mid February, 2005
Currently in the news: Songy/BMG UK's release of Elvis Presley singles
- Elvis Presley: On 70th Anniversary of His Birthday, King of Rock & Roll is More Popular Than Ever!
Source: SONY BMG
(top40-charts.com/news, February 23, 2005)
Box Set of U.S. No 1 Singles and 2-CD 'Elvis By The Presleys' Soundtrack Coming from SONY BMG.
Elvis Presley is still a newsmaker in 2005. A spate of albums, reissued singles, TV specials, and newspaper articles testify to Presley's continuing popularity. The 70th Anniversary of Elvis Presley's Birthday (8th January, 1935) has seen massive recognition across the board.
"Elvis irrevocably changed rock history with his voice, his guitar, and his hips. He's the true King of Rock and Roll and a whole new generation is discovering him in 2005," says Joe DiMuro, Executive Vice President and General Manager of SONY BMG Strategic Marketing Group, Presley's musical home.
Both long-time Elvis fans and newcomers have plenty of new projects to enjoy. Here are some examples:
SONY BMG has embarked on the most ambitious singles release campaign in the history of the U.K. record industry. All 18 of Elvis Presley's U.K. #1 singles are being reissued over 17 consecutive weeks, from January 3, 2005 and ending on April 25, 2005. Thus far in 2005, "Jailhouse Rock," "It's Now Or Never," and "One Night" have all catapulted to #1 on the singles chart; "One Night" was the 1000th #1 in the history of the U.K. chart.
SONY BMG Strategic Marketing Group has announced a box set of Elvis' U.S. #1 singles to be released this fall . Featuring signature hits such as "Hound Dog," "Jailhouse Rock," and "Love Me Tender," this collection promises to please both casual and devoted Elvis fans. The set will include original artwork in a stunning package. See bottom for Presley's U.S. #1s.
CBS will air six hours of Elvis programming all over one week in May, including the premier of "Elvis By The Presleys" on May 13 (8:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT). The two-hour special features a collection of newly recorded interviews with his former wife, Priscilla Beaulieu Presley, and their daughter, Lisa Marie Presley told only the way a family could. Exclusive never-before-seen television performances, photographs from the Presley Estate archives and Presley family home movies will be broadcast for the first time in an intimate look at the King.
A four-hour miniseries, "ELVIS" is set to air May 8 (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) and May 11 (8:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on CBS. 'ELVIS' will tell Presley's electrifying yet tumultuous story - from his humble beginnings to his meteoric rise to fame. The fact-based drama is being produced with the full co-operation and participation of the Elvis Presley Estate and is the first time that Presley's master recordings will be heard in a biographical film. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers ("Bend It Like Beckham," "Alexander") will portray Elvis.
Crown Publishers, a division of Random House, Inc., will publish a book, also titled "Elvis by the Presleys." Along with interviews with Priscilla and Lisa Marie, taken from the CBS special, the book will include a lavish collection of personal photos, memorabilia, hand-written notes selections from scrapbooks and previously unseen shots of Graceland from the Elvis archives. It will be in stores on May 3.
SONY BMG Strategic Marketing Group will release the 'Elvis By The Presleys' soundtrack collection in May. The two CDs will include tracks from the special, Elvis' favorites, and family picks by Priscilla and Lisa Marie as well as rare, previously unreleased cuts and outtakes.
In January SONY BMG Strategic Marketing Group reissued Elvis' first three releases including expanded artwork and bonus tracks. The Los Angeles Times recently featured an extended thinkpiece on the 1956 album 'Elvis Presley' (SONY BMG). Robert Hilburn called the album "a revelation," going on to write, "you still marvel at Presley's bold approach - and the youthful assurance of that stirring voice, which mixes pop crooning with renegade country and R&B spirit."
In January SONY BMG Strategic Marketing Group also released 'Love, Elvis' which brings together twenty-four of Elvis' greatest romantic songs, including a previously unreleased alternate take of "For The Good Times. This release debuted its first week on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart.
Elvis has climbed the charts, he's conquered TV and now, this May, he takes over Broadway. At the beginning of May SONY BMG Strategic Marketing Group will release the cast recording soundtrack to 'All Shook Up' - a brand new Broadway musical featuring 26 of Elvis' hits.
