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May 3, 2005
Record Weirdo - Elvis Impersonator Round-Up
One Trick Ponies Flogging A Dead Horse.
Is It A Mixed Metaphor If Both References Are Equine In Nature?
I wrote some smarmy intro to this, but it was just a bunch of words. I'll cut to the chase.
Let's start off with some International flavors.
Wojciech Gassowski is the Polish Elvis. Actually, he could be the Polish Neil Diamond but he's done at least two albums of Elvis songs. He sounds kind of like Bryan Ferry. The songs here mostly snappy and uptempo like "That's All Right Mama" and "Blue Suede Shoes", but my favorite is "Fever". The almost-learned by phonetics method adds new and exciting lyrics like "Sun lights stop the daytime, moon lights all over night". He also gets the fever "when we kisses". It sounds like karaoke night at the White House.
Komar Laszlo is the Hungarian Elvis and has the good sense to sing in Hungarian. I have two of his albums but this one is the best. I like knowing that "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" is "Arva Bus Ejszakan" in Hungarian and "Don't Be Cruel" is "Ne Legy Kegyetlen". There is no translation for "Lawdy Miss Clawdy".
"Elvis Presley's Golden Hits Sung By Big Ross & The Memphis Sound" Big Ross is from England. He is betrayed by his pronuciation of Chicago as "Shi-CAR-go" when he sings "In The Ghetto". Come on, Ross, even Wojciech Gassowski got that one right. The album cover is dull so I won't show it.
Moving over to Canada, we have The Golden Ring Tribute to Elvis.
As you see, the illustration captures Elvis during his little-known "skinny as a junkie fashion model" period.
Johnny Rusk was the biggest Elvis tribute artist in Seattle even though he was only about four-foot-three. I also have his "Live at the Seattle Airport Hilton" album, but this one is better.
"The Elvis Presley Story" by ALAN(!) is okay, but he should have picked a flashier stage name. He is wearing a lei on the cover of the album, ala "Aloha From Hawaii" but I won't even bother to show it.
Ronnie McDowell is a pretty well-known tribute artist. His album "A Tribute To The King, In Memory" is pretty good but the cover is pretty dull. it's all white with title in gold calligraphy in the middle. It looks like those "In Memory" epitaphs that street racers put on the back windows of their cars. I won't show this one either.
Orion had some great hype. Behind the mask, he was supposed to actually be Elvis. I think he would have made a pretty good Batman. This album has goopy 70's hits like "Honey" done in the Elvis style. His other album, called "Sunrise", is slightly better than this. He did an entire album (uncredited) with Jerry Lee Lewis called "Duets" which I like even better.
This is Rory Allen. I found his press kit a garage sale. It came with a video which shows him in action. What makes his act unique in the two Secret Service/Memphis Mafia guys that stand up on stage with him. Mostly they just stand with their arms crossed Public Enemy style, but occasionally they do little robot dances or act out the words of the songs - like marching in place during "G.I. Blues".
He's big in Canada.
How could I end this with anything else but Extreme Elvis?
You have to admire this guys stick-to-it-iveness. When he runs out of money for costumes, he simply performs naked. He also refuses to let little problems like lack of bladder control get in the way of putting on a good show. Extreme Elvis - you are an inspiration to some.
This is where I say something about leaving the building.
Posted by Big Kev at May 3, 2005 8:24 PM
