early April 2008
- ELVIS PRESLEY - LOST ELVIS PHOTOS FOUND
(contactmusic.com, April 9, 2008)
Lost images of ELVIS PRESLEY performing at New York's Madison Square Garden have been unearthed by the venue's former photographer. George Kalinsky discovered nearly 100 never-before-seen snaps of the King of Rock 'n' Roll, after being asked to raid his collection for an exhibition. He says, "I thought I had eight or 10 good photos, but I found four rolls of film. It was mindboggling. I'd totally forgotten that I'd taken that many."
Presley's estate has dubbed several of the shots "iconic", and the collection is heading to his former Graceland home, to be exhibited there. Kevin Kern, a spokesperson for Elvis Presley Enterprises, tells the New York Daily News, "This is an incredible and rare find. It is as if George found a treasure chest of never before seen Elvis photos."
- Mariah Carey: undeniable success or obnoxious diva? (see also Randy Lewis's article below, April 7)
(thedartmouth.com, April 9, 2008)
The unthinkable "One Fine Day" has finally arrived for pop diva Mariah Carey. Her new single "Touch My Body" just hit number one on the Billboard charts, giving her an astounding 18 number one hits, breaking Elvis Presleyšs record of 17. Now only The Beatles, with 20, are the only obstacle between Mimi and unrivaled supremacy. Mariah already holds the title of best-selling female artist of all time, and her astounding five-octave vocal range is impossible to ignore. But what of her ditzy image? (those album titles!) And, though it seems almost unfair to mention, her film career? (After its release in 2001, "Glitter" was massacred by critics.) Mariah, like all true divas, has had her ups and downs: We're all still trying to get over the rolling-around-in-broken-glass psychological breakdown that ensued after "Glitter" failed to shine.
But love her or hate her, Mariah Carey is quite possibly the biggest musical phenomenon of our generation. The Arts staff attempts to come to terms with these potentially frightening facts. ...
- Elvis Lives! on New iVideosongs Titles
(Yahoo! News / PRWEB, April 7, 2008)
iVideosongs is proud to announce the addition of five Elvis Presley songs to its catalog. The songs even include Elvis' original band mates, guitarist Scotty Moore and drummer D.J. Fontana.
iVideosongs announced today the addition of five Elvis Presley songs to its growing catalog of high-def music instruction videos. The new songs, Don't Be Cruel, Heartbreak Hotel, Hound Dog, Jailhouse Rock and That's Alright, feature Elvis' original band mates, guitarist Scotty Moore and drummer D.J. Fontana.
iVideosongs is the new service that shows aspiring musicians everywhere how to play their favorite songs completely and accurately, with the instruction provided by the original artists who wrote, performed and produced them, and also from expert instructors.
"Playing these songs is a reminder of the raw power of Elvis' early music, when he was a young rocker and before he became the cultural icon," said Tim Huffman, CEO of iVideosongs. "Scotty Moore and D.J. Fontana were a big part of the Elvis sound. On these iVideosongs titles, Scotty and D.J. show how to play these great songs and they bring them to life with stories about the king and his music."
iVideosongs has licensed full rights to its songs from BMG Music Publishing, EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner/Chappell Music and also many secondary and tertiary publishers. This allows the company to provide complete and accurate instructional titles, presented exactly as they were originally written and performed. The iVideosongs titles are primarily for electric and acoustic guitarists, but titles for bass, keyboards and drums are also included in the catalog. ...
Web site ivideosongs.com
- Mariah is a pop queen, but don't forget Elvis is still the King
By Randy Lewis
(Baltimore Sun, April 7, 2008)
With "Touch My Body" topping Billboard's Hot 100 as of Wednesday, Mariah Carey's career total of No. 1 singles has hit 18, one more than Elvis Presley. You'd think Western civilization had collapsed overnight.
My advice? Get over it. I grew up loving Presley's music. I was born the same year he first set foot in Sam Phillips' Sun studio in Memphis, Tenn., and my first memory of music is that of a teenage neighbor belting out "You ain't nothin' but a hound dog!" in 1956, when I was 3.
But this brouhaha? We haven't heard this much racket over who's No. 2 since Florida in 2000. It's only numbers. Besides, Carey isn't even No. 1 on the all-time list. She's still behind the Beatles, who scored 20 No. 1 pop hits from 1963 to 1970.
