early February, 2006
Banner courtesy of Charmaine
- King of Cool: Lewis pays tribute to on-stage partner
By Martin Winchester
(The Monitor, February 10 2006)
Who's the coolest crooner of all time? Bing Crosby? Frank Sinatra? Elvis Presley? After reading Dean and Me (A Love Story) by Jerry Lewis, you'll likely agree that Dean Martin deserves the title. Let's first define cool. Stage presence counts for a lot. Vocal ability is certainly important. Of course, charisma needs to be taken into account. Martin had all the above, but most importantly, he had what truly defines cool - an innate ability to always maintain that sense of self-assurance, no matter what the situation. Whether it was a slapstick ad-lib from your insane partner onstage or a mafioso sticking a gun in your stomach backstage for flirting with his girlfriend, Martin was always cool. Everyone knew it. Sinatra looked up to him and jumped at the chance to bring him into the Rat Pack, precisely because Martin didn't need him. Elvis was known to drive by Martin's Beverly Hills mansion late at night just to be close to the presence of his idol. This is Elvis we're talking about here! Nobody, though, worshipped Martin more than Jerry Lewis, his partner for 10 years and one-half of the greatest comedy duo in history. ...
- Elvis wears a badge
By Darryn Simmons
(Montgomery Advertiser, February 10 2006)
By day, Brad Bradley is an accident investigtor with the Montgomery Police Department. By night, he is a hunka-hunka burning' love. Bradley is an Elvis impersonator who will be joining Elvis impersonators from Nashville, Tennl, and St. Louis for a Valentine's Day Elvis tribute show at Auburn University Montgomery's Goodwyn Hall Auditorium. ...
Brad Bradley, a Montgomery police officer and Elvis impersonator, will perform today in a Valentine's Day Elvis Tribute at Auburn University Montgomery
- Gambling raids net $3M (Thank you very much): Elvis impersonator is called the ringleader
By ANA M. ALAYA
(New Jersey Star-Ledger, February 10 2006)
An Elvis Presley impersonator got to star in his own version of "Jailhouse Rock" yesterday after authorities linked him to what they called the largest organized-crime gambling cache in New Jersey history. Robert D'Alessio of Pine Brook, an alleged associate of the Genovese crime family, was charged with running a sports gambling ring that employed at least 50 agents in three states and handled roughly $1 million a week. Authorities say the 52-year-old D'Alessio, who goes by the name "Elvis" and sports the same-style sideburns and slick hair as the rock'n'roll icon, cleared a half-million dollars a week in profits from the operation. ...
- Coroner Pleads Not Guilty to Fraud, Theft
By DAN NEPHIN
(Yahoo! News / Associated Press, February 10 2006)
A coroner who consulted on the death cases of Elvis Presley and JonBenet Ramsey pleaded not guilty Friday to federal charges alleging he used his government staff for private gain. Dr. Cyril Wecht was arraigned on 84 counts including mail fraud, wire fraud, theft of honest services and theft from the Allegheny County coroner's office. An indictment issued Jan. 20 accuses Wecht of using government employees or resources to run private errands and do laboratory work for his private company between 1996 and December 2005. ...
- What love looks like through children's eyes
By SUZANNE PEREZ TOBIAS
(Wichita Eagle, February 8 2006)
Want a good chuckle? Talk to 8-year-old Andrew Figueiredo about Valentine's Day. Andrew, a second-grader at Jackson Elementary School (and the cutie on today's cover), was one of hundreds of local youngsters who completed our questionnaire about love and romance. "The best kind of Valentine's Day gift for a child is a book," he told us. "For an adult, it is a diamond ring." Andrew explained kissing: "People kiss because they have an extremely close bond with each other. Kind of like paper stuck to glue." And take note, fellas, because Andrew also revealed his secrets for impressing the ladies: "The best way to impress a girl is:
1) slick your hair back like Elvis;
2) tell her she looks good; and
3) give her a gift."
...
- Preview: This Is Elvis, Churchill Theatre, Bromley: The King regains his crown
By Charlotte Cripps
(independent.co.uk, February 8 2006)
The latest Elvis musical documents the King's 1960s comeback, after a fallow period in his musical career in which he concentrated on churning out some terrible Hollywood films. This Is Elvis features 30 of Presley's greatest hits, including "Heartbreak Hotel", "Love Me Tender", "Jailhouse Rock" and "Are You Lonesome Tonight?". It is interspersed with key moments that led up to the spectacular 1968 TV special on NBC, when a leather-clad Elvis was reinstated as the king of rock'n'roll, and his momentous return to the stage in a Las Vegas concert in 1969.
The musical dramatises the arguments between Presley and his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, his increasing distance from his wife, Priscilla, and rehearsal sessions with his new musicians as he confronts his fear of performing after so long away from live work.
