The latest on Elvis

Source: calendarlive.com ()

In its day, the record industry made the club rock’s delivery room. Today its intimacy and revered legacy let it play on.

By Robert Hilburn, Special to The Times

MUCH of the most-prized music these days is housed in big rooms, whether it’s the massive Staples Center or its still-large baby brother Nokia Theatre, but there was a time in the late ’60s and early ’70s when the best music was frequently showcased in small rooms — the rootsy Ash Grove on Melrose, the honky-tonkish Palomino on Lankershim and, above all, the folk-oriented Troubadour on Santa Monica.

In its heyday, the Troubadour, which celebrated its 50th anniversary earlier this month with shows by James Taylor and Carole King, was the most important venue for new talent in the nation thanks to the vision of founder-owner Doug Weston, who booked acts because he believed in their talent, not just their drawing power.

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Weston, a tall, charismatic figure with long, flowing blond hair, used to delight in saying the club’s reputation for quality talent was so strong that people would make reservations before they even knew who was playing. It was probably true. The club was a key launching pad for dozens of distinguished songwriters, including John Prine, Randy Newman, Cat Stevens, Kris Kristofferson and Jackson Browne, as well as Taylor and King.

But no single show did more to cement the Troubadour’s star-making power than Elton John’s U.S. debut on a summer night in 1970. About the performance, John once told me, “My whole life came alive that night, musically, emotionally . . . everything. It was like everything I had been waiting for suddenly happened.”

The Troubadour could ignite careers because performers were, in many ways, auditioning for the entire record industry when they stepped on that small wooden Every Tuesday night, some 300 to 400 industry insiders, including radio station programmers, critics and concert …

Source: Orange County Register ()

A few looked like fire hazards. Others skipped that step and looked to be on fire.

There were even a few (we’re talking to you, Robin Savage of Anaheim) who took the opportunity afforded by The Greatest Christmas Tree in the Entire Universe  contest to show as a photo of a great-looking family but no, you know, tree.

Which brings us to our dilemma. The “tree” you maniacs voted in as the Greatest in the Universe is, indeed, a spectacular setting – a living room as it might look if Liberace and Elvis wrestled until their Hawaiian Holiday jumpsuits exploded. No matter. With apologies to all who followed the rules and sent in decorated Christmas trees (or branches, or snow globes, etc.) we present Hulagirlleilani’s Greatest Christmas Tree in the Entire Universe.

Click here to see the entire gallery.

Oh, Merry Christmas to all.

Source: Telegraph.co.uk ()

The annual Christmas getaway has been thrown into chaos as persistent fog forces the cancellation of dozens of flights and makes driving treacherous.

Heathrow has bourne the brunt of the weather problems with up to 60 mostly short haul and domestic flights scrapped, of which 34 were British Airways flights. Around 9,000 passengers were affected.

The fog is expected to get worse before it clears later this evening.

The fog also affected conditions on the roads, with delays in the east Midlands, the north of England and Scotland, on the M6 and the M40 in particular.

There have also been problems in Kent with poor visibility on the M20 and M25. Accidents caused by the bad weather have led to blockages on the M23 south of Gatwick and another near the junction with the M25.

Some 2.3 million people were expected to travel abroad this year but the exodus got off to a bad start on Friday, with poor visibility forcing the cancellation of flights at Gatwick and Manchester,

By mid afternoon today ten flights had also been cancelled out of London City Airport and there were further disruptions at Norwich and Gatwick Airport.

The reduced visibility - down to 50m in some areas - also saw delays of up to 12 hours to flights from Manchester, Cardiff, Glasgow, Birmingham, Stansted and Luton.

The misery of air passengers added to the disappointment of 10,000 people planning trips abroad over Christmas who were victims of the collapse of travel company Travelscope.

The firm’s managing director Richard Ford said he took “full responsibility” for its collapse - which has left a total of 40,000 people’s holiday plans in ruins - and explained that the decision to go into administration had been delayed so more than 200 staff - who now face redundancy - could be given their December pay packet.

