“Elvis is English”
Listeners to the 6 Music special, This Is Radio Clash, were pleasantly surprised to hear a previously unbroadcast message from Elvis Presley imitating David Bowie today.
The message was sandwiched between Wink Martindale’s Deck Of Cards and Anthony Boy by Chuck Berry.
The show kicked off with David Bowie’s own The Laughing Gnome, which set the tone for vari-speed messages peppered throughout the show from Clash Manager, Bernard “Bernie” Rhodes.
The programme concluded with the seasonal favourite, Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy by David Bowie and Bing Crsoby.
if you missed This Is Radio Clash you can check it out shortly via the BBC iPlayer here.
Meanwhile, check out the Bowie/Presley message in full here.
David Bowie is pictured here with Paul Simonon of The Clash backstage at New York’s Shea Stadium when the band opened for The Who on October 12th 1982.
UPDATE: For those of you that can’t access the audio, here’s the text of the message to be read in a rather convincing Elvis voice:
Hello everybody, this is David Bowie making a telephone call from the US of A. At this time of the year I can’t help but remember my British-ness and all the jolly British folk, so here’s to you and have yourselves a Merry little Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thank you very much.
To complete the effect, one should perform the impersonation of Bowie’s take on Elvis over Johann Strauss Sr’s Radetzky March, Op. 228 on an Apple Mac so that the distinctive Mac volume control sound is audible on fade out.