Elvis Tribute Artists Radio

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This month’s guest columnist is Dennis Uithol from The Netherlands, who writes about being an Elvis fan, about seeing his first ETA (Frank Anthony), and about an interesting new photo book he is working on with Frank Anthony. Many thanks to Dennis for this month’s guest column.

Dennis Uithol backstage with Frank Anthony

The concert was fantastic, and I can say that, even though it was the first Elvis impersonator show I saw.

My idea for a photo book came half way during the tour, when I made the first 36 slides. The photos were, and still are, meant for Frank his own archive, as "living memories" from his theatre tour, like I write on the second page in the book. Most artists, even the famous ones, don't have much special material from themselves, only the CD's they recorded, or the DVD's they released.

Since I was the only one allowed to photograph during every show, I drew some attention from the public. In a good way, however, as I never obstructed anyone's view. Frequently I was asked if I was making pictures for the newspaper or a website. I always answered that some were placed by Frank on his official website and that the other ones were for the private use of the artist himself.

I told Frank about my idea after the last show, last April. He agreed, if he was able to select the photo contents himself. The complete photo book will contain 26 full-colour pages in A5 format...all filled with live shots from Frank Anthony, the Groovers, the Las Vegas Train Big Band and Sweet Devotion! It also includes the stories of Frank, the musicians, how the tour was set up, and much more.

The whole book is designed by me, and will be printed on professional equipment.

After reading Frank's article in LadyLuck’s "Spotlight" section I decided to share my story and my photo book idea with you up in Canada.

Only Frank, his management and I, know about all the photographic material that exists. I have made more than 1300 high quality digital photos, more than 180 normal photos and more than 120 35 mm. slides from the shows! This includes numerous backstage and rehearsal shots.

I even dedicated a new website to Frank Anthony, and his previous and future appearances. On www.tributetotheking.nl I want to share my stories and memories of the shows. I have so much to tell about the different shows, about things that happened, that I saw, and experienced, etc.

Yours sincerely,

Dennis Uithol

Dear People at Lady Luck Music / Elvis Tribute Artists Radio,

My name is Dennis Uithol. I am 25 years old and I live in The Netherlands.

Since 1992 I am a great Elvis Presley fan. Some highlights in my life are my visits to Memphis and Graceland in 2001 and 2002.

It all started when I won a CD player in a radio contest from the Dutch Red Cross. I only owned a simple radio-cassette player at that time, so I went shopping for CD's. The very first CD I bought was a BMG / Ariola compilation release from Elvis called "Love Me Tender." I liked the songs like "Good Luck Charm,","Kiss Me Quick" and "Don't.

In the store they had 3 more Elvis CD's, which I bought a few weeks later.

For some time I thought those were all the Elvis albums ever released! Can you imagine?

In 2001 after "Elvis: The Concert" played in our country, I saw a Dutch TV documentary. Four Elvis tribute artists were followed around during their activities at home, on stage and right before the start of "Elvis: The Concert."

Half way during the documentary Frank Anthony appeared. From the very first moment I liked his singing, and his ways of presenting himself. His voice, his casual "Elvis like" clothing, and his hair, all looked great on TV.

In 2003 I read on Frank Anthony's official site about the upcoming "A Dutch Tribute To The King 2003 / 2004" theatre tour. Only one of the last shows was close to where I live, but I could not wait that long (March 2004). So in October 2003, I made a 2-hour trip to Eindhoven and another one back to home, through a thick layer of fog.