Getting Lisa to No.1 in the UK

On June 30^th 2003 Lisa Marie’s first single 'Lights Out' will be released in the UK and just like our campaign for Elvis’ ‘A Little Less Conversation’ we are organising a promotion all over the world to help Lisa get to no.1. We will encourage Elvis fans to download and copy an order form from our website to take into their record stores to place an order for ‘Lights Out’. We will encourage Elvis fan clubs around the world to advertise our campaign and encourage their members to order the British version of the single. They are still deciding the track list for the CD single at Capitol Records and we will update our website to inform fans when we get the information.

Further, I will be placing a £100.00 bet with ‘William Hill’ www.williamhill.co.uk that Lisa will get to no.1 in the UK singles chart with “Lights Out”. Look out for publicity about the bet in the media, soon. If every Elvis fan bought a copy of Lisa’s single she would stay at the top for weeks. Just encourage your family and friends to also buy a copy. Getting Lisa Marie Presley to no.1 in the UK would be a greater achievement than her father, Elvis Presley who only reached no.2 with his first single ‘Heartbreak Hotel’. It wasn’t until ‘All Shook Up’ that Elvis finally achieved the top spot in the UK Charts.

‘Lights out’ is a catchy little number and could easily make it to no.1, but the fact that it is written and sung by Elvis’ daughter gives the single an added boost and it is supported by a great video. Lisa has an uncanny resemblance to Elvis and at certain camera angles you could almost think it was Elvis. Apparently, in person, Lisa is even more stunning and more like Elvis. It is BBC Radio2's "Record of the Week", June 2nd-6th, 2003

YOU ARE HEREBY ORDERED to click HERE...print off the order form and if you live in the UK take it to a major record retailer and place an order for Lisa Marie’s new single ‘LIGHTS OUT’ on Capitol Records, release date 30^th June 2003. Also, advise the record dealer to stock up on the single because all your family and friends will want to buy it, as well. If you can afford to order several copies place orders in different record stores, big supermarkets, W H Smith or Woolworth's.

At the “Elvis Concerts’ in the UK last week they played Lisa’s album but made no announcement that it was Lisa singing, the volume was too low and they did not show her excellent video of  ‘Lights Out’. Lisa lost a marvellous opportunity to promote her new single to 60,000 devoted Elvis fans. Neither did I see any promotional leaflets for Lisa’s single but was told by one fan they found hundreds of leaflets just dumped on the street outside Wembley Arena. Elvis fans would be the first people to buy her single as a sign of love and respect for Elvis that they can now share with his only child. To most Elvis fans Elvis is like ‘family’ and they have grown up with him all their life, so Lisa is ‘family’ and Elvis fans will help her all they can. It is you, the fans, who can help Lisa Marie by simply ordering in the UK her single, then her album, ‘To Whom it May Concern’ and give her singing career a real boost.

Lisa’s Showcase in London

Lisa Marie did a Showcase at the CC Club in the Trocadero during her visit to London. Of course, the Trocadero was the home of the Elvisly Yours Shop for more than two years. Their ticket allocation was very limited to the media and one or two celebrities. Even though Elvisly Yours is organising a major promotion for free for Lisa’s single and album I still could not get a ticket from EMI or the CC Club. 

I managed to interview one of Britain’s leading Showbiz writers who did go along to the Showcase. His brief report on the Showcase was featured all over the world but did not get into the real nitty gritty and only mentioned that she had performed and a comment from Frank Skinner which said she was ‘fantastic’. Sadly, the reporters comments and apparently the general impression among the media present was not very complimentary. He used an expression ‘underwhelmed’ regarding her performance and I expect it is the opposite of overwhelmed. What the media wanted was some good sound bites, some comments between songs, something they could get their teeth into and write a really upbeat story about this historical event. Lisa had achieved what Elvis had never done and performed live in the UK. The CC Club was packed with media and some big names from the media world, all there, intrigued to experience a piece of history and most were left unimpressed.