But the worst already passed and with an improvement in weather conditions, today should be easier for those making …

Source: Trading Markets (press release) ()

Quiet opening for city’s new giant: Comcast Center wows workers as they slip in.

Saturday, December 22, 2007; Posted: 11:16 AM

Dec 22, 2007 (The Philadelphia Inquirer - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) — CMCSA | charts | news | PowerRating — Ssshhh! The Comcast Center is open. Sorta. Comcast corporate isn’t officially talking yet about the move-in at Philadelphia’s tallest building, the 57-story glass tower that is expected to be completed in 2008. But quietly, shortly after Thanksgiving, workers began moving in, handfuls by the week. Some enter through the front of the building at 17th and JFK, crossing the wide floor in the glassed-in lobby, visible to passersby on the street. Others enter through double-glass doors tucked in a quiet corner of Suburban Station, where a small sign says “To Comcast Center Lobby.” “Every week, someone is moving in,” Comcast product manager Sheila Rouse of Glenside said yesterday. Rouse is among the employees who step off trains, walk to the quiet corner, and buzz themselves through the glass doorway. Next to their tasteful entrance is another opening, to a long hallway. Far more workers enter there. They wear sweatshirts, dusty jeans and heavy boots. Yes, she has worked to the sound of jackhammers, said Marsha Lawton, an analyst for Comcast, as she paused at the double-glass doors. “Yesterday, it went on for a couple of hours,” said Lawton, who moved from Comcast’s quarters at 1500 Market St. to the center’s sixth floor about two weeks ago. Still, she’s glad to be in the new tower. “It’s open. It’s real bright. It’s cheery,” the Lansdowne resident said. What about the artwork? “Oh, that’s beautiful,” she said of the artwork being installed. “We have a picture of Elvis, and we have a picture of three televisions, abstract,” Lawton said of her work area. One floor down, on 5, art is still going up. Kennedy, director of technical operations, said he was seeing a new picture every day. Kennedy, of …

Source: Los Angeles Times ()

CD sales were sluggish industry-wide in 2007. Then Oprah Winfrey recommended Josh Groban’s ‘Noël.’

By Geoff Boucher, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

A truly dismal year for the recording industry is ending with a December surprise — thanks in large part to an Oprah Winfrey endorsement (yes, she does that a lot these days): The bestselling album of the year is now “Noël,” Josh Groban’s lushly orchestrated Christmas collection.

“Noël” has now sold close to 2.8 million copies and it’s ramping up by the week as holiday shoppers reach for it as this season’s designated dinner-party soundtrack. The only person, it seems, who is tired of hearing Groban’s pa-rum-pa-pum-pum-ing is the 26-year-old singer himself.

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“I’ve been singing Christmas songs since June,” the 26-year-old Los Angeles native said this week with a mock moan. “I’m ready to move on. I’m sure the album will be in the bargain bin by Dec. 26.”

That’s false modesty: “Noël” has already assured itself a spot in music history by breaking a 50-year-old record by the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. “Elvis’ Christmas Album,” by Elvis Presley, logged three consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard album charts in 1957, and no holiday collection matched that until this week. Groban’s album has now spent four weeks at No. 1 and just posted its strongest week (669,000 copies sold) since its October release.

It has also eclipsed the other top-sellers of 2007: the soundtrack to the Disney Channel’s “High School Musical 2″ (2.7 million copies sold in the U.S. since its August release) and “Daughtry” (more than 2 million this year, in addition to the 1.1 million copies sold in 2006) by “American Idol” alumnus Chris Daughtry and his namesake band.

All three bestsellers were success stories that started on television, not — the traditional physics of the music business don’t apply anymore.

Groban pointed to the recent …

Source: Cherry Hill Courier Post ()

Celebrate New Year’s Eve in AC

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Thursday, December 20, 2007

New Year’s Eve in Atlantic City remains the province of high rollers who are wined and dined at lavish private soirees by their gaming halls of choice. But that doesn’t mean the rest of us are shut out of the festivities.

