late September, 2005
- Hal Kalin: Singer launched as half an answer to Elvis
By Alan Clayson
(The Guardian, September 27 2005)
With the knowledge that, in 1956, Elvis Presley accounted for 60% of RCA's net takings, every other record company in north America put forward a challenger. As Acuff-Rose did with the Everly Brothers, Decca promoted the Kalin Twins - Hal, who has died in a road accident aged 71, and Herbie, who survives him - as two Presleys for the price of one. With open-necked shirts, striped blazers and gravity-defying quiffs, they seemed to vindicate the company's strategy in 1958 with the million-selling When. After the follow-up, Forget Me Not, reached the US top 20, that, as far as the record-buying public was concerned, was that for the duo. ...
- New Orleans' Hottest Musical Exports: Everybody from the Chili Peppers to Devo have sung the city's tunes
By JAMES SULLIVAN
(Rolling Stone, September 26 2005)
A powerful case could be made for New Orleans as the true birthplace of rock & roll. As insular and self-sufficient as its music scene has always been, its reach is incredible. Not just Elvis, the Beatles and the Stones, but Cheap Trick, Heart and Devo have all had hits with NOLA music. Here's a roundup of the New Orleans artists whose works have echoed across the globe:
Roy Brown: "Good Rocking Tonight" (Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Pat Boone, Jerry Lee Lewis, James Brown, Paul McCartney), "Rockin' at Midnight" (Honeydrippers): Elvis supposedly once wrote the struggling performer a check on a brown paper bag.
Smiley Lewis: "One Night" (Elvis Presley, Fats Domino), "I Hear You Knocking" (Gale Storm, Fats Domino, Dave Edmunds), "Blue Monday" (Fats Domino, Buddy Holly): Born Overton Lemons, Lewis puckered up as others made lemonade of his songs. Yet he remains a giant of New Orleans R&B.
... Lloyd Price: "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" (Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Beatles), "Just Because" (Larry Williams, John Lennon), "Stagger Lee" (The Clash, Bob Dylan, Nick Cave): Price's remake of the traditional folk-blues had been recorded before him under various titles by Ma Rainey, Mississippi John Hurt, New Orleans pianist Archibald and many others. ...
- Now Daniel is hoping for a Coronation Street cameo
By Eddie McIlwaine
(Belfast Telegraph, September 26 2005)
Donegal crooner Daniel O'Donnell has revealed he wants to emulate Status Quo by winning a part on Coronation Street. The singer has included the golden oldie Elvis Presley hit, Good Luck Charm, on his new album Teenage Dreams, which is released today, for a very special reason. Danny Boy (44) doesn't usually depend on Lady Luck, but he's hoping the song will act as a four-leaf clover to help him fulfil one of his last remaining ambitions. ... "Of course I love that old Elvis Good Luck Charm ballad which mentions rabbit's feet, four leaf clovers and all kinds of good luck charms. Perhaps it will bring me a wee bit of luck. ...
- Elvis gets Wellington rocking
By ROBYN McLEAN
(stuff.co.nz, September 26 2005)
When Las Vegas Elvis impersonator James Rompel was invited to perform at the World of WearableArt (WOW) shows in Wellington, he couldn't throw his blue suede shoes into his suitcase fast enough. As a special guest of WOW, a leather-clad Rompel appears on stage during the bizarre bra section of the show. His debut performance on Friday night sent a few obvious Elvis fans into a frenzy. He will perform at each show till the final night on Sunday. In a well-rehearsed Southern drawl, he sings the praises of "Noo Zeeland" and the people he has met so far. Despite impersonating The King for 15 years, Rompel said he was slow to cotton on to the fact he had a striking resemblance to the crooner. "I'm platinum blond by nature. My grandmother used to colour my hair and eyebrows in dark on photographs of me. She used to chide me and say in a New York accent, `You look like Presley, you're wasting time'. I'd just say, `You're high, grandma'."
