A promoter was looking for an Elvis act, says Wise, who auditioned by singing Trying to Get to You., I sang a few lines and the guy said, Thats enough, Wise says. would play the song much too loudly and much too often. It was perfect, but it was a lot of trouble, Wise says. True impersonators don't 'do Elvis' for monetary gain, but as missionaries to spread the message of The King. There are also three "how to" guides, Be Elvis! Must be 21 to attend this Las Vegas event. Croce had perished in a plane crash in 1973, but Marc Hazebrouck, a former truck driver and psychology major from Rhode Island, was already playing songs by Croce and had a droopy mustache to match. Some people thought it was very bizarre, but people were interested in it from the standpoint of business.. We just sort of grew apart, she says with a sigh. Once again, ODay arranged for the operations, forked over the money (supposedly in the area of $500,000, partly from loans), and alerted the press. Hired as: Elvis Impersonator Sharon T. March 17, 2014 Aster Retirement Community wants to thank you Elvis, John! The band shifted into Also Sprach Zarathustra (the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey), the traditional orchestral opener for Presleys shows, and Gamble, in full Elvis sunglasses and jumpsuit, welcomed everyone to the performance. An advertisement for State Farm Insurance featured four Elvis impersonators, each of which performed the company's "magic jingle" in succession, causing representatives from the company to appear out of thin air. Something nobodys ever done before, recalls Effie. He wound up in one called the Flim Flam Band, where his future wife Effie saw him perform covers in her hometown of Ocala, Florida, in the early Seventies. I thought I was headed back to Hawaii, but the guy said Ill take him. Debbie loved all that. The new-tech twist is the hologram, which has brought Michael Jackson, 2Pac, Frank Zappa, and Whitney Houston back to a semblance of life. Saturdays show will be a family affair. [37] In February 2013, he was set to appear at the annual fourth tribute to Elvis Presley event, held at the Auckland Botanic Gardens in Manurewa, Auckland. This time, the surgeries werent quite as invasive as theyd been with Wise. his performance, Wise imparts trivia about Elvis's music, as well as His Bizarre 1970s Plan Involved Elvis, Plastic Surgery [53], Alphonso Keil was an Elvis impersonator and professional musician. Due to confusion about who is going as Elvis all three do it, appearing in sequence as Elvis at different stages of his career, winning the competition. Wise will perform his annual Elvis birthday concert Saturday at the Chrome Lounge at Santa Fe Station. It was in his blood, and I want to think it was the drinking that prohibited him from doing more with his life. For reasons that remain mysterious, ODay completely turned his back on show business and began working in sales for car dealerships in the greater Baltimore and Washington, D.C., area. This tribute to Sight unseen, always. And just like ODay, each was hungry for recognition and success, a very different type of American dream. Dennis can recreate the songs, moves and looks from all Era's of Elvis' career, 50's, 60's, and 70's. His heavy show schedule of an average of 200 shows a year with tours in Colorado, California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Florida, Wyoming, Nebraska and Iowa in the past year alone proves that Dennis is the most sought . ), For Caywood, Gamble, and Wise, the scars have healed or are now barely detectable; Gambles mustache covers up his lip cut. The play features a Chinese Elvis impersonator called Timothy Wong, who transforms the lives of the characters in the play. Tribute bands are nothing new, but this guy didnt feel like costumes were enough. James had written three songs that became number one hits in the Southern United States. ODay scrambled and found a replacement after several tries. choose a career that pays tribute to the King of Rock and Roll. Newsroom | Elvis is in the building - Northwest CTA, that is During the 1970s, a star attraction at the Aloha Lounge in Florida's Hawaiian Inn was Mr. Fatu. Copyright 2023 Penske Business Media, LLC. We were offered a job to go to Hawaii, Wise says. Siegfried & Roy, and Wayne Newton. Bandstand.". After the tape was mixed, James and Chips flew to New York, where James's manager had contacts with Scepter Records. The two married in 1974, and ODay eventually adopted her two children from a previous marriage. In later levels of Theme Hospital, patients arrive at the hospital suffering from "King Complex". (Photo by Getty Images) Save PURCHASE A LICENSE Get personalized pricing by telling us when, where, and how you want to use this asset. ODay who used the word clone while agreeing that that wasnt quite the right scientific term for what he had paid doctors to do even boasted hed found a chemist in Los Angeles who could alter someones pigment. BY THE NUMBERS $52 million Amount the Elvis estate made. ODay heard about a local Florida band whose lead singer, Jesse Gamble (then Jesse Bolt), was a good Presley mimic, and even already owned a blue jumpsuit. 