Elvis Presley's US #1s
1. Heartbreak Hotel
2. I Want You, I Need You, I Love You
3. Hound Dog
4. Don't Be Cruel
5. Love Me Tender
6. Too Much
7. All Shook Up
8. (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear
9. Jailhouse Rock
10. Don't
11. Hard Headed Woman
12. A Big Hunk O' Love
13. Stuck On You
14. It's Now Or Never
15. Are You Lonesome Tonight?
16. Surrender
17. Good Luck Charm
18. Suspicious Minds
19. Burning Love
20. A Little Less Conversation
- Thompson's brilliance left many years before he did
By Jeff Guinn
(Star-Telegram, February 23, 2005)
Hunter S. Thompson spent the last 20 years of his life as a ghastly self-parody. Before the 67-year-old writer shot himself to death in Colorado on Sunday morning, he'd already committed the professional equivalent of suicide. Since the mid-'80s, the columns he wrote for newspapers, magazines, and online publications (and the collections of these published as books) were pale imitations of his groundbreaking political/sociological/sportswriting work of the 1960s and '70s. ... John Lennon once famously remarked that Elvis Presley really died when he quit making real rock 'n' roll records and started turning out sappy films with accompanying soundtracks. Hunter Thompson died when too much fame cost him the combination of insolence and desperation that fueled his writing genius. But we can still listen to Elvis belting out Hound Dog, and Thompson's best books remain in print. He killed himself, but not his legitimate literary legacy.
- 'The 'Elvis Of Indie Rock' Hits The Road Again
(top40-charts.com, February 23, 2005)
After fifteen months of constant touring, two minivans, one full-length album, a five song split and guest appearances on various artists' albums (including The Conversation's Blue), Southerly's Krist Krueger is meeting the beginning of 2005 with the same determination, optimism and Gypsy lifestyle he's been living since August of 2003.
Krueger will be on the road throughout 2005 with plans slated for the recording and release of Southerly's sophomore album midway through the year. Plans are also slated for European and Japanese tours in the fall.
Live, the twenty-three year old Krueger has been described by reviewers as "a one man musical army" and in his young career has been heralded by critics as "one of the great songwriters to emerge from his generation". Possibly one of the more notable and memorable quotes brandishes Krueger with the title of "the Elvis of Indie Rock". This is a statement that Krueger isn't very comfortable with. "It's one of the most amazing compliments one could receive, he says. "But it's sacrilegious to compare the King to anyone but the King.". ...
- 'All Shook Up' Gets Choreographic Boost From a 'Fosse' Veteran
By Kenneth Jones
(Yahoo! News, February 23, 2005)
Sergio Trujillo, the Fosse dancer and recent choreographer of the Encores! A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, is now assisting with choreography on the new musical, All Shook Up, a spokesman for the show confirmed. Ken Roberson will remain choreographer for the musical that borrows songs made famous by Elvis Presley. Previews started Feb. 20 at the Palace Theatre. Opening night is March 24. Christopher Ashley directs All Shook Up, which has an original libretto by Joe DiPietro. Stephen Oremus is the musical director and arranger. ...
- 'Smokey Joe's Cafe' to open soon: Show to feature hit songs from the '50s and '60s
By Jacque Wilson
(Ball State Daily News, February 23, 2005)
Not many people have heard of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. They don't dance. They don't sing. They don't own major corporations. What they do is write. Ever heard of Elvis Presley's "Jailhouse Rock" or sang along to "You ain't nothing but a hound dog..?" Ever listened to the song "Stand By Me" with arms wrapped around best friends? Leiber and Stoller wrote those popular musical numbers and more.
"Smokey Joe's Cafe: The Songs of Leiber and Stoller" is coming to Emens Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. As the longest running Broadway musical revue, "Smokey Joe's Café" will feature songs from the '50s and '60s. Darcy Wood, assistant director of Emens Auditorium, is encouraging students to dress up in '50s attire to make the night fun. ... Leiber and Stoller started their songwriting partnership in the 1960s with the same passion for music. They were only 17. Stars such as Willie Mae Thorton and Ray Charles recorded their earliest songs. Eventually Atlantic Records signed the two to the first-ever independent production deal. Singers Presley and The Coasters picked up on Leiber and Stoller's talent and brought their songs to the top. In 1985, the two were inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame; in 1987 they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. ...
