Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Apparently Mojo Nixon Was Right -- Elvis IS Everywhere!!!

Okay, I know that this is a one-joke bit extended a little longer than it should have been, but it just cracks me up anyway.

From 1979, and the wiseguys at Rhino Records, please enjoy The International Elvis Impersonators Convention.




My personal fave: "The Leaping Loincloth of Gunga Maharesley!!!"

8 comments:

steve simels said...

Note to self: Readers of PowerPop less interested in 70s comedy LPs than hoped.
:-)

FD13NYC said...

No, it's actually pretty funny. Played it for the wife, she thought so too. Going to Graceland in June, can't wait.

DJWildBill said...

A master of this type of "annoy the audience until it is ready to walk" comedy was Andy Kaufman. I remember fondly his skit "I Trusted You" seen at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSYV-nEE300

The skit Andy worked out was clever, not easy to pull off well, daring to do in front of a live audience, and surprisingly complex in execution for 3:42 of repetition and an encore of more of the same.

The Elvis Impersonators Convention lacks something: humanity and heart immediately come to mind. These are flat jokes parodying Elvis' material within two years of his death. It is crude humor at best, bad taste and poor execution at least, and a gimmicky play for money at most.

The track I heard online went on like a lingering SNL skit that continues long after the joke has died. You remember fondly the overplayed "Toonces", "I'm Chevy Chase and you're not", and "Living in a van down by the river" skits? Not such fond memories? They went on too long. So did this at nearly 11 minutes.

Jerry Lee said...

Man, this is hilarious, one of the funniest albums in my collection! Yo DJWildBill, I think you missed the joke, I always thought they were making fun of the impersonators, not the King hisself.

How ironic when the convention took place 18 years ago and is still going strong! http://www.elvisimpersonator.org/cic.html

steve simels said...

I always thought they were making fun of the impersonators, not the King hisself.

Ditto.

Phillip B said...

The liner notes are particularly funny - predicting that at the current (1979) rate of growth, 1 out of every 6 American men would make their living as Elvis impersonators by the year 2000.

Which, as we all recall, turned out to be a very accurate prediction...

steve simels said...

Which, as we all recall, turned out to be a very accurate prediction...

I think it's the only thing that explains the current membership of congress.

Jerry Lee said...

Steve, how about running a photo of the back cover?