'Rolling Stone' has the story of 'rogue '70s promoter' Danny O'Day. Ehlert performed throughout the Chicago Metro Area until Elvis died, then traveled the country with his act. From left: Rhyne, ODay, and Hazebrouck performing as Linda Ronstadt, Kenny Rogers, and Jim Croce at a Florida club in 1981. All rights reserved. James felt it was a confusing time for him and that all three were caught in this trap that they could not walk out of. For more information, please call (702) 631-7000. For example, an ETA may open his show with a 50s set dressed in appropriate attire (such as a gold lame jacket), reenactments of musical scenes from Presley's movies, and/or reenactments of segments from the '68 Comeback Special; and after an intermission closes his show with a full-blown 70s concert dressed in an appropriate jumpsuit. international record is an honor shared only by Las Vegas entertainers So Jim said, Lets do a little Elvis thing in the show.. His admiration for Elvis has spanned over forty years. The King Is Dead, But Wise Works to Keep Spirit Alive Tourists would visit the mansion and then stop by Wises club for the tribute act. [46] Among the LP albums he recorded were his 1976 album, Mr. Fatu Sings Elvis, which was recorded live at The Hawaiian Inn,[47] and Manatua Mai A'u (Remember Me), released on the Tam-Bay label. He was on hand for the first year anniversary of Elvis' death at the Prince William County Fair in Manassas, VA on August 16, 1978. He was the whole package of music.. Some ETAs perform under stage names, mostly using names associated in some way with Presley's life or career (such as Presley's character names in his movies). It is a story of theft and betrayal, revolving around a plot to rob the Riviera Casino during a convention of Elvis impersonators in Las Vegas. He died at the end of 2020. Hazebroucks lips were enlarged and lowered, and his straight hair was given a Croce-style perm. Elvis taxa. 19 verified bookings. But more than 40 years ago, Danny ODay took imitation to a place no one imagined before or since. They mainly fall under three main levels of impersonation, which are: Enacting a typical 70s Elvis concert is a preferred choice of most ETAs; however, some ETAs may portray various phases of Presley's career in a single show. In a lengthy piece for Rolling Stone, David Browne digs into the "rogue '70s promoter," who decided to try to make a living by putting cover artists on stagewith faces surgically altered to look something like the late singer they were mimicking. New York-native Erin Feinberg is a master observer of musical subcultures, and has snapped diehard tribes of metal-heads, prog-rockers, and punks. Climaxes of the play are surreal fantasy scenes in which Dad's hallucinatory Elvis dreams are bursting into popular Presley songs as a reminiscence of his one-time persona of Elvis impersonator. The man who played Elvis' boss at the Crown Electric company was Red West, a real life schoolmate and best friend of Elvis. He performed regularly at the Elvis in the Park concerts at Cranwell Park in Henderson, Auckland, New Zealand, New Zealand. Rolling Stone later ranked it No. The music will be all Elvis, from the Vegas years. It took a long time to get over that.. And I wasnt being paid anywhere near what Jim Morrison was. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Danny O'Day is well, he was in a category all his own. He didnt like that, the state fairs, says Effie. What ODay himself dubbed his clone army only wound up fighting a few minor skirmishes: a handful of TV appearances, and gigs at clubs, state fairs, and casinos, earning enough notoriety to have possibly inspired not one but two Saturday Night Live parodies. Bubba Ho-tep is the title of a novella by Joe R. Lansdale which originally appeared in the anthology The King Is Dead: Tales of Elvis Post-Mortem (edited by Paul M. Sammon, Delta 1994) and was adapted as a 2002 horror-black comedy film starring Bruce Campbell as Elvis Presleywho escaped the pressures of his fame long ago by impersonating an Elvis impersonator and is now a resident in a nursing home. Marcia is a schoolteacher, teaching the history of music. And lastly, Dennis is a bit aged these days and many of his promo photos are of younger years. That landed him appearances on Good Morning America and The Mike Douglas Show., Cosmetic plastic surgery was just a novelty back then. Grow your brand authentically by sharing brand content with the internets creators. [11][bettersourceneeded] This joke may have its origins in Charlie Chaplin, who once did enter a lookalike contest and is often reported to have also placed third, although Chaplin's actual ranking in the contest is not known.