- Mini skirts are a cut above jeans
By Jayne Atherton
(This is London, February 21, 2005)
Less was voted more yesterday when the miniskirt topped a poll to find the most iconic fashion item of all time. ... Jeans were the nation's second favourite fashion item in the poll of 3,500 shoppers by Harvey Nichols. For many years, denim was used only for work clothes but jeans gained youth appeal and became cool in the 1950s thanks to stars such as James Dean, Elvis Presley and Marlon Brando. ...
- Photos: Toy Fair
(NewsDay.com, February 21, 2005)
The photo [below] released by Play Along, shows three of the new Cabbage Patch Kids dolls. The dolls are modeled after Howard Hughes, Elvis Presley and Oprah Winfrey, with an original Cabbage Patch Kids doll at right.
(AP Photo)
- Rebel with a legacy: James Dean changed the face of male idols
By JOHN W. WHITEHEAD
(Free-Lance Star, February 19, 2005)
Many have come and gone since him, but it was James Dean who defined a new sense of rebellion.
On Sept. 30, 1955, James Dean's Porsche Spyder smashed into a Ford sedan on California Route 46 and was demolished in an instant. Although the driver of the sedan was unhurt, Dean, whose neck was twisted and broken, had no chance. ... The troubled young man was dead at age 24, and a cult was about to be born. ...
Even Elvis loved James Dean
Dean expressed a changing state of mind that his audiences did not completely understand but intuitively embraced. He has been mimicked, consciously or not, by virtually every male teen idol, from Elvis Presley to Bob Dylan to Brad Pitt. In fact, Presley's projected persona was largely based on Dean. According to Nicholas Ray, who directed "Rebel," Presley idolized Dean: "I was sitting in the cafeteria at MGM one day, and Elvis Presley came over. He knew I was a friend of Jimmy's and had directed 'Rebel,' so he got down on his knees before me and began to recite whole passages of dialogue from the script. Elvis must have seen 'Rebel' a dozen times by then and remembered every one of Jimmy's lines." ...
- Elvis singalong record is smashed
(BBC News, February 19, 2005)
An Elvis impersonator is thought to have smashed the world record for the longest singalong of the King's songs. Gary Jay, 41, of March, Cambridgeshire, completed his marathon on Friday after 51 hours and four minutes of songs. The old record of 42 hours, 16 minutes and eight seconds was held by an Elvis impersonator from Germany. Mr Jay, who originally set the record at Planet Hollywood in London in 2002, is now awaiting official confirmation from the Guinness Book of Records. To reclaim the title Mr Jay had to perform the marathon to a reasonable standard and in full Elvis costume with just one 15 minute break every four hours. ...
- Lil' Kim and Elvis?
By PATRICIA HURTADO
(Newsday.com, February 19, 2005)
If you don't know anything about Tupac Shakur, "Notorious B.I.G.," Eminem or Sean "Puffy" Combs, but Elvis rings in your ears, then you just might be the perfect person for this federal court gig. Court officials are looking for jurors for the upcoming trial of hip-hop diva Lil' Kim. Not just anyone, though. In an effort to weed out those who might know too much about hip-hops bad boys -- and girls -- court officials have put together a 15-page questionnaire for prospectvie jurors, who arrive Wednesday. The problem, of course, is just who to include. "My problem with the list is people are going to associate certain events with certain names, like 'Sean Puffy Combs,'" Lil' Kim's lawyer, Mel Sachs, told U.S. District Judge Gerard Lynch Friday. "Most people who read the newspapers or watch television will associate Mr. Combs with a gun." "Perhaps we should throw in a few ringers, as in a lineup," Lynch suggested, "such as Elvis Presley?" Lil' Kim, whose real name is Kimberly Jones, and her personal assistant, Monique Dopwell, are charged with conspiring from 2001 to 2003 to commit perjury, obstruct justice and make false statements to derail a federal investigation into a 2001 shooting with a rival hip-hop group outside Hot 97 radio station. ...
