I don’t know if you know any Elvis fans, but I sure do. It’s a section of pop culture that always seemed beyond me. Even my favorite obsessions come nowhere close to the level of dedication Elvis fans have. It bugged me for years, so when given the chance to produce a radio documentary I knew exactly what question I wanted to answer. The result is The King’s Not Dead, a quasi-journey into Elvis fandom. Where I track down Ireland’s premiere Elvis fans to finally figure out what the big deal was. My guests stretched from superfans to authors, radio presenters to impersonators, all angles of the Elvis world. Though from wildly different backgrounds they all shared the same admiration for Elvis. A man who heavily impacted their lives even if they never met him.
Take Sunshine radio host Joe Harrington. Who recalls his time hosting two previous Elvis radio shows, despite not actually being a fan. Or maybe Maurice Colgan, who converted his entire living room into an Elvis Museum. Most valued of all its contents are the two framed letters he and his wife received from Elvis himself. Then there’s Ivor Casey, who wrote his book ‘Elvis and Ireland’ coming out of the leaving cert. A book which took 10 months to draft, but 10 full years before it was published. Consider Beatrice Farrelly, who turned a single visit to Graceland into her very own Fanclub in Donegal, organizing trips and fundraisers for her members. Similarly, there is Claire O’Brien, Fanclub president and manager of an Elvis Tribute Artist (ETA). A task which she takes very seriously. Finally, there is Ciaran Houlihan, an awarding winning Elvis tribute, despite growing up in a strictly anti-Elvis household. All were instrumental in showing me why Elvis stuck around. Whether it’s the love of his voice or the feeling of community, Elvis has a strange way of bringing people together. For the older demographics Elvis fans tend to be in that can be incredibly important.
The journey was long, in both a very literal and figurative sense. However, coming out the other end I emerged a licensed prophet for all things Elvis. Finally reaching my point of understanding. The songs, the movies, the dance moves, all had been imprinted onto my consciousness whether I liked it or not. Give it a listen and you’ll understand how I got there.