There are a number of public events, from dance parties such as the one run by legendary Philadelphia radio personality Jerry Blavat featuring The Trammps of “Disco Inferno” fame at the Atlantic City Hilton, and the retro-bash at Boogie Nights at Resorts Atlantic City, to bacchanals staged at ultra-hip discos such as Borgata’s mur.mur and mixx, the Taj Mahal’s Casbah Nightclub and The pool at Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City, where DJ Jazzy Jeff will preside over the merrymaking.

Plus, there are a slew of musical and comedic headliners. The former includes what is the night’s hippest booking, Elvis Costello & The Imposters at House of Blues inside Showboat, and pop-’n-soul queen Patti LaBelle, who’ll welcome 2008 from the stage at Caesars Atlantic City.

If you’d rather laugh your way into the New Year, your choices include sitcom star Brad Garrett at Harrah’s and X-rated Lisa Lampanelli at Borgata.

Perhaps the most unusual offering is at Showboat, which is turning its French Quarter Buffet into a jazz supper club for the evening.

So enjoy:

- Atlantic City Hilton, (609) 340-7200, www.hiltonac.com

Jerry Blavat Dance Party, 8 p.m., $110

- Borgata, (609) 317-1000, www.theborgata.com

Lisa Lampanelli, 7 and 11 p.m., $50

- Caesars Atlantic City, (800) 677-7469, www.caesarsac.com

Patti LaBelle, 11 p.m., $100 and $85

- Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City, (800) 242-7724, www.harrahs.com

Brad Garrett, 9 at the concert venue, $80 and $45; DJ Jazzy Jeff, 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. at …

Source: OCRegister ()

We have reached the point where technology meets nostalgia and the baby boomer’s head explodes – every issue of Playboy in the 1950s and every issue of Rolling Stone for its first 40 years are now available on digital discs.

In slick box sets the digitized magazine collections debuted last month. “Rolling Stone Cover to Cover: The First 40 Years” and “Playboy Cover to Cover: the ’50s” debuted last month from Bondi Digital Publishing, making redundant all those musty old magazines you’d been saving in your closet or garage.

And unlike those old issues, these come with fully searchable archives that allow you to quickly skip through time to find every single article on Pink Floyd or Elvis Costello or Jay-Z that Rolling Stone published, every story by Jack Kerouac or Ray Bradbury or Roald Dahl that Playboy ever printed.

And, of course, there are photos – icon rock shots in Rolling Stone, mild-to-the-point of quaintness centerfolds in Playboy — as well as all the ads that surrounded the editorial content. Want to relive the groovy stereo ads of the ’70s? Rolling Stone’s got ‘em. Want to see what the ’50s gentleman drank or smoked? Take a peek at Playboy.

“This doesn’t exist out there,” says David Anthony, founder with Murat Aktar of Bondi Digital Publishing. “Until these came out, short of going to the library and looking it up or having collected it, there was no access to these wonderful articles and photographs and reviews and interviews.

“So it starts with that,” Anthony says of the appeal of the two sets. “And then the ability to find it instantly and retrieve it instantly, people love. Because even if you have it collected on your shelves, the ability to find that Led Zeppelin article or that John Mayer article or that David Letterman profile is pretty daunting.”

Bondi got started by helping The New Yorker figure out how to digitally publish first 80 years of its magazine – more than 4,000 issues and half a million pages. …

Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune (subscription) ()

I don’t believe in opening gifts early. So when a new batch of Christmas CDs arrived in September, I put them under the tree, so to speak (actually under my desk) and didn’t open them until December so I could dutifully present this package of 2007 treats — with a few white elephants, of course.

