Like Mom, Like Elvis?

One thing we are blessed to know is that we will never know an Elvis any older than 42 years of age! But today, had he lived, he would have been 75. Difficult to imagine.
One characteristic I've inherited from my mother is a lack of patience with egotistical people. I've seen it when I was in rock bands and see it in them today, and I definitely see it in a lot of wannabes I run across in karaoke circles. One HAS to have a degree of confidence in order to get up and sing in the first place, but an over-sized ego is one of the most unattractive traits in a human being.
Such was Jimmy Dean, the singer of the one-hit wonder song, "Big John."(Okay, "PT 109" got some air play, but how many people remember it?) He was about as good a singer as he was an actor and you can witness that on the old "Davey Crocket" Disney-produced tv series. Quite wisely, he got into the sausage business. The sausage ain't half bad!
To his credit, before there was the Muppets, Dean brought a young Jim Hinson to the network and used his "Hound Dog Buddy Rolf" on his tv show.
Mom never had much use for Jimmy Dean and once when I was in a Northern Virginia restaurant where Dean was "politiking" walking to each table shaking hands with people saying, "Hi, I'm Jimmy Dean!"
When he got to my Mom, she said, "Congratulations!" quite sarcastically. That was NOT Mom's normal way of treating people, but it was quite appropriate.
So, you ask, "How does this tie in with ELVIS?" Glad you asked. At about that same time, around 1956, Elvis appeared on WMAL-TV, channel 7 in DC on Dean's variety show and visited at his house on Roosevelt Street in Arlington, Virginia. So Elvis and Dean became acquaintances.
In George Klein's new book, he relays a story he told on cable tv yesterday about an occasion where Dean was hitting on a starlet Elvis was dating and Elvis pulled a gun and put it to Dean's head and said, "If you don't stop bothering her, I'll blow your head off."
Dean, tried to make a joke of it, but Elvis did not say it with a smile on his face. Jimmy Dean backed down and stopped pestering the young starlet, according to Klein, Elvis' lifelong friend since the days at Humes High School.
I've had occasions like that lately, but don't think to carry a pistol with me, but I can relate to the emotion of obnoxious people, believe me!

"What's the Rush" Radio

Well, Rush Limbaugh is moving from WPTF Radio and a country FM is going conservative talk. Just yesterday, I heard a senior gentleman say "they've ruined that station" referring to WPTF. The station is changing from "News/Talk WPTF" to "NewsRadio WPTF."
"Vee shall see," as far as how successful that will be.
News outlets tend to be slanted toward the left and if WPTF relies on them and their alliance in having two News and Observer employees running the news department, it is doubtful that it will be anything resembling fair or balanced, but will be more liberal pablum that I call the dinosaur media and Limbaugh refers to as "State-run" or "Drive by" media.
WRDU 106.1 will have Glen Beck from nine to noon, Limbaugh from noon the three and Sean Hannity from three until six.
No doubt, the new format will be beneficial to WRDU. Whether WPTF can attract the NPR, liberal listener remains to be seen. NPR is known for its anti-American, BBC, socialist programming. That's quite a tilt to the left compared to the last thirty years.
Of course, WPTF's new programming will probably have the blessing of the trinity of OPR, (Obama, Pelosi and Reid.)
Amazing I couldn't find a characature-ization of them similar to the one above of Beck, Hannity and Limbaugh. As Gomer would say, "Sur-PRIZE, sur-PRIZE, sur-PRIZE!?

