Doin' The Elvis Train in Australia
You ain't nothin' but a hound dog
Cryin' all the time
You ain't nothin' but a hound dog
Cryin' all the time
Well, you ain't never caught a rabbit
And you ain't no friend of mine
Cryin' all the time
You ain't nothin' but a hound dog
Cryin' all the time
Well, you ain't never caught a rabbit
And you ain't no friend of mine
It ain't nothing but a publicity stunt--
goin' back in time.
and it don't need a brain--
just a long fancy train
for people in Elvis clothes to do Elvis poses
singin' with an Elvis grunt.
Well, now a lot of Aussies have caught the habit
and made it a little Goldmine.
HzL
1/7/16
'It just opens my heart': Presley fans go loco as they board the Elvis Express
Steph Harmon joins the great, good and gold-rimmed in Sydney on their way to join lookalikes at the 24th Parkes Elvis festival and a week of ‘Fun in Acapulco’
Wearing a bright turquoise V-neck jumpsuit with gold-studded detailing and an enormous white plastic belt, Ken Keith is in his element.
Keith, the mayor of Parkes in western New South Wales, is standing on platform 1 at Sydney’s Central Station amid throngs of Elvis fanatics and the people who love them. In just over an hour – after photos, speeches and a series of tributes performed on a makeshift stage in the station’s main foyer – the costumed Elvii assembled will board the “Elvis Express” behind him, departing Sydney for the 24th annual Parkes Elvis festival.
The festival is Australia’s premier Elvis event and coincides with Presley’s birthday each January, bringing tens of thousands of fans to Parkes, 350km west of Sydney for five days of entertainment, competitions and – judging by this morning’s event – fairly confronting groin gestures. This year’s theme is “Fun In Acapulco”, and program highlights include performances by leading US Elvis tribute artist Donny Edwards and a series of talks with Steve Binder, who directed Elvis’s ‘68 Comeback Special.
“Thirty-two years ago, when I got involved in local government, I had no concept at all that I’d ever have to wear an Elvis outfit,” Mayor Keith says drily. He’s wearing dark gold-rimmed aviators and an enormous, shiny black wig, and has casually draped his mayoral livery over the polyester onesie.
Keith wasn’t raised an Elvis fan – he grew up in the Beatles era – but when you work for Parkes’ public sector, learning all the words to Hound Dog will get you far. “It becomes part of the mayoral office; you’ve got to dress up as part of the theme. And with 760 songs released, there’s an Elvis song for everyone.”
His favourite is American Trilogy: “It really does make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.”
The Parkes Elvis festival has grown substantially since it launched for a few hundred Elvis fans in 1993. Last year’s festival contributed over $8.6m to the local economy and this year they estimate a record-breaking 22,000 visitors will attend the 150-plus events, more than doubling the town’s population.
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