STOCKING STUFFERS
Various artists, "Stockings by the Fire" (Starbucks) — This perfect wine-by-the-fire compilation is the cream of the Christmas crop. Diana Krall swings on "Winter Wonderland," A Fine Frenzy offers a somber "Let It Snow" while Herbie Hancock and Corinne Bailey Rae present Joni Mitchell’s "River" as a fresh holiday tune. Throw in classics by Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole and latte-licious favorites by Jack Johnson and Rufus Wainwright and you’ll love these mistle-tunes.
Darlene Love, "It’s Christmas, of Course" (Shout) — My Christmas spirit officially arrives when this powerhouse New Yorker (the voice of the Crystals in the 1960s) performs "(Christmas) Baby Please Come" on "The Late Show With David Letterman." After 17 consecutive years, she’ll skip this year because of the writers’ strike. But she does a splendidly soulful job with more obscure yule tunes, including James Brown’s funky, horn-accented and still relevant "Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto."
The Isley Brothers, "I’ll Be Home for Christmas" (Def Soul Classics) — This is a cuddly Christmas album. Produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the sound is totally Isleys, with stand-outs including the bluesy Hammond B3-fueled "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" and the sexy, intimate voice-and-guitar "Isley Christmas Medley" featuring four seasonal classics.
Josh Groban, "Noel" (Reprise) — The year’s bestselling seasonal title, this predictably effort is comforting in its formalism and restraint. This is the equivalent of choral music rendered …

Source: Allentown Morning Call ()

A dose of Elvis does good

Local psychiatrists portray ‘The King’ as a way for them to connect with patients.

By Ann Wlazelek |
Of The Morning Call
December 16, 2007

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The performer wore a red jumpsuit studded in gold and sunglasses rimmed in silver.

His velvety voice and smooth moves — pumping his right arm to the slow pace of ‘’Can’t Help Falling in Love'’ and tossing scarves into the crowd — evoked laughter, cheers and whistles from an audience that spilled out of a Bethlehem clinic room and into a hall.

‘’I love you, Elvie,'’ one woman yelled before flinging a pair of pantyhose onto the plywood stage.

Fans know the performer better when he dons a suit and tie and asks, ‘’Are you lonesome tonight?'’ without bursting into song.

He is Dr. Carlos ‘’Elvis'’ Velas, a 70-year-old psychiatrist on staff at the Lehigh Valley Community Mental Health Center, where the show took place, and at other clinics in Bethlehem and Quakertown.

So passionate about Presley is he that Velas belts out his best impression of the ‘’king of rock ‘n’ roll'’ just to entertain himself and his patients.

And believe it or not, he’s not the only one. Fellow psychiatrist Sung Park, 67, of Orefield, a lifelong fan who works at mental health clinics in Allentown and Bethlehem, finds impersonating Elvis therapeutic as well.

‘’They enjoy it,'’ Velas said of mental health patients who might otherwise be anxious, ill at …

Source: Allentown Morning Call ()

The Week In Review: December 15, 2007

December 15, 2007

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CLAY AIKEN

Clay Aiken’s heart, if not his voice, was in the right place for his ‘’Christmas in the Heartland'’ concert at the State Theatre Wednesday night. Backed by the Chelsea Symphony from New York and two female vocalists, the ‘’American Idol'’ runner-up gave a performance filled with warmth and sentimentality.

It was not that his voice lacked strength — the louder he sang, the more the loyal audience cheered — but unlike the tight muscularity heard in his recordings, his midrange was harsh when pushed and his pitch often went flat. Some songs had awkward phrasing. There were some notable exceptions. ‘’Hark the Herald Angels Sing'’ was delivered with heartfelt conviction, and he gave a medley of Christmas favorites, ending with ‘’Winter Wonderland,'’ a neat Elvis-like touch.

The Christmas-themed program — Aiken’s second at the State — was a mix of popular medleys, songs from his 2004 platinum ‘’Merry Christmas with Love'’ CD and readings by four members of the audience, who related their personal Christmas memories — some happy, some bittersweet — as the orchestra softly played background music behind them. Most of the Christmas medleys were pleasing enough, but have been performed better by others with far less superstar status.

two backup vocalists belted out their lines with wonderful gospel-like flair; their rendition of ‘’O Holy …