- Twelve free things to do in Memphis, TN
By Deborah Crawford
(bellaonline.com, February 18, 2005)
Although visiting Elvis Presley's home, Graceland, is a must-see for most visitors who come to Memphis, Tennessee, there are some great things in Memphis that your family can enjoy for free. Here's twelve things guaranteed to keep you entertained when you visit the "home of the blues and the birthplace of rock & roll" [A paragraph each on]:
A. Schwab's Dry Goods Store
Center for Southern Folklore
Danny Thomas - ALSAC Pavilion
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Memphis Botanical Gardens
Memphis Pink Palace Museum
National Civil Rights Museum
Peabody Hotel
Shelby Farms
W.C. Handy Park
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art
Martyrs Park
Heritage Collection Art Exhibit
- West Liberty artisan captures childhood memories, local history
By By Pam Martz
(Muscatine Journal, February 18, 2005)
In a tiny retirement apartment in West Liberty, Glen Carter sits at his work bench. It's cluttered with 14 types of glue, glass eyes, anatomy books and clay. ... Twelve years ago, Carter started working on his art after reading a feature article about a woman who crafted with sculpy clay. It's a type of clay that can be baked over and over again, and Carter thought he'd give it a try.
... In addition to the local notables, such as school secretary Marilyn Henderson, Carter has also molded likenesses of those famous outside West Liberty's borders including Elvis Presley and Dale Earnhart. ...
- Proposed renaming stirs controversy
By JEFF SCHMERKER
(Mountaineer, February 18, 2005)
Leader's of Haywood County's African-American community would like the new gateway road into Waynesville to be named after a man who worked and died to bring racial equality and civil rights to America: Martin Luther King Jr. Community members say they are preparing a petition which would go to the N.C. Department of Transportation to request the change. ... Edward Moore, president of the Pigeon Community Development Center, said MLK would be an appropriate name for the road because Martin Luther King's struggle encompassed all of America, and all Americans. "He gave his life not just for black people but for all people," said Moore. "I think something should be done, especially in a place like Waynesville or Haywood County to commemorate him other than having a prayer breakfast and Black History Month. We need a permanent reminder of what he was, who he was, and what he did."
But Waynes-ville Mayor Henry Foy said he would probably oppose the idea of renaming the road in honor of MLK. ... And Moore has a specific word for someone who opposes the change: racist. "If they wanted to rename it Elvis Presley Drive, everyone probably would have jumped on it yesterday," said Moore. "I can't think of anything other than racism." However, Allan Shelton, who has a home and a business along the old Asheville Road, said not everybody in Haywood County or elsewhere believes that Martin Luther King Jr. was good for this country. ...
- On my radio: M. Ward's new album harks back to when freedom was on the airwaves
By Sophie Best
([Melbourne] Age, February 18, 2005)
Matt Ward has dedicated his new release to "the last of the independent radio stations".
Somewhere in northern California, Matt Ward parted company with his childhood transistor radio. "I lost it somewhere along the line in my life," Ward says. "I don't remember when - but I somehow imagine it sitting in this empty field, still playing the music that I grew up with." Such imaginings about the lost radio days of his youth inspired Ward's new album, Transistor Radio, a love letter to a vanishing era of American radio. It's the fourth full-length release he has made under his abbreviated moniker, M Ward, and he dedicates it to "the last of the remaining independent radio stations". "The idea of this record," Ward explains, "was going back to a time in my life when I was discovering radio and radio was really magical and mysterious, and bigger than life."
... Not that Ward's music is all relentless sadness; levity and optimism provide a necessary balance. "Maybe it's because I'm a Libra," he muses. "I feel like happiness is just as important as sadness, because you can't have one without the other. In my opinion, the negative is quite positive and the positive can be negative also. Every solution has its problem." Ward admires some of the 1960s pop classics for their Libran use of opposites within their songwriting structure. "The best Elvis Presley songs, like Heartbreak Hotel and other songs from that era, use major chords and sad lyrics," he says.
- Singer's Boat Being Salvaged
(New Zealand News, February 18, 2005)
A yacht which grounded on an isolated Northland beach has become the subject of significant media attention in Belgium. Askoy Two, once owned by singer/actor Jacques Brel, ran aground on Bayleys Beach in Dargaville 10 years ago. Two brothers who were friends of Brel have been inspecting the wreck and are determined to launch a salvage operation. Project Coordinator Noel Hilliam says Mr Brel was the European equivalent of Elvis Presley and the boat holds huge historical significance. ...
- Long live the King
By Charles Purcell
(Sydney Morning Herald, February 18, 2005)
Elvis isn't dead; he's fighting the undead. Cult-film hero Bruce Campbell drew on all his Evil Dead experience. Campbell fights the undead again in the horror-comedy Bubba Ho-Tep. He plays Elvis Presley, who switched places with an impersonator decades ago and now lives in a Texas retirement home, griping about the odd growth on his "pecker". ...
