I was approached by the marketing company for BMG to assist with the promotion of DVDs for the '68 Comeback, Aloha Concert and launch of "That's All Right". I was asked to quote for a range of products and to work together on July 5th. I explained we had planned to have 50 ETAs touring London on double-decker open top buses and the PR company loved the idea. I suggested they should contribute to the travelling expenses of the ETAs, provide some Elvis goodies and help the charity we were fundraising for, the "Lynda Jackson Macmillan Centre".  I told the PR company since 2002 I was informed by executives at BMG they were not allowed to associate with Elvisly Yours because EPE would be upset. If EPE say "boo" the execs at BMG "jump"...how sad, how pitiful? Nevertheless, the PR company said not to worry because his contact at BMG was his own man and supposedly had 'balls'. I was told to contact this BMG macho man  and set everything up. I emailed, I phoned, I left messages. I never heard from BMG again or the PR company. Meanwhile, we had two busloads of Elvis Tribute Artists touring the West End of London on July 5th and at 5pm singing "That's All Right" giving BMG and their stupid partners EPE worldwide publicity worth $millions.

You would think Jack Soden, Gary Hovey and maybe even Lisa Marie Presley would think hell, if we can't beat this guy, we won't join him but we will turn a blind eye because if he is successful promoting the 50th Anniversary of 'Rock 'n' Roll' we can make a lot more money. But instead they affected our publicity, even though it was massive it could have been even greater. It is very important to get the Press Association to photograph your promotions since they supply photos to all the British media. 

For, probably, the first time ever on a major Elvis promotion the Press Association (PA) did not photograph our Event, with all the Elvises. I even went to the Press Association offices on Sunday July 4th to encourage PA to send a photographer on July 5th. Their representative from the Picture Desk, who knew me,  said they had no spare cameramen because they had too many at Wimbledon for 14 days without a break. The only cameraman they had spare HAD to go to HMV on Oxford Street to photograph a BMG promotion. I told him "we had 50 Elvises" and how could that compare with a store promotion? I was told they HAD to photograph BMG's promotion otherwise PA would not be invited to other promotions with major BMG artists. The Press Association never sent a photographer along to our day long celebration...I never saw any photos from HMV in the national press, either. However, we did have Associated Press syndicate photos around the world and several major international press agencies. If BMG had not been so childish and stupid and instead encouraged PA to cover our event rather than threaten them photos of all our Elvises touring London, entertaining the crowds at Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Parliament Square and the London Trocadero would have appeared in many British papers and all related to the release of "That's All Right" thus helping their own promotion. I think they call it "cutting your nose to spite your face". It would be nice if BMG having got $millions of free publicity around the world because of Elvisly Yours gives a large donation to the Lynda Jackson Macmillan Centre, but don't hold your breath.