Lisa has an enormous cross to bear, being the daughter of the world’s most famous ‘entertainer’ and that is what Elvis was with every ounce of his heart, his soul, and his body a truly magnificent entertainer, the likes of which we will never see again. As his father said, Elvis was a gift from God. Lisa can sing, she can move but she must learn to entertain. I doubt if she will ever read this article but if someone does who knows her perhaps they can inspire her to dig deep into those wonderful, God-given genes and teach her to turn on the charm, to give herself totally to her audience, to learn from her father. My reporter friend did not hear any banter between songs and her voice was so quiet she was often drowned out by the music. He said the backing band was good but they tended to dominate her voice. The media were waiting for some comment about Elvis, about her career, about being in London singing, when Elvis had only landed in Scotland on his way back to the States after his term of duty in the US Army. If she had said anything it was not heard. She is quite small and could hardly been seen on the low stage except for those in the front. She sang six songs, one of which she had to start again, after she forgot the words, then swore. She had an audience of Britain’s leading Showbiz journalists and could have had them in the palm of her hands. It will take time and she has a US Tour planned but she must watch her father’s concert videos over and over again, study his technique to learn how he captured an entire audience. She must learn to joke and play with the audience, be outward and not inward, be herself and overcome her apparent shyness.

When I asked how come Frank Skinner said she was fantastic and the reporter was very much unimpressed he made a poignant comment and said perhaps Frank Skinner would like her on one of his shows and said complimentary things. However, if Lisa ever went to see his show called, “Cooking with Elvis” I doubt if she would ever appear on his show. The Daily Star reporter was also very impressed by Lisa’s Showcase. 

In all the TV interviews I have seen of her I was impressed by her candidness and honesty but I sense a great, hidden sadness and an inner struggle for her true identity and I hope her music helps her achieve her dreams.

King and Queen Magazine           June 2nd  2003 is the 50th Anniversary of the  Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.  Celebrate this wonderful achievement with our most infamous magazine issue of the King and Queen. The "King and Queen" magazine was banned in Britain in 1981. No newsagent would stock the magazine and no newspaper would even allow us to even advertise the magazine. We sent a copy to the Queen and she did not complain and probably gave a small chuckle but the news trade were very upset. They thought it was in bad taste to depict the Queen of England 'cheek to cheek' with Elvis Presley. We had to change the cover of the magazine using a photo of Elvis from 'Kid Gallahad' . There is a limited stock of this unique magazine! Serious collectors item £15.00 + p&p

ELVIS - The Concert

We were privileged to attend both London Shows for "Elvis-the Concert" and I must say they were the best yet, although I have heard from many sources that the best shows have been in Memphis in 1997 and again for the 25th Anniversary. The sound was so superior and the quality of the film image of Elvis on screen was much sharper than the first shows we saw and with advanced technology there were so many, great such close-up images of Elvis. Just sitting there or standing for the last numbers you really , in your heart, expected Elvis to come out on stage. It is the closest you will ever get to the real thing and one of my great regrets and that of millions of fans was not seeing Elvis LIVE. Prior to the shows, whilst trying to find our VIP seats, I noticed the price of the souvenirs. I know the prices that EPE pay for their souvenirs buying in such large quantities as I have been in the business 25 years. It is a disgrace that EPE should charge £10.00 for a programme and £18.00 for t-shirts, £65.00 for a cheap cotton jacket.
Why does EPE rip off the fans so much ? If they sold the programme at £5.00 they would have sold many thousands more and made even greater profits. If Elvisly Yours can charge £10.00 for a t-shirt ordering 100 at a time why does EPE charge £18.00 ordering them in thousands ? This rip-off of Elvis fans was my only regret which otherwise were two great nights out.

 One more moan is that it is quite ridiculous that Charlie Hodge and Kathy Westmoreland have been excluded from the tours when they were an integral part of the original shows. It is wrong and quite pathetic to exclude Charlie and Kathy; that is the pettiness of EPE.

It seems this time the show concentrated on the 50's for the first part and the 70's for the second part. Although the first part of the programme was great and the "2001" intro still brings a shiver down the spine, however, the second part of the show was out of this world with the audience on their feet for much of the second half with such great production numbers as 'My Way', You've Lost That Loving Feeling", American Trilogy and the finale with 'Can't Help Falling in Love With You'. What must of it been like to have seen Elvis in Hawaii, at the '68 Special, at Madison Square Gardens, in Vegas ? The concept of the Virtual Elvis Concert can go on for years, even without the original musicians and backing singers. Most young fans would not even be aware of who backed Elvis and for the shows in Britain they had many different musicians and backing singers, this time.

I am sure we will see "Elvis the Concert" back in Britain as it is such a fabulous show and we will continue to promote this event sending out and distributing thousands of their leaflets and publicising the event on our website...it is such a great show and real ELVIS.