[12]. We did a couple of state fairs where there were, like, four people in the audience.. episode "All Shook Up", Hammer (David Rasche) investigates a string of Elvis impersonator murders by participating in a contest as one. Dennis Colt, the first famous Elvis impersonator, circa 1978. Mark portrays the 1950s rock-a-billy era complete with exact replicas of all of Elvis' performance guitars and stage clothes from 1954 to 1958, as well as old 1950s RCA microphones and even a full-size Nipper dog statue on-stage (Mark is the only impersonator that uses RCA's Nipper). So O'Day moved on: to "Rock and Roll Heaven," a tour he dreamed up that would feature not just an Elvis, but Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, and Jim Croce, too. Streamline your workflow with our best-in-class digital asset management system. Eric Lott, "All the King's Men: Elvis Impersonators and White Working-Class Masculinity," in Harry Stecopoulos and Michael Uebel, eds.. See Gael Sweeney, "The King of White Trash Culture: Elvis Presley and the Aesthetics of Excess." >Article Archives He has been performing as Elvis since around 2000. Longtime Elvis impersonator to go beyond the standards Dragging along the white suits theyd been forced to wear onstage, the musicians piled them atop one another and set the clothes afire, resulting in what Caywood recalls as an unholy muck of cow patties, dirt, and melted polyester.. Condition: Pre-owned Pre-owned "You're no longer the other guy, you're the 'King.' There we go. Wise is King for a Night on Saturday at Boulder Station. In paleontology, researchers D.H. Erwin and M.L. Shawn Klush. from the cities of Augusta, Georgia and New Orleans, Louisiana. We were traveling the country, doing two shows a night six and seven nights a week.. An Elvis impersonator is an entertainer who impersonates or copies the look and sound of American musician and singer Elvis Presley. Meet some of the European Elvis impersonators competing to be crowned RAINBOW UMAMI: a Queer Club Remix Series: Celebrating diversity and creativity in the queer music community. In the Sledge Hammer! ODay already knew the limitations of tribute bands. This fabricated myth was featured as a news item in the Weekly World News, and has been misunderstood to be factual by people who do not realize that the Weekly World News is well known to publish outlandish and often unbelievable articles. "That was a very strange day," Wise says. Las Vegas Sun, 2023, All Rights Reserved, Less Elvis in Vegas doesnt mean no Elvis in Vegas, Elvis has yet to leave the building (5-15-2008), Bartender mixes Elvis moves with Santa Fe drinks (4-13-2001), Vegas Vipers Home Opener Against DCDefenders, Durango Beats Liberty, 57-47, in Boys 5A BasketballChampionship. In this country, we always want what we cant have, ODay once said. So the surgery was an improvement., Wise made his debut onstage so soon after the surgery that black rings still encircled his eyes. Danny was flabbergasted I said that, says Wise. Dennis expertly recreates Elvis's movements, phrasings, and There have been at least three prominent Elvis impersonators of Samoan descent. The first thing that comes to my mind is that plastic surgery is the highest form of flattery., He was way ahead of the curve, says Jeff Pezzuti, founder of Eyellusion, responsible for recent hologram tours of Frank Zappa and Dio. Look how well records by dead rock stars sell. The horns, strings and vocals of the Holladay Sisters were later overdubbed. Priscilla Presley's favourite Elvis impersonator TYSONGREER SHADY 17.7K subscribers Subscribe 3.5K Share Save 306K views 1 year ago Show more Show more Shawn Klush World's Greatest Elvis 3:32. In Annalee Newitz and Matt Wray, eds.. Sweeney, "The King of White Trash Culture," p.262. Dennis began his professional tribute to Elvis in 1978, a year after the Wise heard a story maybe apocryphal that ODay had booked pop star B.J. "[26] According to Marjorie Garber's academic study, Vested Interests: Cross-dressing and Cultural Anxiety (1992), Elvis impersonation is so insistently connected with femininity that it is "almost as if the word 'impersonator', in contemporary popular culture, can be modified either by 'female' or by 'Elvis. [58], Another Elvis of Samoan descent is Johnny Angel. I was a small kid growing up in Joplin, Mo., he says. ", "Arkansas Libertarians select candidates lineup; Elvis Presley among nominees", Kiwi Elvis impersonator to take on the Aussies, This man makes snake anti-venom by day and is Ceredigions only Maori Elvis tribute artist by night By Rachael Misstear, Andy Stankovich is Elvis for six New Zealand shows - Courtney Martin, 5-B Mr. Fatu And The Coastal Connection At Colonial Inn, Page 14/LA GACETA/Friday, June 9, 2006 . Watching from afar as he attempted to revive his deflated career as a new Elvis, Dennis Wise had his worries. Elvis impersonators are one of the most frequently booked look-alikes and tribute artists. One of his biggest fans is Dennis Wise, a man who even had his face and hairline changed through plastic surgery to look more like Elvis. Written in 1968 by Mark James, who was also