But nana knew best and today Rompel makes a living from his impersonations of Elvis something that involves a hefty amount of hair dye and numerous figure-hugging outfits. When he undertook his first Extreme Elvis Makeover, he couldn't believe the similarities they shared. "I was shocked, my heart went up to my throat and I thought `Wow, this is a way to express myself, for sure'." He loves his job but admits he finds it strange when hardcore Elvis fans get emotional. "They loved him so much and when I sing or meet them it's remarkable how some people don't want to let go of their love for him and sometimes they cry or whatever, it's wild."
- Old rocker goes down among the daffodils
By Emma Tinkler
(Canberra Times, September 26 2005, p. 4)
Johnny Devlin loves a spot of gardening, but doesn't get among the flower beds as much as he would like. This old rocker, who was considered one of Australia's best rock'n'roll acts during the 1950s and 1960s, is still too much in demand. Devlin, 67, treated fans to some of his old songs yesterday, surrounded by tulips and tall poppies at Floriade, Australia's premier flower festival. In its 18th year Floriade has a Rock'n'Roll theme and features flower beds named after classic tunes such as Strawberry Fields Fover, by the Beatles, and Split Enz's I See Red.
Born in New Zealand in 1938, Devlin had smash hits like Lawdy Miss Clawdy, which sold 100,000 copies and won him a gold record at a time when television was in its infancy in Australia and New Zeland. He was strongly influenced by Elvis Presley, and got his start in music by covering his songs and copying his gyrating moves. ...
- Insider view : Fair's a treasure and a bargain
By Ophelia Porter
(Commercial Appeal, September 25 2005)
For nearly a century-and-a-half, the first weekend of autumn has signaled the opening of the Mid-South Fair. It is a 10-day extravaganza of rides, food, entertainment and exhibits that now draws a more diverse group of people than any other event in our city. ... Top-notch entertainment also has been a staple of the fair for years with past performances from Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley to Ray Charles, Kool & the Gang, the Bar-Kays, and legends like Cher and Patti LaBelle. ... At this time of year I think about all the young people who have stood before huge crowds to perform in the Youth Talent Contests that has, for some like Elvis, Wendy Moten and Justin Timberlake, helped launch their careers. Not only is the fair a launching pad for careers in entertainment, it also has provided thousands of dollars in college scholarships. ...
- Elvis sighted in Dewey Beach: Two dozen times, in fact, at fifth annual 'Elvistival'
By J.L. MILLER
(Delaware News Journal, September 25 2005)
Most days you'll find New Castle resident Tim Collins behind the counter at the Express Mart on U.S. 40, making subs or working the cash register. But on Saturday he donned his red-and-white body suit, slicked back his hair, swiveled his hips and sang "That's Alright Mama" before a crowd of several hundred Elvis Presley fans at the Rusty Rudder's fifth annual "Elvistival." For two days and nights, about two dozen professional and amateur Elvis impersonators took the stage at the Dewey Beach nightspot, competing for a total of $5,000 in cash.
For Collins, it wasn't so much the money that was at stake as it was a chance to move from the amateur ranks to the big time, much the way a young Elvis Aaron Presley did long before Collins was born.
At 25, Collins was born after The King had been laid to rest, but he grew up admiring Presley and his music. "I was 13 years old. My Uncle Bill, he was in a wheelchair, and my mom had him baby-sit me. That's all he would do is watch Elvis," Collins said after ending his performance with an Elvis-esque "Thank you very much." Pretty soon the young Collins, who was not quite old enough to grow his own sideburns, was cutting off some of his hair to paste to the sides of his face in imitation of his hero. Twelve years later, Collins has his own sideburns and his own Elvis act. "He left the greatest legacy of all time. I feel like he made music what it is today," Collins said. ...
... Although the tunes were predictable, having nearly a dozen Elvises in one room led to some truly bizarre scenes. A leather-clad 1968 Comeback Tour Elvis said hello to a 1973 Aloha Elvis who was wearing a powder-blue body suit, while a rhinestone-bedecked Paunchy Elvis sporting a preposterous wig walked by, carrying a plate laden with a hamburger and fries on the side. ...