It took Presley from 1956 to 1969, almost twice as long as the Beatles, to rack up all his chart-toppers, although 16 of those came in just the six years from 1956 to 1962. His final No. 1, "Suspicious Minds," came straggling in in 1969.
Carey, on the other hand, has taken 18 years to reach the top of the heap 18 times. A No. 1 single per year, on average, is no easy feat, and she clearly deserves credit for maintaining such a lengthy hold on pop audiences' affections.
Those who wish to cling desperately to numerical supremacy can take comfort in the fact that Presley still holds a comfortable lead on the list of Top 500 artists for albums and singles, as compiled by researcher Joel Whitburn. On his sliding scale, in which musicians get points for each recording that reaches No. 1, 2, etc., Presley tops both.
In the most recent editions of his Record Research books from Billboard's charts, Presley has 9,406 points on the singles list. Carey is No. 5 with 4,295 points. On the album ranking, Presley racked up 17,309 points, ahead of Frank Sinatra (13,313), the Beatles (13,231) and all others. Carey was No. 91, behind the Lettermen, Billy Vaughn and Journey.
Still, it's only numbers. Carey's latest accomplishment doesn't change the seismic impact Presley had, and continues to have, on pop culture. Sure the number of times he sold more records or got more radio airplay than any other act during his lifetime is impressive. But the real measure of the man is how many other musicians since have seductively swayed their hips, playfully sneered an upper lip or refused to be bound within the confines of rock, blues, country, R&B or any single musical genre. That number is incalculable.
Gary Bryan, the morning DJ at a Los Angeles oldies station, says that, "while Mariah is a terrific singer, and this is a great accomplishment, you can't quantify someone's place in music history by chart statistics. "Some people reflect their time, and some define their times. Mariah is a reflection of her time. ... Elvis, on the other hand, defined his time, much as the Beatles later did. Mariah doesn't have that kind of iconic stature."
Need proof? Ever seen a velvet Carey painting? Me neither. Are couples racing to Vegas chapels to be wed by Carey impersonators? I thought not. And I guarantee that 40 years from now, no singer will ever quip "Thank you, thank you very much" after a song and make people think of Carey.
So, Presley fans, worry not. The King's place in history is secure, even if Carey manages to score another 18 No. 1 hits. If that happens, she'd have overtaken the Beatles, in which case, forget everything I just said.
- Spirit of Elvis alive and well
By Joseph Neese
(bcheights.com, April 7, 2008)
This weekend, the Contemporary Theater presented An Evening of One Acts, which included two plays - Graceland and Asleep on the Wind - both by playwright Ellon Byron.
In Graceland, Byron takes her audience to June 4, 1982 - three days before Elvis Presley's mansion of the same name is set to be opened to the public. Early in the morning, Bev (Grace Jacobson, A&S '10) arrives to the front gate and lays out her sleeping bag to claim stake as the first in line to enter Presley's mansion. Shortly thereafter, Rootie (Molly Murphy, A&S '09) comes, putting down her pillow and brown paper bag.
When Bev returns with her lawn chair and cooler filled with sweet treats, Rootie informs her that she, in fact, has arrived first, because she was the first to sit down. From there on out, the two argue over who has the right to enter Graceland first. Bev is Elvis's biggest fan, while Rootie hopes to find a reminiscence of her brother Beau's soul, who is now dead. They take turns sitting in front of each other, debating over who knows more about Elvis, and even discussing whose relatives look more like him.
Bev describes Rootie as "one of those kids they find in the woods after 10 years." Rootie refuses Bev's candy, revealing that her husband does not allow her to eat it because he likes her to stay as thin as the opening of a door; her name is even skinny to match. She is fascinated by Brigadoon, talks like a Southern belle, and she wears cakes of makeup, because "once you take it off, you're not a princess anymore." This dependence on others to make her happy as well as the paper bag comes to foreshadow the lifestyle that she has come to live.
Bev is composed, but both are submissive women. She avoids her "woman itches," even when her husband is gone for three to four weeks at a time on the road. They turn out to be united through their love for Elvis, which carries them through life. The two women realize soon enough that they have more in common than what they think, and on an incredible theatrical journey, they grow together.
