April 26, 2003 

IT'S KING TIME ONCE AGAIN!
   All-Elvis radio program "Predominately Presley" to return to the airwaves May 11, 2003

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS…

Predominately Presley, the acclaimed all-Elvis radio program, returns to Chicago airwaves and to worldwide listeners via the internet, exclusively on Chicago's UIC Radio, www.uicradio.ws. Broadcasts are to begin on Sunday, May 11, from 1pm-3pm CST.

The radio show, hosted by Bryan Gruszka, began life in 1991 as "The Elvis Hour", had aired locally in the Chicagoland area on WRDP Radio (640 AM) until 1997, when it found a new home on Chicago's Flames Radio (89.5 FM) and a whole new audience via a simulcast on the World Wide Web. From 1997 until 2001, the show continued to expand its audience with its mixture of rare Elvis cuts, including outtakes, rehearsals and live performances along with the latest Elvis releases, all combined with entertaining news stories, trivia, and special themed programming, eventually reaching listeners in over 40 states and 26 countries. "Predominately Presley" aired its last program on April 17, 2001, 10 years to the date of its very first broadcast, but now returns to bring the magic of the King to a new listenership.

"Predominately Presley" has been featured in articles in the Chicago Tribune, Southtown Economist, Southwest News-Herald, Near North News and the Oak Lawn Village View. In addition, the show has been featured in Elvis World, one of the most widely circulated Elvis magazines in the country, in articles and newsletters of the ElvisMania fan club of Macedonia and the Official Elvis Presley Fan Club of Great Britain's Berkshire Branch, and on "The Len Petrullis Show" on local Chicago cable TV and the award winning "Wild Chicago" television program.

UIC Radio, the new home of the "Predominately Presley" show, uses Nullsoft SHOUTcast streaming MP3 technology, enabling users with both dialup internet connections and faster cable, T1 and DSL connections to enjoy all formats of music regardless of where they are located in the world. Listeners simply need an internet connection and a compatible media player (such as iTunes for Apple users and WinAmp for PC users). For complete listening instructions, including links to download appropriate media players, simply log on to www.uicradio.ws and click on the "Listen" button. Setup only takes a few minutes.

One aspect of the "Predominately Presley" show that will be retained in its return to the airwaves is the Instant Request option. This feature allows listeners to instantly request Elvis songs or make comments while the program is on the air, and provides for a great rapport between the host and the listeners. Users with AOL Instant Messenger (AIM- available at www.aim.com), can simply send a message to uicradiostudio. For those without AIM, requests can be phoned in to 312-413-2191 or emailed directly to the show at predominatelypresley@yahoo.com. 

Listeners interested in discussing the program, learning about upcoming theme shows, or listeners who'd like to leave feedback or suggestions for future programming can join the Predominately Presley Yahoo Group at groups.yahoo.com/group/ppresley, which provides a forum for discussing anything related to the show as well as being the source for the latest show information.

About the Host

Bryan Gruszka, host of the "Predominately Presley" program, is a lifelong Elvis fan, who had turned his passion for Elvis Presley into a format for others to enjoy by creating a radio program that focuses on music from all periods of Elvis' career and not just the select few songs heard on most radio stations. In addition, Gruszka strives to present Elvis and his music in ways that showcase the reasons why Elvis is known worldwide as the King of Rock and Roll. As Gruszka states, "Elvis was, first and foremost, a musician, and I believe that the best way for people to learn about the real Elvis, and not the stereotypical Elvis, is through his music. Just sit back, listen, and let the King speak for himself." Outside of Elvis, Gruszka is a graduate of the University of Illinois with a degree in Political Science, and his spare time is an avid classic video game collector and reader, and loves British comedy and science fiction.

For interviews, information or other inquiries, please contact Bryan at:

Bryan Gruszka
Predominately Presley
8056 W. Thomas, 3E
Justice, IL 60458
708-728-9008
predominatelypresley@yahoo.com

"TUNE IN TO PREDOMINATELY PRESLEY…AND BRING THE KING HOME!"

April 09, 2003 

Elvis was King, but even he thought Jackie ruled 
   By David Hinckley - New York Daily News

It's now 50 years since Jackie Wilson got into show business and almost 20 since he died. Our culture forgets a lot of things in that amount of time, even some of the best things, of which Jackie Wilson was one. 
As a singer, he was amazing. As a performer, he was the best. Nobody — not James Brown, not Michael Jackson — stopped a show like Jackie Wilson. 

There's a good hint of that in Chester Gregory's performance as Wilson in "The Jackie Wilson Story," a Black Ensemble production that is at the Apollo through this weekend. 

But the real Wilson, who died in 1984 at 49, was in a league of his own. Ask anyone who caught him at the Apollo or the Brooklyn Fox. Or take Elvis' word for it. 

Elvis Presley saw Wilson at a Las Vegas floor show in November 1956, singing lead with the R&B group the Dominoes. 
Elvis had loved the Dominoes' records for years — deep, rich blues including "Have Mercy Baby," such soaring ballads as "Rags to Riches," gospel harmonies and the classic "60 Minute Man." 

Wonderful stuff. 

By late '56, the Dominoes had also incorporated a medley of Presley's songs into their stage act, including "Don't Be Cruel." Elvis didn't know that, and a few weeks later, in early December, he described his reaction to Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis during the famed "Million Dollar Quartet" session back at Sun Records. 

"He tried so hard, till he got much better, boy," said Elvis. "Much better than that record of mine. He grabbed the microphone, went down to the last note, went all the way down to the floor, man, lookin' straight up at the ceiling. Man, he cut me — I was under the table when he got through singin'. … Woo! Man, he sang that song. I went back four nights straight. He sang the hell outta that song!" 