- AN ELVIS CONNECTION? NAH, NOT REALLY
(Kansas City Star, September 25 2005)
Lisa Marie Evans, 28, lives in North Hyde Park and is a massage therapist at Jinsei Center (jinseicenter.com) downtown. She's also an independent filmmaker working on a documentary about transgender people in Kansas City and Lawrence. "I think I've always been interested in androgyny," Evans says. ... Often we put ourselves and others in boxes. We're much too complex to fit in a box."
Our questions? Not so complex.
WHO gave you your name?
My mom. Though she quite fancied Elvis, I've just learned it was not the force behind my name. ...
- Storm victims welcome in N.J.
By LESLIE BRODY
(North Jersey Media Group, September 25 2005)
... New Jersey has welcomed hundreds of people made homeless by Hurricane Katrina. As of Friday, the Red Cross had opened 867 cases - including singles and families - and the state Education Department reported 321 evacuee children enrolled in public schools. And a second monster storm could send more.
... The Kalmus family lived in a low-lying neighborhood half a mile from the levee along the 17th Street Canal. Before Katrina hit, Elliot Kalmus, a landscape contractor; his wife, Annie Zipkin, a horticulturalist, and their 16-year-old son, Jeremy, took shelter in a French Quarter hotel. When the levees gave way, they fled north. Staying with friends or in motels, watching harrowing scenes of the deluge on television, they soon realized they had nothing left to go back to. The flood wiped out their inventory of trees, shrubs and beloved orchids. Fittingly, their stay in Memphis was at Elvis Presley's Heartbreak Hotel. For now, they're living with friends in Monsey, N.Y. ...
- Signposts for a Songwriter
By PHIL SWEETLAND
(New York Times, September 25 2005)
Dennis Linde has been a remarkably successful songwriter for a remarkably long time, from Elvis Presley's "Burning Love" in 1972 to Alan Jackson's current witty hit, "The Talkin' Song Repair Blues." Between those two came "Goodbye Earl," an infamous success for the Dixie Chicks in 1999 that was a dark-humored masterpiece about spousal abuse. Locations in these songs and many others - from the water tower in "John Deere Green," the 1994 country hit for Joe Diffie, to the spot where Earl breathed his last - are depicted on a map Mr. Linde made that hangs in his home. It's an unusual way to chart one's creative output, but Mr. Linde (pronounced LIN-dee) says it's strictly practical: "I had to have it to keep up with the people in my songs," he explains. Phil Sweetland spoke with Mr. Linde, who lives in the Nashville suburbs with his wife, Pam, about the topography of his long career.
... What do you remember about "Burning Love"?
I wrote that song on a lark. I had bought a set of drums and was learning to play them, and that same afternoon I had to put something down on tape. So I recorded a drum track and put a melody out there with it. I was a newlywed, and "Burning Love" was a great newlywed title. I had it done in 20 minutes. I cut the song first, then Arthur Alexander did it as an album cut. Contrary to popular belief, Elvis loved it at first. Later on, he didn't. ...
- Elvis Has Left the Building: All Shook Up Will Shutter on Broadway Sept. 25
By Robert Simonson
(Playbill News, September 25 2005)
The cast and crew of All Shook Up, the Elvis-inspired musical, will check into Heartbreak Hotel Sept. 25, when their production officially ends its Broadway run at the Palace Theatre. All Shook Up, which stars Cheyenne Jackson and Jenn Gambatese, began previews on Broadway Feb. 20 with an official opening March 24. The musical will have played 33 previews and 213 regular performances. A national tour of the musical, according to a press statement, is being planned. ...
- Elvis fascination becomes business for limo driver
By NOEMI HERRERA
(Kansas City Star, September 24 2005)
What started as a workplace Halloween dare has become a year-round moneymaker for Jack James. About 11 years ago, his co-workers dared him to dress and act as Elvis while on the job. The Spring Hill man worked at a uniform company. "So many of my customers loved it, and it started snowballing," he said. He began doing birthday parties, retirement parties, police balls. "My first was a grand opening for a restaurant," he said. "A line started forming outside, and inside it was standing-room only." ... Most recently, James and his wife started King Limousine, incorporating his Elvis act into the business. Elvis as a limo driver is available upon request, James said. "I don't do it all the time," he said. "People will think I'm crazy."
