Twenty Years Of Elvis

Saturday January 10th, 2009 - Milwaukee, WI

Twenty years already? It sure doesn’t seem like that long but I’ve been hosting the Elvis birthday celebration shows at Serb Hall in Milwaukee since 1989. My friend Tom Green asked me to do it back then because Elvis always had a comedian open for him and Tom thought it would be a good idea to do it here too. He was right. It worked from the start.

Tom’s concept was to have a show every year in January to celebrate Elvis’s birthday. It was a revolving cast of other Elvis tribute acts and him but he was the obvious star. If you never saw Tom Green perform you missed one of the best entertainers to step on a stage.

He really had ‘it’. He got pigeon holed into being an Elvis act but he was a lot more and then some. He sang with the Bel Canto choir and a lot of other places that had nothing to do with Elvis. He was just a talented musical genius who happened to be a big Elvis fan.

Tom was a real treasure and when he passed away from cancer a couple of years ago we were all shocked. He kept it to himself and now looking back on all the outstanding work he did as sick as he was it’s even more impressive. I have nothing but respect for him and I am very honored he asked me to be part of not only his shows but his circle of friends.

Tom loved comedy and he and his girlfriend Donna would come and see me perform on many occasions. They would always laugh the loudest and Tom appreciated good humor and good entertainment. We also shared a disdain for the idiots of Milwaukee who didn’t share our passion for quality. For whatever reason Milwaukee sucks as a showbiz town.

This show started in 1989 and every year after it was on the Saturday closest to Elvis’s birthday of January 8th. I was always invited to be part of it and even though I did have to miss a few over the years I’d have to say I did about 14-15 of the 20 years. I’d dress in my tuxedo and make it a special occasion and it was. It was a once a year special night of fun.

It wasn’t about me at all but being part of such a fun spectacle was a thrill. Tom’s band was always tight and there would be three or four other Elvis guys like John Lombard and some others who revolved in and out who were all great guys and Tom would be the glue that held it all together. The people really got their money’s worth and more. It was great.

Obviously without Tom it will never be the same but tonight was a fantastic show. The audience wasn’t as big as in past years but it was still several hundred people and we took pride in giving them a killer show. The band was on the all the guys were in Elvis mode.

This little clique of people are some of the nicest humans I’ve ever met. Being part of a crew like this once a year for twenty years is a real highlight of my life. Tom Green was a marvelous entertainer and a true friend too. He was the showbiz big brother I never had.

After the show people came up to the guys and me and asked for autographs and told us how much they loved the shows all these years and it made us all miss Tom even more.