Simon Bowman first played a younger Elvis in 1985 opposite Martin Shaw, who played the older Elvis in Alan Bleasdale's play Are You Lonesome Tonight?. "I am not an Elvis impersonator; I am an actor," says Bowman. "I got the part because Martin and I did so much research watching Elvis videos because there were a couple of songs we had to do, that they had me in mind when this part came up. You never know what is around the corner."
Bowman is no stranger to the musical genre, having been in Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera, and Miss Saigon. He recently performed in a workshop for Trevor Nunn's forthcoming production of Gone With The Wind. "I have been asked to play Rhett Butler," he says. "I wear a white jump suit for Elvis's return to the stage and bash out 20 songs in the second half. It is fairly tiring," says Bowman. "Elvis was terrified about his comeback. He was confused and frightened - because he had lost his mother in that time [Elvis lost his mother in 1958, not when he returned to stage performances in Las Vegas in 1969 - ed.] - and he was petrified of going back on stage. This is something I can get my teeth into."
- 'I thought Elvis would reappear first'
By RAYMOND DUNCAN
(Herald & Times, February 8 2006)
In between the tears and the anger yesterday, Shirley McKie found a brief moment to make light of her long-running ordeal. "I honestly felt Elvis Presley would re-appear before this case ended," she said. After the former Strathclyde detective's nine years of torment, however, humour was in short supply. Instead the 43-year-old, robbed of "a relationship, children, a career" after being wrongly accused of leaving her fingerprint at a murder scene in 1997, went on the attack. "The people who are responsible for this know who they are," she said. "I just hope they are made to be accountable for what they have done. Serious criminal charges should stem from this." Justice for Ms McKie, in a case which has embarrassed Scotland's fingerprint agency and which one independent expert believes should be "a springboard for sorting out fingerprinting north of the border" came yesterday at 11.35am in an Edinburgh court. She and her family, including Iain, her father, a one-time Strathclyde superintendent, had gathered at the Court of Session for the start of a lengthy £1.2m damages action against Scottish ministers. ...
- Chickens, farming and Elvis have kept her laughing for 100 years
By REGINA BUTLER
(Daily Journal, February 7 2006)
She gazed at the old photo into her past, a past that involved hard work and doing things just because her mom and dad expected her to do them. A grin stole over her face. Many at Randolph probably remember her as the cafeteria lady, and her cooking must be pretty good, because it has helped Mrs. Alma Gregory live 100 years. The Pontotoc County woman grew up in the Antioch area as the daughter of Benjamin and Gabie Lee (Coats) Bevill. "They [her parents] didn't have to get after me much, because I knew what they expected me to do." She paused and laughed. She remembers the days of walking to school, milking cows before the school walk and making dresses out of flour sacks.
But she still isn't too old to enjoy Rock n' Roll, she got a surprise visit from the "king" of rock n' roll last month on her 100th birthday, January 18. "I always liked Elvis," Alma said, and laughed. Not your regular bobby-soxer, she would have been more than 50 years old when he hit it big. "My favorite Elvis song is 'Blue Suede Shoes'," she confessed with a wry grin. The years have been good to Alma, and she can remember those days as if it were yesterday. She peered into the picture of her old home place in the Antioch community. It was the usual dog-trot style home. A room on one side, an open hall (or porch) that ran from the front to the back of the house, and a room on the other. A porch lounges all across the front of the house. The members of her family and a sharecropper with the horses posed for the old picture sometime in 1918 or 1919. ...
Gregory
- Thornburgh Helps Wecht Defend Self On Larry King Show
(thepittsburghchannel.com, February 7 2006)
The 84-count grand jury indictment accusing former Allegheny County coroner Dr. Cyril Wecht of using his government staff for private gain was "draconian" and "overkill," former U.S. Attorney General Richard Thornburgh said Monday on CNN's "Larry King Live" show. But Thornburg, one of Wecht's defense attorneys, couldn't guarantee that Wecht entirely separated his private pathology business from his job as coroner. "I'm not prepared to say that every nickel and dime is accounted for 100 percent accurately, but the point is, is this a federal criminal case?" Thornburg told King. "What I'm saying is that bringing these draconian federal criminal charges to solve that kind of bookkeeping and accounting problem is overkill," Thornburg said. ... Wecht is nationally known for consulting on deaths ranging from Elvis Presley to Lacy Peterson and JonBenet Ramsey. ... Wecht is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges Friday at 9:30 a.m. before U.S. Magistrate Francis X. Caiazza.
- This School of Rock rolls: Days Creek Charter School students combine rocking out with learning lessons in popular class
By TERESA WILLIAMS
(newsreview.info, February 7 2006)
A psychedelic Jimi Hendrix poster greets visitors to Rock Hall. Bob Marley towers above to the left.