In the second one act, Asleep on the Wind, the viewer is taken back 10 years earlier to the secret place that Bev speaks of in Graceland, to the moment where her brother Beau (Seth Byrum, A&S '11) reveals it to her. Alone in a forest in Louisiana, Beau reveals to his little sister that he is leaving to go to Baton Rouge to join the army. He says, "I'll be just like daddy and drink myself to sleep every night." The audience learns how Rootie became obsessed with Beau, who instructs her that, "There ain't nothing better than him," placing her in charge of his Elvis records. Beau is the model example for how familial relationships should be. He is the father that she never had, urging her to stay and school and make something of herself to, so that both can find their American dreams. In Rootie, the audience sees innocence lost. As a child, she cannot cope with losing her brother, telling him that she hates him.
- Charlton Heston's epic acting style defined an era: HESTON'S POLITICS DEFIED CLASSIFICATION
By Mike Clark
(USA TODAY, April 6, 2008)
Because movie blockbusters that maintain their popularity are indelible, Charlton Heston probably will endure more for his chariots and quoted Commandments than for his political activism. But it says something that Heston's political image even comes close to matching Ben-Hur and other classics, cinema equivalents of those gargantuan tail fins on luxurious '50s cars.
The beefcake superstar who became president of the National Rifle Association died Sunday in Beverly Hills at 84, six years after revealing that he had symptoms consistent with Alzheimer's and a little more than half a century after his role as Moses in The Ten Commandments made him one of the top marquee names in the world. And what a moniker - "Charlton Heston" - to fill a bill chiseled in stone when it came to signifying an epic star whose mere presence could bankroll a widescreen bank-breaker.
But while Elvis Presley inspired parents to name baby boys after him, "Charlton" elicited no such boom. This is fitting because Heston's acting style was not replicated in the post-World War II era. ...
- The King of mimicry
By KEE HUA CHEE
(thestar.com.my, April 5, 2008)
Elvis lives, and impersonator Max Pellicano is proof of that.
Elvis impersonators are a dime a dozen, and they come in all sorts of colours. Even Malaysia has her own successful Elvis impersonators, even if it is hard for a Chinese to pass off convincingly as a clone of a Caucasian music god.
But this in not a problem for Max Pellicano, who is French-Italian. Need your love tonight: Max Pellicano as Elvis will be performing for one night at One World hotel. If you're a big fan, this is one event you wouldn't want to miss. - ONE WORLD HOTEL and IBRAHIM MOHTAR/The Star
Born in Monaco, Pellicano spent his early years in New York City. Like all self-respecting Elvis impersonators, he remembers vividly his introduction to Elvis Presley. "I was six, and my brother played Hound Dog and All Shook Up about a thousand times. I was all shook up, I can tell ya!"
Pellicano got his first guitar when he was 11. It was a Christmas gift from his father and it was made from plywood. "It was so bad, it didn't even have a name! Very wise of the manufacturer!" he jokes.
Pellicano moved to San Francisco at 14. He graduated in 1974 with a degree in dramatic arts from California State University and went on to appear in stage productions of Guys & Dolls, Inherit the Wind and The Heiress. His movie credits include Sharon; The Portrait of a Mistress (1980), The Gangster Chronicles (1980) and Da Vincišs War (1992).
However, Pellicano found his pot of gold when he did an Elvis impersonation in the stage production of Bye Bye Birdie, portraying an Elvis-type character named Conrad Birdie. "I had to do Jailhouse Rock for my role, and so I studied the way Elvis talked, walked, moved and sang for months."
He knew he was on to a good thing when everyone remembered him as Elvis, and so it was truly bye-bye Birdie and hello Elvis for Pellicano! He had found his calling in life. His uncanny resemblance and performances rocketed him to the top of the Elvis impersonator chart.
According to the "I am Elvis" website, there are at least 6,000 professional Elvis impersonators working fulltime, and another 85,000 amateurs on top of that, so it must say something that Max Pellicano is generally regarded as the king of the imitation Kings.
Elvis connoisseurs say looking like Elvis is the easiest part, but Pellicano's mimicry is so uncanny as to be spooky. That easy, sexy Mississippi drawl, for instance, took him years to perfect. The hip gyrations were easier. ...