Jackie Wilson did that with a lot of songs — which, ironically, may be one reason he's not more sharply defined today, like Chuck Berry or Buddy Holly. 

Wilson didn't have a single signature song, sound or hit. He sang rock 'n' roll ("Reet Petite"). He sang huge operatic ballads ("Night," "To Be Loved"). He sang soul ("Baby Workout"). He sang pop, gospel, marvelous duets. His "Danny Boy" will bring you to your knees. 

Happily, the music is still available. It's hard to recommend too highly. Less well captured were his performances — thousands of nights on stages now mostly vanished. We have a nice, relatively tame number in the movie "Go Johnny Go" and some '60s "Shindig" spots compiled by Rhino in 1992. That's about it. 

It's the perpetual curse of popular culture. So much of it fades with the memories of those who saw and heard it. But Jackie Wilson, a half-century later, remains way too good to forget. 

April 08, 2003 

It's now or never: At age 35, Lisa Marie Presley finally follows in dad's footsteps 
By Larry Katz, The Boston Herald - April 8, 2003


Lisa Marie Presley knows about fame. She was famous long before her second marriage, to Michael Jackson, and her brief third marriage - 104 days - to actor Nicolas Cage.


"It's not like I need attention,'' Elvis' only child says from her home in Los Angeles. "There's been press since I was born.''

But while Presley knows lots about being a celebrity, she knows little about being a singer. At age 35, she's making her debut as a recording artist with today's release of her CD, "To Whom It May Concern.''

The daughter of the most famous singer in history admits to feeling a little freaked out by the prospect of stepping in front of an audience and having to sing herself.

"It's like throwing a baby in the bath water,'' she says. "I did my first showcase ever two weeks ago and (Los Angeles Times critic) Robert Hillburn was there. Then I did this music business convention, my first real performance. I'm being thrown out there immediately in these god-awful situations. My stress level goes out the roof and my throat tightens and I can't sing.

"I'm sure the more I do it, the better I'll do,'' she says. "I'm not getting any coaching. I'm just going by my own instinct. I have to go on tour. Then I'll get used to it. I'll enjoy it when I'm not under so much pressure like I am right now. I'll enjoy it when people come to see me because they like the record, not because of who I am. Right now I'm very sensitive to skepticism and curiosity and nervousness. I can feel it from the audience and they can feel it from me. But you'll see.''

Presley laughs. "Well, I don't know what you'll see.''

Judging from the video to her first single, "Lights Out,'' what audiences will see is a performer with an eerie resemblance to her father. While she avoids any obvious hip-swiveling mimicry, she evokes the King of Rock 'n' Roll more than any Elvis imitator by simply raising an eyebrow or curling her lip into a snarl.

But Presley's music doesn't sound anything like her father's.

After signing with Capitol Records five years ago, she made and scrapped an album made with Alanis Morissette-producer Glen Ballard. She started anew with producer Eric Rosse, who has worked with Tori Amos, a singer/songwriter Presley names as one of her favorites. "To Whom It May Concern'' boasts a thoroughly contemporary though somewhat generic rock sound. Presley's husky voice mixes Sheryl Crow cool with Pat Benatar toughness. It's credible, but not distinctive.

What does stand out on "To Whom It May Concern'' are Presley's lyrics. She wrote her songs in collaboration with several musicians, including Danny Keough, her first husband and father of her two children, Danielle, 13, and Ben, 10. But their revealing, sometimes startling words are all hers.

"I've been writing since I was 22,'' Presley says. "It was a way to get through whatever I needed to get through, a therapeutic thing.''

"I don't want to sound like an arrogant ass, but if I'd wanted to make a record before, I could've. Finally I decided to be what I was inspired by my whole life and just park all that other stuff. Quite a feat, I must say. I had to not think about being compared, because that's very intimidating. I had to think about reaching people artistically.''

With "S.O.B.,'' the first song on "To Whom It May Concern,'' Presley makes it clear that she's no sweet-talking Southern belle. "I'm just a son of a bitch no matter what you say,'' she declares a few lines after spitting out an expletive.

But between songs that sound like angry kiss-offs to disappointing relationships - and perhaps disappointing marriages - and a topical title track denouncing the overmedication of children, Presley shows a softer side. In "So Lovely'' she offers what's probably good advice to her kids (``Sometimes don't listen to your mama and don't do as I do''). "Sinking In'' expresses what sounds like regret for the breakup of her marriage to Keough.

Presley doesn't utter any cuss words on her bravest and boldest songs, both about her royal rock heritage. "Nobody Noticed It'' is a moving message to her father from the still-loving child who witnessed both his glory and sad demise.

In "Lights Out,'' she reflects on how weird it was to grow up in Graceland, Elvis' home and current resting place.

"That's where my family's buried and gone,'' she sings, "Last time I was there I noticed a space left next to them, there in Memphis, in the damn back lawn.''

As Elvis' heir, Presley owns Graceland. When asked if her music is a way to rebel against the straight-arrow Presley family image presented to tourists at Graceland, she seems surprised.

``Hmmm, may be,'' Presley replies. "I haven't thought of it like that. But it's not out of the question.''

Any chance visitors to Graceland will hear her music piped through the sound system?

Presley laughs loudly. "Now that is out of the question. Absolutely not.''

April 08, 2003

BOOK: "ELVIS, BEHIND THE IMAGE"

ELVIS, BEHIND THE IMAGE

* Hardcover
* Printed on glossy paper
* Weight: 0,7 kg
* More than 400 photo's, most of them never published before. The majority of them printed in color.
* Size: 21,5 x 29,5 x 1,0 cm

Source: Peter Haan

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