The hallway is short, and it's covered with rock stars from Elvis Presley to Green Day, all leading to Robin Trask's English classroom at Days Creek Charter School. Inside the classroom, Jamal Luster has used a black marker to write band names on a chair. Pantera, his favorite band, is outlined in red.
The white board says, "2 cover tunes. Bring a recording, lyrics, tabs." It's an assignment for Rock 101, an elective class Trask and James Ellis teach. It was students Luster, Zach Sanford and Justin Arp who took the idea to Trask. When the school became a charter school, students were asked what electives they would like to study. They came up with Rock 101, and Trask has combined music performance, history and poetry, with art and sociology mixed in. ...
- Turner Picks Up Paramount Pix
(Broadcasting & Cable, February 6 2006)
Turner Classic Movies has bought the rights to 100 classic Paramount movies, which will begin airing in 2008. The deal renews rights to about 65 films, with 35 of them new to the package. Titles range from Airplane to Zulu and a lot in between, including Shane, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and Save the Tiger, as well as some Elvis Presley films and re-licensing a number of films including Sunset Boulevard and The African Queen.
It was the last deal struck before the split of CBS and Viacom lst month.
- Philips Electronics and Match.com(TM) Explore Music, Dating and Valentine's Day
(finanznachrichten.de / Business News, February 6 2006)
With Valentine's Day rapidly approaching, many consumers will use music to express their feelings for loved ones. Philips Electronics and Match.com, the world's largest dating and relationship service, joined forces to determine the impact of music on the holiday. In a survey by Impulse Research, 91 percent of 1,514 survey participants believe that knowing someone's musical preferences helps them get to know their special someone better, and 74 percent have given some form of music such as an MP3 player, compilation CD or concert tickets as a gift to someone they were dating. For consumers looking for ways to spice up Valentine's Day, Philips and Match.com found that music can certainly improve the romance. When asked how music most affects their dating life, 46 percent of participants use music to help set the mood during a date. Survey results also indicated that Elvis is still the king as the majority of participants selected Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love" as the most popular love song. ...
- Mariah Carey has visions of love from the Grammys
By Mona Sandefur
(Yahoo! News / Reuters, February 6 2006)
The last time Mariah Carey received a batch of Grammy nominations, she endured one of the most humiliating experiences of her career as she was shut out all six times while a worldwide television audience watched her mood darken throughout the ceremony. Ten years on, and with eight Grammy nominations this year, the comeback queen of 2005 should have a more enjoyable time at the music industry's biggest night of the year on Wednesday, music industry experts say. She has collected only two Grammys to date, winning in 1991 for best new artist and her breakthrough single "Vision of Love." ... Carey fits many of the bills for Grammy success. Four years ago, the New Yorker was music industry poison. She suffered a breakdown, released a flop album and was dumped by her label with a $28 million payoff. It was a disastrous turn of events for a singer with more No. 1 hits than anyone but Elvis Presley and the Beatles. ...
- No singing talent? Doesn't matter! CASA looking for lip-sync groups and individuals
By Mona Sandefur
(Broadcasting & Cable, February 6 2006)
Regardless of whether you are old enough to remember music of the 1950s and '60s, you're invited to lip-sync your way into the hearts and minds of CASA annual gala committee members. Organizers Gloria Atchison and CASA volunteer coordinator Barb Heumann said the annual gala committee is looking for teen and adult lip sync groups and individuals to entertain the masses during the gala, slated for Friday, April 28. ... Atchison and Heumann said the committee is looking for a men's group to perform "My Girl" by The Temptations and a duo to lip-sync 'Please Mr. Custer'. "My husband, Dave, and Dave Sluzevich are portraying The Blues Brothers again this year and will perform 'Everybody Needs Somebody' and 'Sweet Home, Chicago,'" Atchison said. "Marty Shadowen is expected to perform a Frank Sinatra tune and Christopher's Classy Red Hatters are lip-syncing a song by The McGuire Sisters. We expect an appearance by Elvis Presley, portrayed by some familiar faces." ...
- When 'Big Bopper' sounds like slang for 'death sentence' (Book review)
By Chuck Klosterman
(Telegraph, February 5 2006)
Killing Yourself to Live by
Chuck Klosterman is a New York music journalist who ended up with a gig, or assignment-come-odyssey, to drive across America visiting the sites of famous rock and roll deaths: Kurt Cobain, Sid Vicious, the Big Bopper, Elvis; suicides, car smashes and the like. His brief is to jot down such impressions as are to be had, in order to fathom out what it is about untimely death that makes us attribute so much more meaning to the deceased's music than we did before. And thus pose the question: is, or was, that person's death really untimely? That's the basic premise, but he uses this structure to talk about other things on his mind. These are mainly girls, among them ex-girlfriends he hasn't quite managed to break up with and can't figure out why not. The only way he can make sense of these and other questions is through music and by writing about the process. ...