The Elvis To The Max show is on April 18 at One World Hotel, Bandar Utama. Tickets: RM260-RM1,200 with dinner. For details, visit www.alstar.com.my or call (JoMie) 03-23000 888 or (Adrian) 016 382 0309. Proceeds will go to the Malaysian Liver Foundation and other charities.
- Elvis Challenges Mariah
By Paul Cashmere
(undercover.com.au, April 5, 2008)
Elvis Presley rolled over in his grave this week when Mariah Carey claimed to pass him in the list of must number one hit singles.
The Presley estate has corrected the Mariah press release by stating that Elvis had 18 number one hits, not 17 as claimed this week by Mariah's peeps. In a statement at the official Presley website, it says, "Elvis Aaron Presley had 149 songs to appear on Billboard's Hot 100 Pop Chart in America. Of these, 114 were in the top forty, 40 were in the top ten, and 18 went to number one. His number one singles spent a total of 80 weeks at number one. He has also had over 90 charted albums with ten of them reaching number one. These figures are only for the pop charts, and only in America. He was also a leading artist in the American country, R&B, and gospel fields, and his chart success in other countries was substantial".
"It is estimated that Elvis Presley has sold over one billion record units worldwide, more than anyone in record industry history. In America alone, Elvis has had 150 different albums and singles that have been certified gold, platinum or multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with more certifications expected as research into his past record sales continues and as current sales go on. Research is also underway to document his record sales achievements in other countries. It is estimated that 40% of Elvis' total record sales have been outside the United States".
Elvis's number one songs were:
- Heartbreak Hotel (1956)
- I Want You I Need You I Love You (1956)
- Don't Be Cruel (1956)
Hound Dog (1956)
- Love Me Tender (1956)
- Too Much (1957)
- All Shook Up (1957)
- (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear (1957)
- Jailhouse Rock (1957)
- Don't (1957)
- Hard Headed Woman (1958)
- A Big Hunk O' Love (1959)
- Stuck On You (1960)
- It's Now Or Never (1960)
- Are You Lonesome Tonight (1960)
- Surrender (1961)
Good Luck Charm (1962)
- Suspicious Minds (1969)
Mariah Carey's number one songs were:
- 'Vision Of Love' (1990)
- 'Love Takes Time (1990)
- 'Someday' (1991)
- 'I Don't Wanna Cry' (1991)
- 'Emotions (1991)
- 'I'll Be There' (1992)
- 'Dreamlover' (1993)
- 'Hero' (1994)
- 'Fantasy' (1995)
- 'One Sweet Day' (1996)
- 'Always Be My Baby' (1996)
- 'Honey' (1997)
'My All' (1998)
- 'Heartbreaker' (1999)
- 'Thank God I Found You' (2000)
- 'We Belong Together' (2005)
- 'Don't Forget About Us' (2006)
- 'Touch My Body' (2008)
- Bush flatters Sarkozy as French Elvis
Reporting by Susan Cornwell, writing by Paul Taylor
(Yahoo! News / Reuters, April 3, 2008)
It's "Love me tender" between the United States and France after President George W. Bush compared French President Nicolas Sarkozy with rock'n'roll singer Elvis Presley.
Bush told NATO leaders at a Bucharest summit on Thursday that when Sarkozy visited the United States recently, he was seen as "the latest incarnation of Elvis". Such an example of "Burning love" marks a sea change from the "Suspicious minds" that clouded Franco-American relations under Sarkozy's predecessor, Jacques Chirac, who often seemed to see Washington as "The devil in disguise". Bush has made clear the diminutive French leader, who recently married another singer, Carla Bruni, is now his "Good luck charm" and "My little friend". Sarkozy has shown he is "All shook up" by heaping praise on Bush as the first U.S. leader to understand the need for a strong European defence.
- Carey "grateful" to beat Elvis record
By Beth Hilton
(digital spy, April 3, 2008)
Mariah Carey has reacted humbly after scoring her 18th US number one, beating the 17 achieved by Elvis Presley. Playing down her achievement, she explained: "I really can never put myself in the category of people who have not only revolutionised music but also changed the world. That's a completely different era and time... I'm just feeling really happy and grateful." The 38-year-old said her success was particularly satisfying because it struck a blow for women and minorities. ...
