Happy Birthday w2s and I second Kev's comments!

Kev...
Agh! Due to recent injury I was unable to attend your show last week and am going to Chatswood this week for their Christmas do. Will you be gigging at Peakhurst between xmas and New year or will we have to wait till next year for me to make an appearance?

Re the racist issue...
I think the term 'slaps' was definitely meant in racist terms given the context of the piece.

Re: Robbie Williams...
Not a fan of his voice, antics, personality or I.Q. but do love several of his songs from a musical point of view.

Re: Elvis Presley
NOW you've got me going! lol. He's my favourite singer of all time and that's just because I have listened to a great deal of his stuff from his early days to the end and been able to compare it with so many other artists given my eclectic taste in music. Lots of his early stuff was bad - really bad - often even having the same tune shared between songs but with slightly different music but as he developed, his talent was clear even early on in his career.
I suspect folk who don't like his songs or singing have either only been exposed to the more common Elvis impersonators (ptuh!! A POX on them!) or haven't heard very much of his material - probably a combination of both. He did after all sing more than 400 songs over the course of his career but most only recall his 10 - 20 well known hits (Hound Dog, Blue Suede Shoes, Love Me Tender, I Can't Help Falling In Love, Heartbreak Hotel and that ilk - which in my opinion did not show case his talent very much at all) and the now famous jumpsuit look whilst sporting the overgrown mutton chop sideburns. The suit (based on the karate-ka's - or karate practitioner - uniform) was actually quite influential on rock artists. Glam Rockers especially took to wearing them - though in skin tight versions. Even Britney Spears has sported an Elvis copy jumpsuit for photo shoots or was it an album cover? I can't recall...
Elvis had presence to the point where he could not only just shrug or twitch to get an entire audience screaming but even belch and get the same effect. THAT's stage presence. His own daughter Lisa Marie recalled that when her father was in a good mood, everyone (about 20 people) in the house would be in a good mood but when he was in a foul mood, even holed up in his room away from everyone, the whole house would be tense. I think that pretty well serves as a good example of his presence - that and the various women he dated over the years could know he was seeing other women but when in his presence could feel like they were the only girl for him.
He was actually a great actor too believe it or not (acknowledged as such by his 'name' co stars like Walter Matthau for example in King Creole - which is my favourite movie of Elvis, originally written for James Dean but adapted slightly for Elvis after Dean's death) but when it became clear to him he was just being used as a money making machine instead of being given the chance to showcase his talent, he basically stopped trying and just made the formulaic fluff everyone knows him for. He was approached by Barbara Streisand to perform the role eventually taken by Kris Kristofferson in 'A Star Is Born' but unfortunately died before he could do that.
The guy had presence, humour and great style but most importantly, could sing in every style of music effortlessly (well, till his final few performances anyway when his voice kind of went awry as far as I'm concerned) and with sincerity enough to make one believe he meant every word of the songs he sang.
If you can find the original Glenn Campbell version of 'Gentle On My Mind' then listen to Elvis sing it, same tempo and even similar music, you could be forgiven for thinking them 2 completely different songs just cos of Elvis' voice.
He sure had something though as I was only 2 years old when he died and yet am an avid fan of his singing talent. There's a few things about him I don't think worthy of human beings and there are other things that I respect the man greatly for.
I was actually rather miffed when 'A Little Less Conversation' came out and took the world by storm in its remixed state as I had wanted to re-release that song myself - though more true to the original version!
I don't think any other singer has come back from the grave in such a big way as Elvis Presley to garner recognition from even more generations of fans - landing 2 #1 hits over a generation since his death!
Given the number of Elvis fans and wannabes that attend karaoke, I thought this blurb might be passable for karaoke forum reading.
Submitted by Johnny B on 17-12-2006

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