Elvis at the Senior Center

Where else should Elvis be hanging out but at the Fort Collins Senior Center?  I saw Bubba Ho Tep?  This was the same Elvis whom my wife Ann dated before I met her and who sang at our wedding.  His name is George Gray and he is widely known as “The Greeley Elvis.” 

The large party room with stage at the Senior Center was filled to capacity by the time Elvis appeared.  He brought a ten-piece band including five back-up singers wearing black suits and ties and one black dress.  Elvis wore a dazzling white preacher’s suit with a crimson cravat.  The first half was devoted to Gospel, beginning with a stunning a capella “Swing Low Sweet Chariot,” and proceeding through a remarkable set of songs including “Walking With the Spirits, “The Battle of Jericho” (which employed a heavy doo-wop style,) “Rock My Soul,” and an a capella “Johnny Saw a Big Number” that stunned.

This is much more than homage.  George Gray has a huge emotive tenor that evokes Elvis with ease.  Gray and the band worship the King and his music and it shows in every note.  Bass vocalist Charlie Spillman, from Fort Collins, anchored the chorus with freight train authority.  The first half ended with “Amazing Grace” and “How Great Thou Art.”  (more…)

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Tags: Beatles, Billy Joel, Bubba Ho Tep, Elton JOhn, elvis
Posted Mar 21st 2010 at 7:10 am in Celebrity News, Featured Story, Music | 31975817 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mbaron/2010/03/21/elvis-at-the-senior-center/Elvis+at+the+Senior+Center2010-03-21+14%3A10%3A50Mike+Baron

When Did the Concept of Celebrity Jump the Shark?

Somewhere over the last 25 years, the idea of what constitutes a “celebrity” changed from a person with some kind of history of achievement to pretty much anyone with a pulse who manages to get his, her or its mug splashed across a TV screen.  Actually, as the wailing and gnashing of teeth surrounding the death of Michael Jackson demonstrated last year, the pulse is now optional.

Nowhere is this more apparent than the ridiculous, cynical remake of “We are the World,” an exercise that according to news accounts seemed less focused on assisting the people of Haiti than on stroking the egos of the pseudo-stars and future nobodies who did the yodeling.

The tiresome video (directed by the tiresome Paul Haggis) raises an important question – who the hell are these people?  I think one of them – the dude with the expensive clothes and dull stare – was Puff Diddley or P. Daddy or whatever idiotic moniker he’s using this week.  You know, there was a time when grown men used their given names instead of childish nicknames that are just emblems of the eternal adolescence that modern pop culture worships. 

Now, the original “We are the World” was itself nearly unlistenable, but that’s a matter of taste and reasonable people can disagree (I thought the British supergroup Band-Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” was a much better song, though it shared “World’s” inexcusable refusal to confront the reason the Ethiopian drought turned into the Ethiopian famine – the cruelty and stupidity of its left wing government ).  However, at least most of the participants were people with track records of success.  You had Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Diana Ross, Bob Dylan, Dionne Warwick and a bunch of others.  Now, not all of them might have been your cup of tea – I’d rather pass a kidney stone made of broken glass than listen to the Boss – but you had at least heard of them. (more…)

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Tags: Band Aid, Billy Joel, Bob Dylan, bruce springsteen, Diana Ross
Posted Feb 24th 2010 at 2:09 pm in Celebrity News, Culture, Featured Story, Music | 312006130 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/kschlichter/2010/02/24/when-did-the-concept-of-celebrity-jump-the-shark/When+Did+the+Concept+of+Celebrity+Jump+the+Shark%3F2010-02-24+22%3A09%3A58Kurt+Schlichter

The Obama Song! (Official Version)

I’m the first to admit it; Music is not my “forte.” However, due to the staggering number of misinformed Americans, I decided to employ some Child Education/Propaganda tactics in the latest video. Plus, everyone likes Billy Joel! Well except for his daughter…She could have had Brinkley’s looks but wound up with her dads mug. Poor girl.

Here’s to hoping that this sing-along can get through the Obamabots calcium deposited skulls!

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Tags: abortion, Billy Joel, Obama, Obama official song
Posted Mar 26th 2009 at 5:22 pm in Political Humor, Video | 89690125 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/scrowder/2009/03/26/the-obama-song-official-version/The+Obama+Song%21+%28Official+Version%292009-03-27+00%3A22%3A13Steven+Crowder