early August, 2006
- Mike Douglas, longtime TV talk show host, dies at 81 in Palm Beach Gardens
By TERRY JACKSON
(MiamiHerald.com August 11, 2006)
Long before daytime television was filled with estranged spouses hurling insults in mock courtrooms, pop doctors handing out sex advice and shock shows with topics like ''My girlfriend is a transvestite and I didn't even know it!'' millions of people tuned into The Mike Douglas Show. There they were entertained by Mike Douglas, an easy-going former big-band crooner who for 90 minutes every weekday deftly mixed song and dance, helpful hints and a surprising dose of current events -- all with a patina of civility that has all but disappeared from television. Douglas, whose syndicated talk show ran from 1961 to 1982 on as many as 230 stations nationwide, died Friday in Palm Beach Gardens, on his 81st birthday. ... And how's this for pop immortality: When Elvis Presley infamously shot the TV in his room at the Las Vegas Hilton, he was watching The Mike Douglas Show. Presley later apologized to Douglas and said he wasn't aiming at Douglas -- The King just couldn't stand co-host Robert Goulet. ...
- Elvis' 'church rock', a 'rip roaring success'!
By Julianne Beckett
(newkerala.com August 11, 2006)
Elvis Presley sure does now how to pull in a crowd - even if the people are eager church goers, and the King himself is an impersonator named Johnny Cowling. Truro Cathedral, one of Englandıs most famous cathedrals turned its traditional Sunday service into one that was led by Elvis impersonator Cowling who was armed with a guitar, backing tracks and rock-solid quiff, as he performed gospel hits. And, the service proved to be a great hit with people whose numbers swelled to 900 during the 75-minute service, with some of the congregation decked in T-shirts paying tribute to "the King".
Colin Reid, a spokesman for the cathedral, classified the service as a "rip-roaring success" that the whole congregation loved. The Elvis evening was a rip-roaring success. "Elvis" sang a series of gospel songs and in between the head of worship, Canon Perran Gay, reflected on the significance of the lyrics. Everyone loved it. There were many people there who never normally darken the doors of a church or a cathedral. That was the point," the Telegraph quoted him, as saying. "The Elvis event far exceeded expectations and dwarfed attendance for the jazz and country and western, but the question is where do you go from here? You can't beat Elvis," he said. ...
- Florida Theatre Marks 50 Years Since Elvis Show
By Grayson Kamm
(First Coast News August 11, 2006)
The First Coast is celebrating a special 50th anniversary this weekend. Half a century ago, the man as we know as the King of Rock and Roll shook Jacksonville. Elvis Presley performed six controversial shows at the Florida Theatre. The sold out events were the King's first indoor concerts and the first big concerts for the First Coast. "My mother piled her station wagon as full of kids as she could get in there. We must've had over a dozen children," remembers Marilyn Gooding DeSimone. DeSimone sat inside the Florida Theatre on Friday afternoon, recalling the feeling of the famous old theatre during the two days Elvis took over in 1956.
The Gooding family and a gaggle of friends were going to see -- in person -- Elvis Presley.
"And when we got to the top of the Main Street Bridge, there was the line!" DeSimone said. "And we thought, 'Oh, we'll never make this show!'" Teenagers packed the sidewalk at Newnan and Forsyth Streets. So did police; local leaders were worried about a riot. An officer recognized Marilyn Gooding and snuck the whole gang in before the show started. "But we only took the third row. We didn't go down all the way down to the front, because we didn't want to be pummeled to death by the other kids when they came in and saw we had done something that brazen," she laughed.
The lights came up and that singing started. "It was fun! The kids all had a wonderful time. They were dancing in the aisles. We were all singing with Elvis. Everybody was screaming. Everybody was pulling on each other -- typical teenage stuff," DeSimone said. DeSimone and her friends were in the third row, but in the back row for most of those shows was her father, Judge Marion Gooding. He had gotten calls from cities all over the country where Elvis had struck up a frenzy in his fans and drawn wild reactions. Judge Gooding's job was to sit in the back row and make sure Elvis' lips were moving, but his hips were staying put. Through every high and low note, Elvis managed to keep his hips in check. Finally, DeSimone remembers him saying, "I want to dedicate my last song to the judge." She said the fans expected something sentimental. "We all thought it was going to be a wonderful thank you for a wonderful experience-type song. And he broke out with, 'You ain't nothing but a hound dog!'" DeSimone laughed.
Those moments on the Florida Theatre stage on August 10th and 11th forever link the First Coast to the King of Rock and Roll. The Florida Theatre will be showing one of Elvis' biggest movies, "Viva Las Vegas." You can catch that on September 3rd. Along with the movie, they're planning other activities to celebrate the history of the King in Jacksonville, including Elvis and Ann-Margret look-a-like contests.
- Zimbabwe: Elvis Music in Town
By Julianne Beckett
(Zimbabwe Independent (Harare) August 11, 2006)
THE timeless music of Elvis Presley will be the focus of a brand new musical production in Harare, to be staged at Reps Theatre in late August and early September. Elvis Lives is the production, to be directed by award-winning actor and singer David Smith. It will feature nearly 30 of Elvis' most famous songs and will be a tribute to the late "king of rock and roll," who died in August 1977 at the young age of 42.
"I am a great Elvis fan and I know that many other people are, too, so while this show will appeal to them in particular, we know that his music has great appeal across the broadest spectrum of audiences and this show will, therefore, be widely popular," said Smith.
The first half of the show will feature younger singers presenting Elvis songs from the 1950s and early 1960s, while the second half will feature David Smith as Elvis in a "live concert" presentation with a seven-piece live backing band. The show opens on Tuesday, August 29 and will close on Saturday, September 9, with a total of 10 performances. Booking is now open at The Spotlight. Also on stage will be 5Star boy band members Alex Fairlie and Josh Ansley, as well as Rowland Amm and Steve Theron and two female singers -- Ellena Kupusa Smith and Adiona Maboreke.
- THE THINGS THEY SAY 2642
(contactmusic.com August 11, 2006)
"You wanna know something funny? He wore more make-up than I did." Actress CYBILL SHEPHERD recalls her affair with ELVIS PRESLEY.
- St. Bernice man remembers being stationed with Elvis
By Julianne Beckett
(Tribune-Star August 9, 2006)
Don Maloney learned a lesson that night - never go to the snack bar of the PX at Camp Wildflecken, Germany, with Elvis Presley if youıre really hungry. But it was dinner time, and the guys from the U.S. Armyıs 32nd Armored Division had just arrived at the base for a month of training. So Don, Elvis and a few other soldiers decided to sample the PX cuisine. No big deal, unless the guy in line ahead of you is the King of Rock ını Roll.
"Them German women seen him - and they knew who he was - and just went crazy. And that's using the word mildly," Don said of that moment in 1959. "But the rest of us always kidded that we could've walked off with the whole store, because they were just flocking around him. We couldnıt even get a sandwich."
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