- Elvis set to deliver once more
By JOHN W. WHITEHEAD
(ManchesterOnline, February 17, 2005)
While 'THE' Elvis may be enjoying a renaissance due to the current doldrums of the UK Singles Charts, 'our' Elvis is still doing quite nicely for himself too thank-you very much. ... Elvis Costello arrives in the city [Manchester] on February 20th for a date at the Bridgewater Hall ...
- Thursday at the General Assembly: New bills
[3rd item]
(Myrtle Beach Online / Associated Press, February 17, 2005)
_ The state would spend $50,000 next year to establish a music tourism center in Cleveland County in honor of natives Don Gibson and Earl Scruggs under a bill filed by Sen. Walter Dalton, D-Rutherford. Gibson, a singer and songwriter, wrote "I Can't Stop Loving You," which Elvis Presley, Ray Charles and hundreds of others recorded. Scruggs, a renowned banjo picker, teamed up with Lester Flatt and formed The Foggy Mountain Boys. They recorded "Foggy Mountain Breakdown," "Dueling Banjos," and "Ballad of Jed Clampett."
- Elvis Found Leading Iraqi Insurgency
By Daniel H. Blazejewski
(GlossyNews.com, February 17, 2005)
The leader of the Iraqi insurgency has been found, and his name is Elvis Presley. That's right, the King is leading anti-American forces against the Coalition of the Willing in the Middle East and supporting terrorist activities elsewhere around the world. Thought to be dead of heart failure on August 16, 1977, Elvis had actually simply fooled the world and made a clean escape to the Middle East, where he set himself up as a mid-level mullah in the Afghan Taliban regime.
Elvis slowly but surely consolidated his powerbase from 1977 to 2002, when the U.S. invaded Afghanistan and pushed out the Taliban leadership. Presley - who had taken the name Abdul Ali al-Amri - escaped to Iraq, where he became "close personal friends" with Saddam Hussein's half-sister, Betsy Hussein. Betsy hid al-Amri during the initial 2003 invasion of Iraq by U.S. and British forces, and helped him escape to Syria with his seventeen wives and forty-nine children.
In Syria, al-Amri formed the al-Amri Martyr's Battalion, a group dedicated to the use of explosive-laden camels as offensive weapons. Though an ingenious use of resources, the attacks were less than successful, and were called off by mid-January, 2004. al-Amri then attempted to use pizza delivery trucks to deliver his bombs, but the plan was soon sniffed out by U.S. intelligence who were simply monitoring citizen-band radios.
Lisa Marie Presley, speaking from her walled compound in Graceland, said, "Hell, I don't care if my Dad's over there blowin' up Americans. I blow Americans all the time and I don't get any credit for it. Have you heard my latest album? That's an assault on the senses at least on par with a camel bombing. If I can marry whacko Jacko as a publicity stunt, then why not my dad fake his own death and battle against Americans in the Middle East? I don't see the problem."
"I like little boys," wheezed Michael Jackson from his courtroom seat. "But I guess that's neither here nor there. The fact is, I abhor violence in all its forms, except for spankings, I love spankings. You tell me, is it wrong to drug young boys and use them as love slaves? I don't think so. If I'm wrong, then Elvis is wrong, and I don't think Elvis is wrong. How could the King of Pop and the King of Rock not get along? I don't understand it. Can't we just have peace?"
Presley / al-Amri, speaking from a fortified compound outside of Damascus, offered, "Elvis Presley died in 1977, when his fans deserted him for Jerry Garcia. There is no more Elvis Presley, just Abdul Ali al-Amri. I hate America, and I will fight, tooth and nail, to keep America from gaining a democratic foothold here in the Middle East, where I have chosen to make my home. Being a mullah has its perks, you know. I thought I got all the chicks when I was a rock-and-roll star, but wow, do mullahs get the girls." He then became hysterical, slamming his fist on his desk and shouting, "You can't make me go back! You can't make me go back! I don't give a damn about my blue suede shoes!"
Presley, now getting on in years, may be expected to die of old age at some point in the not too distant future. It is only a miracle that his heart, liver, and kidneys have yet to give out. But the American government should start looking toward Damascus, and a man named Abdul Ali al-Amri, a.k.a. Elvis Presley, who is running the insurgency out of his back office.
Elvis Presley is seen here posing with terrorists in Iraq shortly before the U.S. invasion
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