities on such a high pedestal that they'll get whatever they can, if they're real fans, ultimate fans," says Dana Hawkes, head of collectibles for Bonhams & Butterfields. (Bonhams once auctioned off the contents of Elton John's London trash.) "In the past, no one ever thought of selling dirty socks, but now they realize someone will actually buy them."
But imagine how strange it must be if you're the celebrity object of this kind of attention, says David Redden, vice chairman and auctioneer of Sotheby's, site of numerous celebrity sales in recent years. "There's the peculiar business of not being able to touch anything without it somehow being invested with your personality in some fashion, so you end up not wanting to touch anything," he says.
Maybe that was Justin Timberlake's mistake back in 2000, when he made an appearance on a New York radio station and failed to finish the French toast he was served. The partially eaten toast sold on eBay for more than $3,100.
What is going on here? Why, for example, would Chas Welch, 31, of Atlanta, frame a napkin from Prince's 1996 wedding, which is printed with the mysterious symbol the rock star was using as his name? "It's a connection to the person that no one else can have," Welch says. "That's what motivates collectors - they want that feeling that they're the most important person in the world."
But what about Wade Jones, 40, a Charlotte salesman, who kept - for 27 years - a cup of water Elvis drank from? "It was my birthday, I was 13; it was a big deal to get to see him," says Jones, who grabbed the cup from the stage after the concert. "As soon as I got home, I put Saran Wrap on it with a rubber band and put it in a deep freezer."
Cut to November 2004 and the great cheese sandwich sale, in which a half-eaten cheese sandwich said to bear an image of the Virgin Mary sold on eBay for $28,000. A light went off in Jones' head, and he decided to auction the remaining water. He kept the plastic foam cup and decided he could auction "appearances" by the cup.
Who would buy such a thing? Kyla Duffy, 26, a former pro-snowboarder in Boulder, Colo. She bid $305 and then paid thousands more to bring Jones and his cup to Boulder last week to appear at an event she organized to raise money for celiac disease research. "It's a fun way to bring attention" to the cause, Duffy says. Laughing, she adds: "The cup has brought joy to (Jones') life. And it's certainly brought a lot of joy and laughter to my life in the last few weeks, just talking to people about it."
Keep in mind that humans have been doing this forever. The Catholic Church collected saints' body parts for nearly 2,000 years and called them holy relics. Now celebrities have replaced the saints, the media help make them ubiquitous, and the Internet makes access to them and their stuff available to all.
Some celebrity items sell really big - for good reason. In December, Christie's auctioned a 1964 Gibson guitar once owned by George Harrison for nearly $600,000. Four years ago, John Lennon's piano went for $2 million (to singer George Michael).
Most fans can't afford that, but they might be able to afford ... dirty socks. A celebrity autograph used to be enough for most fans, but not anymore. "As wacky as it seems, they now have a piece of that celebrity," says Joseph Maddalena, CEO and founder of Profiles in History, which auctions Hollywood props and costumes. "People want Britney's bustier because every time they look at it, it gives them the same buzz."
Scarves and underwear
Meanwhile, the benefits of celebrity auctions are obvious to auction houses at a time when their pool of buyers is shrinking. "They don't get press when they sell a Chippendale table, and the great collectors who supported them for decades are disappearing," Maddalena says. "The only way to get new people is through hype."
Just as it is with sales of antiques and Old Masters paintings, provenance is all. Presley, for instance, often threw his sweaty scarves from the stage. Anyone can claim to have such a scarf, but if it's accompanied by the ticket stub and there are photos of the seller holding the scarf outside the venue, it's more likely to sell for eye-popping prices. "It has to have that personal association - something worn by a celebrity, or carried around with them or played by them," says Helen Bailey, head of popular entertainment auctions at Christie's, which recently sold a book report by Britney Spears for $1,600.
Also, dead celebrities are worth more than live ones. The owner of Johnny Carson's childhood home in Nebraska tried to sell it on eBay a few months ago, but now has listed it again and might have a better chance since Carson died Jan. 23. Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, members of The Beatles - these are the top of the food chain not just because they're icons but because they mostly died young and thus didn't have time to collect as much stuff.
An increasingly popular way of connecting to celebrities is to own a costume they wore or a prop they handled, which are easier to find because generally celebrities don't own them. But there are strange collectors in this category, too. "I've got one client, all he collects is socks - anybody's socks," says Dennis Riley, owner of hollywoodmoviecostumes.com.
"Oh, and Vin Diesel is huge - if he wore it, (customers) want it. We have his long underwear, but we won't sell it. It's weird. It's kind of immoral."
- Have a heart and wear red
By Knight Ridder News Service
(Commercial Appeal, February 3, 2005)
The color red is vibrant, eye-catching and spirited. Friday, people across the country are being asked to wear the color to jump-start an annual campaign to educate people about the No. 1 killer of women: heart disease. National Wear Red Day is supported by the Heart Truth, a national awareness campaign for women about heart disease sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health. ... In Memphis, Elvis Presley Enterprises is supporting the campaign by covering the white lights that illuminate Graceland with red gels for three days ending Friday. ...
- Inform yourself on candidates, issues before voting
By Bradford Boney
(Auburn Plainsman, February 3, 2005)
Fellow students,
It's that time of year again where billboards, posters and gimmicks fill our campus to promote candidates for the SGA elections. Something about the way that campus begins to embrace change and fills with spirit for candidates and new ideas to better Auburn excites me. There is something more to this year's campaigns that goes beyond any one candidate and his next year in office. This election, you have the opportunity to vote on a raise in your student activity fee. Since the 1970s, our student activity fee has remained level at $18.75 per semester, the same fee that used to bring Elvis, the Rolling Stones and great speakers to campus. Since that last fee has been set, inflation has risen more than 255 percent. ...