About 25 percent of James' customers request Elvis for special occasions like birthdays, or for showing out-of-town visitors a good time on the town. Often customers want Elvis to drive them to Kansas City's casinos. James, 40, said he has an interest in expanding his celebrity drivers to include legends like John Wayne and Lucille Ball, and perhaps living icons like Dolly Parton. James' wife, who is co-owner of King Limousine, has been known to do impressions too. "She'll do some Priscilla if I twist her arm," James said. "She's not into the costume thing, but she is into the Elvis hoopla." ...
- Priscilla follows in Delta's footsteps
(news.com.au / AAP, September 24 2005)
AUSTRALIAN businessman Bruno Schiavi took Delta Goodrem's knickers to the world and now he's climbing into bed with Priscilla Presley. Schiavi has joined forces with Presley to release a range of bed linen, robes, slippers, towels and candles. "We are out in the world fighting battles every single day and the one place you come home to is a place that is like your bedroom that is a sanctuary for you," Presley said from her Los Angeles home. "I love the fabrics. The collection shows versatility, uniqueness and style." Schiavi relocated from Sydney to Los Angeles earlier this year to work with Presley on the collection which will be released in Australia in February next year. "I am hands on with this with Bruno," said Elvis' ex, who also has her own perfume range. ...
- Old fashioned mansions aren't big enough today
(Townsville Bulletin, September 24 2005)
A COUPLE of weeks ago my sister visited Graceland, the mansion built in Memphis, Tennessee by Elvis Presley in the 1970s to celebrate his success.
She said she thought it was rather sweet, and surprisingly small and unpretentious considering what he would have built had he been doing it today, in this era of excess. It was a mansion, for its time, but mansions 30 years ago seem to be equivalent to a normal suburban house in the affluent noughties. You only have to look around at any new subdivision to see that family homes these days are enormous . . . and this at a time when families, we are told, are getting smaller. ...
- Elvis' home before Graceland nominated for historical register
(volunteertv.com / Associated Press, September 23 2005)
There are no jungle rooms at 1034 Audubon Drive in Memphis, no gold records and no pink Cadillacs. But this modest ranch-style house in southeast Memphis shares a history with Graceland, the famous white-columned mansion more than ten miles away. The house Elvis Presley purchased at age 21 has been nominated for the National Register of Historic Places. The State Review Board approved the nomination this week and now it moves on - just as Graceland did in 1991 - for approval at the national level. ...
- Louisville's Elvis making his own records
By CHRIS DUNCAN
(TheState.com / Associated Press, September 23 2005)
They share a first name and his mother loved them both, but that's about all Louisville defensive end Elvis Dumervil knows he has in common with The King. "Elvis Presley did great over history playing music," Dumervil said. "I'm just a football player." But these days, it's Louisville's Elvis who's making all the records. ...
- Kate Bush and Elvis Presley 2005
By MauriceinIreland
(XTVWorld.Com, September 22 2005)
The new Kate Bush song "King of the Mountain" played for the first time on BBC 2 Radio yesterday, is about the legendary Elvis Presley! It is quite a hypnotic song with a driving musical beat which is sure to cause quite a commotion, and likely to become a major hit for the singer. Kate is one of the most original artists in the popular music world. Her very unusual songs are both imaginative and poetic. Her return to the charts will be welcomed by discerning listeners everywhere. Elvis fans will be delighted.
- Swedish heiress fights for Warhol painting
(newsday.com, September 22 2005)
A 1962 Andy Warhol silk screen worth as much as $12 million is at the center of a court battle in Stamford. Swedish heiress Kersten Lindholm of Greenwich is fighting a court ruling that declared newsprint magnate Peter Brant the rightful owner of "Red Elvis," a 6-foot-tall painting that features 36 identical images of Elvis Presley's face. Brant bought the painting five years ago from Lindholm's art dealer, who was later convicted of stealing it. Last month, after a three-year legal battle, a Stamford Superior Court judge ruled Brant the rightful owner of the painting. ...