- Coretta Scott King's legacy tainted by commercialism
By Leonard Pitts Jr
(Seattle Times / Miami Herald, February 5 2006)
I interviewed Coretta Scott King once. It cost $5,000. In 1985, I approached the Martin Luther King Center in Atlanta seeking both that interview and permission to use old audio of Coretta's husband for a radio documentary. I was told it would cost five grand for the audio rights and it was made clear that unless that money was paid, there would be no interview. The ethical constraints of a radio production house are different from those of a news organization; we made the deal. I didn't like it, but I rationalized it by telling myself it was an honor to contribute to the upkeep of a legendary legacy. Amazing what you can make yourself believe. Coretta Scott King died last week, five months after suffering a heart attack and stroke. She is being widely and lavishly eulogized. "A remarkable and courageous woman," said the president. "A staunch freedom fighter," said the Rev. Jesse Jackson. The praise is deserved. There was majesty and grace in Coretta Scott King, a strength of heart that was displayed nowhere more clearly than at her husband's death. Like Jacqueline Kennedy before her, she mourned inconceivable loss with awesome dignity. Since then, she has been a tireless defender of the dream her husband articulated in August of 1963. She shielded it against racism, pessimism and defeatism. She was less successful against commercialism.
And I don't mean the piddling $5,000. That's a small symptom of the larger malady. I refer you to the King family's 1993 lawsuit against USA Today for reprinting the "I Have A Dream" speech and their subsequent licensing of King's image and voice for use in television commercials, one of which placed him between Homer Simpson and Kermit the Frog. Then there's the attempt to sell his personal papers for $20 million. Perhaps most galling was the family's demand to be paid to allow construction of a King monument on the Washington Mall. ... I don't mind the King family making money. But not at all costs, and certainly, not at the cost of Martin Luther King Jr.'s dignity.
... Coretta Scott King founded the King Center and it has always been controlled by the family. So it seems plain that she approved this money grubbing or at least tolerated it. And as a result, her kids have lost their minds. Particularly the sons, Martin III and Dexter, recently seen publicly feuding over which one will have the six-figure job of running the King Center. Meantime, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tells us the facility is in need of more than $11 million in repairs and that $4.2 million of Center money has been paid since 2000 to a company Dexter owns. This would be the same Dexter who, in 1995, visited Graceland for tips on how to exploit his father's image as Lisa Marie Presley has exploited hers. Martin Luther King Jr., it seems necessary to say, was not Elvis Presley. He was a man who stood for something and died for something. That something was not profit. That something belonged to all of us. ...
- Friends and family gather at memorial for state senator
By Nancy Petersen
(Philadelphia Inquirer, February 5 2006)
Tributes from friends and colleagues to the late State Sen. Robert J. Thompson of Chester County flowed as easily as the tears yesterday during a memorial service at the First Presbyterian Church in his hometown of West Chester. A delegation of 26 senators, led by Senate President Pro Tempore Robert C. Jubelirer (R., Blair), joined the crowd of mourners that filled the historic church to capacity. Thompson, majority chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, died Jan. 28 from pulmonary fibrosis. Jubelirer said with a voice that often broke that Thompson, 68, a friend since their undergraduate days at Pennsylvania State University, was a man who was not swayed by the trappings of power, nor did he lose sight of his mission as a public servant. ... Calling him a political mentor despite the 16 years' difference in their ages, State Rep. Elinor Z. Taylor (R., Chester), 84, said that in his younger years, Thompson with his sideburns resembled Elvis Presley. "I thought he was a a handsome young man," she said to laughter. ...
- Cruise lines keep cooking up theme cruises
By Mary Lu Abbott
(Chicago Tribune, February 5 2006)
Celebrity chefs are firing up their burners, polishing their prose and heading to sea as star attractions on theme cruises. They whomp up signature dishes, share secrets of the kitchen and sometimes take passengers on excursions to shop at food markets or dine at noted restaurants ashore.
They're leading a parade of experts. Winemakers, chocolatiers, yoga gurus, classical musicians, antiques hunters, military historians and explorers are among those setting sail to enrich shipboard programs. Some experts are linked with the cruise destinations, providing insights into the culture or history, while others tap travelers' special interests, such as jazz or fitness. And for golfers, a number of lines have themed cruises that package excursions to play at outstanding courses on the itineraries. ... Upscale lines with smaller ships have the most theme cruises, while mass-market players such as Carnival Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean International and Princess Cruises list few if any theme voyages. However, travel agents and special-interest clubs sometimes organize group trips with the larger lines. For instance, a contingent of Elvis Presley fans may cruise on a particular sailing with their own activities. ...
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