Want to HEar/DON'T Want to EVER Hear Again

Been putting together my dream CD of Christmas music. The base would be Mannheim Steamroller for fill, but the top ten would be the #1 Christmas song of all time, which recently outsold Bing Crosby's recording of Irving Berlin's "White Christmas," Elvis' "BLUE Christmas."
The next eight are kind of tied in my mind for number two: "Same Ole Lang Syne" by Dan Fogelberg, "Please Come Home for Christmas" by the Eagles (too many poor covers of this. Leave it alone, especially hick versions)"Wonderful Christmas Time" by Paul McCartney, "Happy Christmas (War is Over)" by John Lennon, "Jingle Bells" by the singing Dogs, Elvis' version of "White Christmas" ala Clyde McPhatter, "Santa Claus is Back in Town" by Elvis, "Santa Claus and His Old Lady" by Cheech and Chong (not a song, I know) and "If Every Day was Like Christmas" which hit #2 for the entire year of 1966 on Billboard's Christmas chart and has appeared evry year since.
Hovering below the top ten are, "Santa Bring My Baby Back to Me" by Elvis, and the rest of Elvis' first Christmas album for that matter, and "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" from his second. I don't really care for the rest of his second Christmas album.
There's "All I Want for Christmas is You" by Mariah Carey, and Amy Grant's "Tennessee Christmas." The Trans Syberians have some nice stuff I like to hear. And I LOVE the California Raisins' version of "Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer"
What I DON'T want to hear are Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" or any more Bing stuff. Sorry, it's worn the flip out! And besides, they're going to air the movie two dozen times every year, anyway. I don't want to hear "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas" by Burl Ives until someone finds the original hit mix. What everyone plays is a re-mix that stinks!
Don't want to hear Gene Autry's "Rudolf" or any Andy Williams mess.
Why don't writers write some good new stuff? Everyone has to cover everyone else's crap and it's exactly that...crapola!
The last really GOOD piece I heard that's probably ten years old was "Mary, Did You Know?" and that's only because the song was great. Kenny Rogers was excellent, but he teamed up with that Judd woman.
Anyway, that's just me. Christmas music seems to be like beer...you either hate it or LOVE it/
So Merry Christmas to all and let's try to remember Jesus in all this, okay?

Goodbye, Popping Fresh

The following is NOT original with me, but I think it's cute:







SAD PASSING

Please join me in remembering a great icon of the entertainment community.
The Pillsbury Doughboy died yesterday of a yeast infection and trauma
complications from repeated pokes in the belly. He was 71. Doughboy was
buried in a lightly greased coffin. Dozens of celebrities turned out to pay
their respects, including Mrs. Butterworth, Hungry Jack, the California
Raisins, Betty Crocker, the Hostess Twinkies, and Captain Crunch. The
grave site was piled high with flours.

Aunt Jemima delivered the eulogy and lovingly described Doughboy as a man
who never knew how much he was kneaded. Doughboy rose quickly in show
business, but his later life was filled with turnovers. He was not
considered a very smart cookie, wasting much of his dough on half-baked
schemes. Despite being a little flaky at times, he still was a crusty old
man and was considered a positive roll model for millions.

Doughboy is survived by his wife Play Dough, three children: John
Dough,Jane Dough and Dosey Dough, plus they had one in the oven. He is
also survived by his elderly father, Pop Tart.

The funeral was held at 350 for about 20 minutes. If this made you smile
for even a brief second, please rise to the occasion and take time to pass
it on and share that smile with someone else who may be having a crumby day
and kneads a lift.

My tell all book about my realtionwhip with Popping Fresh will come out soon ;-)

Can I Call You Elvis?

Over the years, various people have called me "Elvis." It's no secret that I think he was and will always be the quintessential artist of all time. My friend, Steve, had trouble remembering my name and always called me by the King's first name. The other day, I received an email and noticed that his moniker for me was "Elvis."
My first name is so common, there are always at least three John's in any given room. I've never particularly liked to be called "Big John." When I first started going to karaoke the first guy who turned a song in for me, put that for the name and it stuck on me for a good while.
There are several "Big Johns" who are very unsavory characters including one associated with Beach Music. When it comes to that genre, with the exception of some that crossed over into mainstream charts by the Drifters and such, I need to write my own answer to "I Love Beach Music," which would be "I HATE Beach Music."
Since about 2004, I have begun going by my last name. I am comfortable being ROEBUCK. I AM Roebuck.
So, the other night, a huge Elvis fan came up to me and asked my name. I told her, "Roebuck." She mispronounced it a few times and we went through the Sears explanation and she finally said, "Can I call you Elvis?"
My response was, that I am not close to worthy of having that name, but if that's what she wanted, I already look around if someone calls his name out.
I guess while emulation is a strong form of flattery, being called the name of one of your heroes is right up there with it.
So now, I'm off to have a banana sandwich. "Uh, Mama, don't forget to put extra mayonnaise on it, okay?"