- No Tell Motel: A new Art Cormier project makes neighbors nervous
By Amy Haimerl
(Denver Westword, September 22 2005)
By last year, the Regency Hotel had fallen a long way from the days when it served as Elvis's crash pad. Under Art Cormier, the former owner of Smiley's Laundromat, the once-elegant hotel had turned into a layover for day laborers and a major nightspot for Mexican immigrants -- legal and otherwise. ...
- This Week's Day-by-Day Picks
(New Times, September 22 2005)
Elvis Presley may have been the King, but Wesley Willis was the Daddy. Willis, a giant of a man who died two years ago of leukemia, was known for his outlandish, schizophrenia-induced songs about "whipping mules' behinds with belts" and rocking "Saddam Hussein's ass to Russia." (Attention, normals: Don't try to comprehend this.) Fortunately, before Willis passed on to battle his demons in the hereafter, filmmaker Daniel Bitton cranked out the documentary Wesley Willis: The Daddy of Rock 'n' Roll, showing tonight at Uncle Sam's Music (4580 N. University Dr., Lauderhill). In the film, Bitton follows Willis around Chicago, from riding the bus to doing business at record stores. Sure, schizophrenia often took its toll on Willis. But beneath it all, he was a man who truly loved making music -- a pure, unadulterated soul free of any rock-star pretensions. ...
- Cliff Richard blames radio ban for ending his recording career
By Xan Brooks
(Guardian Unlimited, September 21 2005)
For his diehard fans it will be a cause for dismay. Others might see it as an excuse for a celebration. Either way, Cliff Richard's announcement that he will not be releasing any more records closes the door on one of the most prolific careers in popular music. Sir Cliff's music is no longer as popular as it was - at least not with the arbiters of taste at UK radio stations. The 64-year-old yesterday blamed an unofficial boycott for driving him out of the recording industry. ... he added: "I will be playing concerts until the day I die because I love the atmosphere - but I'll never make another record."
Born Harry Webb, Sir Cliff ranks with Elvis Presley as the only artists to appear in the UK singles chart in six consecutive decades. He has released 128 singles, beginning with Move It, which reached No 2 in 1958. In recent years he has become associated with saccharine Christmas ditties of the Mistletoe and Wine variety, while his last high-profile appearance came when he regaled startled tennis fans during a 1996 rain break at Wimbledon.
Sir Cliff's status as a radio star began to wane in 1998 when Chris Evans - then the breakfast show host on Virgin Radio - vowed he would never again play one of his records. Other stations took up the cause to such an extent that the DJ Tony Blackburn was suspended from his job on Classic Gold for breaking the ban. ...
- The old new
By Susannah Cullinane
(BBC News, September 21 2005)
Why should a transistor radio from 1954 be causing a buzz online? Could it be part of a realisation that, amid talk of invention, no novelty is completely new? The Old Testament Book of Ecclesiastes has a few words to say about novelty, fashion and innovation.
"The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be:
And that which is done is that which shall be done:
And there is no new thing under the sun."
The Regency TR-1 transistor radio, made in 1954, had a decent claim to be a genuine piece of innovation, however. It was, by popular agreement, the world's first commercially sold transistor pocket radio. Small enough to hold in your hand, and powered by batteries, it came in a variety of delicious colours, including green, pearlescent blue, lavender, white and red. The device went on sale just in time for hip young gadget freaks to hear Elvis Presley singing That's All Right - recognised by many as the moment at which rock'n'roll was born. ...
- All Shook Up closing on Broadway after disappointing run
(Houston Chronicle / Associated Press, September 21 2005)
All Shook Up, the musical that uses the songs of Elvis Presley, will shake no more on Broadway. The show, which has been struggling at the box office for much of its run, will close Sunday at the Palace Theatre after 213 performances. ...
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