- Sex and violence ... and it's on the radio
By Katie Couric
(MSNBC, February 3, 2005)
Today show
Parents may monitor TV and Internet use, but kids can easily pick up adult messages from music. How can you protect their ears? Since Elvis and the Beatles, music has been a touchy issue between parents and kids. But today's lyrics are more graphic, more violent, and more sexual than ever.
... The Recording Industry Association of America [RIAA] says that the labels work well, and that parents are satisfied with the program. ... "When we look at the research it indicates that kids who listen to a lot of music, who watch a lot of music videos, actually are at an increased risk for violent behavior, for substance abuse, for risky sexual behavior," said Dr. Michael Rich, director of the Center on Media and Child Health at Children's Hospital in Boston. ...
- RECORD-BREAKER: Elvis has still not left the building...
(Peterborough Today, February 3, 2005)
ONE night won't be enough for an Elvis impersonator as he bids to smash a world record by rocking around the clock. Gary Jay (41) will be hoping his voice doesn't surrender during his attempt to reclaim his world record for the longest Elvis singing marathon. Gary was left feeling like a hound dog after he became the Guinness world record holder in October 2002 after singing Elvis hits non-stop for 25 hours and 33 minutes. But now he is making a bid to break the current record of 42 hours and 16 minutes. Gary, a full-time Elvis impersonator, said: "I'm aiming to do 48 hours. "The last few people who have attempted the record have tried 48 hours. Hopefully, if I can achieve that, it will set a standard that will be difficult to beat."
Gary, who is a professional singer, said he grew up on a diet of Elvis, and is looking forward to the record attempt on February 16. It looks to be a tough one - for the record to count Gary must not repeat any one song in a two-hour period, and is only allowed a 15-minute break every four hours. Plus, he must complete the record attempt in a full Elvis catsuit and wig. He plans to work from a rolling two-hour set, which will include such classics from Elvis' 112-hit back catalogue as That's Alright Mama, Love Me Tender, Teddy Bear and American Trilogy. ... The record attempt, which also aims to raise money for the children's ward, at Addenbrooke's Hospital, in Cambridge, will run from 10am on February 16, to 10am on February 18, at the Windmill Rooms Centre, in Whitemoor Road, March.
During his record-breaking attempt in October 2002, Gary managed to raise £1,500 for the Little Bridge House Children's Hospice, in Barnstaple, Devon. ...
- From Def Leppard to Elvis: Latest casting for the CBS mini
(Film Force, February 3, 2005)
According to Variety, actress Jennifer Rae Westley has joined the cast of the forthcoming CBS miniseries Elvis. The trade says Westley will portray Elvis' (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) first girlfriend and high school sweetheart Dixie Locke. This is the first biopic of The King that has depicted Locke; in other biopics her character is fictionalized.
(Elvis geek trivia note: the Dixie-like character in the short-lived 1990s Elvis TV series was named Mattie Walker. She was played by Kelli Williams who later starred in The Practice opposite Camryn Manheim, who portrays Gladys Presley in this miniseries.) ...
- Tabloid apologizes, pulls issue after calling injured officer 'ugly'
(Tucson Citizen / Associated Press, February 3, 2005)
A tabloid apologized and withdrew its latest issue after being criticized for saying a police officer who suffered disfiguring burns is ugly. The Weekly World News published photos in its Feb. 7 issue of the "top 10 ugliest people." Among the images was one of Jason Schechterle, a Phoenix police officer who suffered fourth-degree burns to his hands and face in an on-duty accident. ... The Phoenix mayor's office called the tabloid's parent company, American Media Inc., to complain on Monday, and the company immediately issued an apology, said company spokesman Stuart Zakim. Boca Raton, Fla.-based American Media also publishes The National Enquirer, the Star and a group of fitness magazines. ... The tabloid, which features stories on UFOs and Elvis Presley being alive, apologized and offered to donate $5,000 to a charity of Schechterle's choice. ...
- Hear Genesis from the start
By Jeff Spevak
(Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, February 3, 2005)
Chris Meeker will soon be teaching a course on the history of rock and roll at Monroe Community College. Elvis Presley, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, that singer wearing the flower head ... "I don't know how I'm gonna tone down my love of progressive rock," Meeker says. ...
- Elvis all shook up over C-charge dodger
(Cambridge News, February 3, 2005)
A CRAFTY congestion charge dodger has left a Bar Hill couple all shook up - by impersonating an Elvis impersonator. Mike Young is a top Elvis Presley tribute act in Costa Blanca and recently featured on the BBC programme Living in the Sun. He and his wife Evie - also a singer - run a club in the resort of Torrevieja but were forced to return to England last week after being threatened with a visit from bailiffs. The couple had received several fines for non-payment of the London congestion charge - despite the fact that their van has not been in the country for months. They fear a criminal may have cloned their number plate and is using an identical van. But their own distinctive van has the slogan "The King Lives On" across the side to advertise their business.
They have been sent five of the fines which have mounted into hundreds of pounds and despite their attempts to demonstrate their innocence the fines keep coming. Evie told the News: "It started a year ago, last November, when we were in Spain and we got a letter saying we had not paid the congestion charge in London, but we hadn't been in London.
He's got the blues: Fed-up Mike Young
Go to earlier articles
|