- Mariah and Madonna Pass by Elvis Presley
By BEN SISARIO
(New York Times, April 3, 2008)
This week on the Billboard charts one act from MTV's "Making the Band" supplants another for the No. 1 album, and Mariah Carey and Madonna both nudged past Elvis Presley for historical standings on the singles chart. In a week busy with new albums, the all-male Day26 reached No. 1 with its self-titled debut, selling 190,000 copies, Nielsen SoundScan reported, bumping Danity Kane - the all-female "Making the Band" group that topped last week's chart - to No. 4, with 89,000. (Both were released by Bad Boy/Atlantic.) Panic at the Disco's "Pretty. Odd." (Fueled by Ramen/Atlantic) moved 139,000 to reach No. 2. Counting Crows' "Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings" (Geffen) is No. 3 with 106,000, and the Raconteurs sold 42,000 copies of "Consolers of the Lonely" (Third Man/Warner Brothers) for No. 7. ... Ms. Carey's "Touch My Body" becomes her 18th No. 1 single; only the Beatles have more, with 20. Madonna's new "4 Minutes," at No. 3, becomes her 37th single in the Top 10, beating Presley's record for the most Top 10 songs.
- Mariah brings London to a halt
By Nesta McGregor
(bbc.co.uk / Newsbeat, April 2, 2008)
Oxford Street, the busiest shopping strip in the capital, came to a virtual standstill as the singer promoted her new album E=MC2. Police barriers stopped vehicles going past Selfridges as hundreds of fans waited to catch a glimpse of the star. She said: "It's really cool that they would do this and it's great to see so many people show up." After the grand entrance fit for a Prime Minister or President, the American star - who arrived two hours late - was ushered inside by store staff and members of her entourage.
Great shape
Two floors of the biggest department store in the UK were shut down for her arrival alone and Mariah looked in great shape in a tight mini skirt, black low cut top and 4-inch black heels.
Of the new songs, she said: "I just feel like getting a lot of these out there to the world. Some of them I wrote to heal myself, some are just party records but they all are very personal to me."
The new CD could put 'Mimi' into the record books. As far as all time US Number One singles go, Mariah is joint second with Elvis Presley on 17. Only The Beatles have scored more with 20 chart toppers. The singer said she was hopeful of breaking the record in her own modest way. She added: 'I'm grateful with what I've already accomplished it's not about breaking records to me. I definitely don't want to put myself in any category with historical people who've helped changed the world." ...
- Paul Simon's appeal as a worldly outsider
By Jon Pareles
(International Herald Tribune, April 1, 2008)
It may be hard to think of Paul Simon as an outsider. He rode high on the pop charts for three decades, has collected a dozen Grammy Awards and was a shoo-in for various halls of fame. He can sell out arenas whenever he decides to reunite with his 1960s partner, Art Garfunkel. He wrote and starred in a movie and mounted a Broadway musical. He has gone globe-hopping and drawn musicians who are national heroes to sit in as sidemen.
.. Yet the thread running through Simon's songs is estrangement. From "I Am a Rock" to "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" to "You Can Call Me Al" to the cranky reflections on his 2006 album "Surprise," he has sung about being alienated, misplaced, restless, disillusioned.
... Growing up in the 1950s, he was drawn to Elvis Presley, doo-wop and the Everly Brothers, and in many of the songs he has written as an adult, a phrase of doo-wop melody is shorthand for fleeting bliss. His early recordings - with Garfunkel under the name Tom and Jerry, and by himself - aimed to be pop-rock hits. Although Simon and Garfunkel emerged as a coffeehouse-style duo backed by Simon's lone acoustic guitar, he was soon slipping complex jazz chords between the folk rudiments. His fondness for rhythm gradually resurfaced, growing stronger during his solo career. ...
- Music, acting becomes lifelong passion, career
By KATIE EVANS
(Village Daily Sun, April 1, 2008)
At age 11, Jeri Lynne Fraser was performing Elvis Presley's "All Shook Up" at Madison Square Garden in New York City. As a three-time winner on the Ted Mack Original Amateur Hour, a singing career came quickly and easily to Fraser who, by age 12, had signed a deal with Big Top Records, a subsidiary of Columbia Records. ...
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