co-writer of \"Always on My Mind\" (which Presley would later record), the song first was recorded and released by James on Scepter Records in 1968. Its got to be wrong. Its no longer a wrap: the Rock and Roll Heaven band after the bandages came off. To hear his family tell it, Danny Dixon ODay could have been a star. Admission is $10. [16], According to Gael Sweeney, Elvis impersonation offers a spectacle of the grotesque, the display of the fetishized Elvis body by impersonators who use a combination of Christian and New Age imagery and language to describe their devotion to The King. Wise says he never saw a dime, nor ever saw ODay again. Meet the World's Greatest Elvis Impersonator By Nick Greene, the mag Mar 9, 2015 Ambassador Talent Services / Ambassador Talent Services by Shawn Klush, as told to Nick Greene Even when he's not. Another popular theater event has been the "Elvis Story" over the last five years. To make himself feel better about the idea, ODay ran it by his mother: What if his younger brother, whod passed away at 21, had been an entertainer and died and had been resurrected by way of plastic surgery? [9] In his act, Kaufman would precede with several failed impersonations before unexpectedly launching into a skilled impersonation of Elvis Presley. Danny pulls in with a brand-new Burt Reynolds Trans Am, he says. Gamble, a high-school dropout whod worked as a carpenter and in local theater productions of musicals like Bye Bye Birdie, reveled in his Kingness. >Las Vegas Entertainment Today Home Page And I said, Well, you know, I guess I could do something. Caywood was up for singing Joplin tunes: I thought, Cool, that sounds fun! Im famous for picking up and moving my entire life. He has every album Elvis ever recorded and pictures by the thousands. Dennis Wise knows exactly where he was when Elvis Presley died Aug. 16, 1977. In "Wedding Card," an episode of the Canadian sitcom Corner Gas, Oscar and Emma Leroy admit to having no photos of their wedding because "it was an Elvis wedding". A lot of guys stick to your basic Elvis songs, like Jailhouse Rock, but what I try to do is to expand it to let people know this is what Elvis did gospel, rock n roll, R&B. He was popular in the South, but not so much around the rest of the country. Hes great.. [45] The following year in August 1977, he was appearing at the Colonial Inn, fronting a nine-piece band called Coastal Connection. When I found out I was going to do this, I said, Well, enough of [health food], and I went out and had a cheeseburger with a shot of whiskey and beer. To dispel any doubts about the actual alcohol in her onstage bottle, shed pour some of it into the glasses of skeptical fans in the front rows, and watch as they gulped it down and realized they were drinking genuine Southern Comfort. I got more publicity over that than John Travolta did in 1978. Travolta was popular at the time because of Saturday Night Fever and Grease.. Despite the media splash and countless articles that accompanied it, Rock and Roll Heaven didnt exactly rock the house when it launched. Dean Vegas and Paul Fenech from Australia were also booked for the event. Almost Elvis[29] is a 75-minute 2001 documentary film that follows a variety of professional Elvis impersonators such as they prepare for a large annual contest in Memphis, Tennessee. released "Just Pretending" by Kurt Burrows is full of tips on how to talk, sing and dress like Elvis. Dennis got his nose broken when he was in the Marines, he says. Cruise and James thought of \"Suspicious Minds\" and James began urging others to get Elvis to hear it. Ultimately, just as in the living-person rock business, money changed everything. Theyre yelling at me, How do you feel? What are you thinking?, Wise says he didnt tell anyone in his family, including his parents or brother, since he feared they would think he was nuts. After the semi-highs of their casino days, they found themselves scrambling to survive, selling magazines to convenience stores and even hawking their own blood to pay the bills, as they told the Orlando Sentinel. EXCELLENT CONDITION, SIGNED SLEEVE SAYS, "SHIRLEY BEST WISHES, DENNIS WISE". [36], Steve Fitter is an Elvis impersonator from Waikato. The films also featured many real Elvis Tribute Artists from Las Vegas as background players, dancers and extras. The label loved the song and put it out, but Scepter did not have the money to promote new artists, and the song did not make the charts. One of the most popular modern plays dealing with Elvis impersonation is Lee Hall's Cooking with Elvis (1999). [57] Keil was influenced by Elvis impersonator Andy Stankovich who he saw live. In the words of Jim Croces son A.J., as quoted in Rolling Stone, Jesus Christ thats some twisted shit. We feel you on that, A.J. But . Joplin had overdosed eight years before, and Caywood knew the repertoire well. [40][41], Andy Stankovich is a well known Elvis impersonator from Auckland, New Zealand. Spirit of Elvis rocks on - Las Vegas Sun Newspaper