The Cause

Soon after Elvis died, Dick Clark Productions' made-for-TV film "Elvis, the Movie" aired on ABC network Television. Kurt Russell starred in the title role and his father, veteran actor, Bing Russell played Vernon, Elvis' father.
This makes for a neat game of six degrees of separation. First of all the producer of the film was John Carpenter. When Elvis would stay in hotels, he would often register under the pseudonym, Dr John Carpenter. Elvis was somewhat of a fan of western movies and when he met Bing Russell asked the actor if he'd mind if when Elvis made a western, he'd wear his hat the unique way Big did. This was when a young Kurt starred with Elvis in "It Happened at the World's Fair."
You may recall the scene of Elvis' character hiring a young boy to kick him in the chin. That was Kurt.
Mille Perkins, who played Elvis' love interest in "Wild in the Country" played Elvis' mother, Glady's Love Presley in the film.
The work as been released on VHS, but there is a campaign now to bring it to DVD. I am asking all my friends to sign the petition to bring this about:
http://www.petitiononline.com/ElvisDVD/petition.html

Sorry, We're CLOSED! Get it?

Go to Highwoods, where Curtis Media Group has multiple radio stations operating and you have to go up an elevator and into a secure area where codes are needed to enter there in. If you're a guest of a show, you're shown a different way.
When I worked there, I don't recall a single soul banging on the glass, demanding that someone answer the door. Not ONCE!
Until recently, there were two Curtis outlets in a house in Louisburg, North Carolina. Very scenic, with a couple of ponds and geese. (The ducks, that came up from Mexico, were murdered by a driver on highway 561) It's forty-nine miles from my driveway out there to the edge of the world.
When I first began working there, I was told I should lock the door after five. "Fine" I thought. Once, early on, a local yokel shouted, "Hey" outside the window during my call in trade or sell shoe, called the Country Exchange. Anything you hear in the headphones is unsettling.
Recently, the AM outlet was sold and that's being finalized. That's another whole story. These folks don't like the geese, so they spread moth balls outside to run them off. Personally, I'd rather wipe goose poo off my shoe and interact with the little creatures than to have to small moth balls! When I open the window to get fresh air, I get that same, unpleasant odor.
Often times, people who leave for the day fail to lock the door on the way out. There's nothing more unnerving than to have the headphones on and realize someone has climbed the stairs and come into what at any OTHER radio station is a sanctuary. The only similar experience, would be someone opening the stall door in a restroom!
There's a "employees only" sign on the door that leads to the AM studios, but there's no signage...not even an "on air" light to ward off hayseeds who strike a notion to come up. What's worse, is there is no sign outside that could simply explain our office hours to the masses. What would be wrong with that? But NO! We can't have that!
There's a thing called the "public file" that management is paranoid about being accused of blocking access to.
At five-thirty, I am, to be quite honest, busier than a one-armed paper hanger. So NOW, I have to remember to go lock the door, before the real nitty gritty begins.
At five-fifty, I'm doing a talk into news thing and twice this week, while doing this I've heard some hick banging on the door downstairs. The "logic" being, "They wuz a car in da drive-way, so how come sumwun didn't ainser the door?"
Look, Gomer, try doing that at a restaurant after hours, while they're in there trying to clean up and get home. THEY have regular hours, why won't you let US (in radio) have them? Why can you not respect that?
It's just more of the same mind set of the crowd who drives ten miles UNDER posted and yet will pull out in front of you on highways 96 and 401.
This is my only outlet for letting my feelings known. So I've done just that. Don't get me started on the lack of compensation for services rendered.