“Michael Hoover was one of the very first entertainers to perform at Jordan’s Rooftop. His shows highlight the best of Rock and Roll,” said Jordan. “His Elvis tribute is the best I’ve seen. I always look forward to hearing ‘Hound Dog,’ ‘Don’t Be Cruel,’ ‘Teddy Bear,’ ‘Blue Suede Shoes,’ ‘That’s All Right Mama,’ ‘Suspicious Minds’ and even an occasional ‘Love Me Tender’.” For over 20 years, Hoover has combined his professionally trained voice, natural talent, exacting musical research and years of hard work to emerge as the finest Elvis Tribute Artist in the nation.
“He’s as close to the real Elvis as you can get. . . something of a miracle,” said Buzz McClain of the Milwaukee Journal.
While growing up in Rockville, Md., Hoover mimicked Elvis’s style while still in grade school. In high school Hoover sang and put together a small band to play teen clubs and proms. “Everyone has a hero,” said Hoover. “Elvis was my hero and I wanted to be like him.”
Inspired after Elvis’s untimely death in 1977, Hoover put together his current “Memories of Elvis” show to pay tribute to the King. The show begins with the theme from 2001, A Space Odyssey, as lights search the fog-filled room. The excitement begins when the 4-piece band immediately goes into some of the most remembered songs from the '50s, '60s and '70s. Hoover’s shows come complete with the gold lamet suits, leather suits and jumpsuits. “There will never be another Elvis, and I would just like to bring back a few memories of the late King,” said Hoover.
During Hoover's years of performing, he has worked with many notables from Elvis’ life including Charlie Hodge, Elvis’ close friend who said of Hoover, “One of the best tributes I have seen. He is sincere and it shows in his work.” Hoover has received a host of favorable media reviews including one from Washington Post writer Alex Heard who said, “He’s a great Elvis tribute artist... Dazzling local fans. See Hoover now and don’t be surprised if you become a Hunka Hunka burning fanatic.”
“Michael Hoover’s Tribute to Elvis Show at Jordan’s Rooftop always attracts an enthusiastic and loyal crowd,“ said restauranteur Al Jordan. “We love having Michael Hoover here because of the wonderful people he attracts. When people come to see Michael Hoover’s Tribute to Elvis Show, they are always in a mood to let go, have fun, and really enjoy themselves.”“If you really think about it, Elvis is a real part of the lives of a generation of people who witnessed the career of Elvis Presley,” said Jordan. “Michael Hoover’s ‘Memories of Elvis’ shows are significant because they bring back to life a musically talented person who was truly adored and respected by an entire generation of fans.”
“This is why we are holding our Elvis Weekend -- to honor the impact that Elvis Presley has had on American Society.” Jordan explained one way the lasting popularity of Presley can be measured.
“Did you know, for example, that of all the requests made each year to the National Archives for reproductions of photographs and documents, there is one item requested more than any other?” said Jordan. “That item, more requested than the Bill of Rights or even the Constitution of the United States, is the photograph of Elvis Presley and Richard M. Nixon shaking hands on the occasion of Presley's visit to the White House.” It was on December 21, 1970 that Elvis Presley paid a visit to President Richard M. Nixon at the White House in Washington, D.C. The meeting was initiated by Presley after he wrote Nixon a six page letter requesting a visit with the President and suggesting that he be made a "Federal Agent-at-Large" in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs.
At that meeting in the Oval Office, Presley gave the President a commemorative World War II Colt 45 pistol and some autographed pictures and showed him some of his collection of police badges. President Nixon responded by presenting Presley with an FBI badge with his name on it.
“In real life Presley changed the way the world viewed Rock and Roll,” said Jordan. “And he changed the way many famous entertainers viewed both Elvis and Rock and Roll.”
Presley made Frank Sinatra a believer in both Rock and Roll and Elvis. The Frank Sinatra Timex Special, entitled “Welcome Home Elvis," broadcast May 12, 1960, matched Presley and Sinatra together after Presley’s military service homecoming from Germany. At this show Elvis sang his new single "Stuck On You,” “Fame and Fortune" and "Witchcraft" for which he received $125,000.
It was reported that at one time Sinatra thought Presley could not sing and he didn't like the famous Elvis moves. Sinatra also once claimed that "Rock 'n Roll music was phony and fake." However, Sinatra and others had to eat their words since Presley’s appearance with Sinatra skyrocketed the TV show’s ratings.
“That has been the influence of Elvis Presley. A boy from Tupelo, Mississippi who had more hit records than anyone else in the world,” said Jordan. “In reality, Presley was very humble for being a person who almost single handedly changed the course of pop music, and in so doing, helped to change the course of social history.”
Presley was, in fact, overwhelmed by his own success, said Jordan.
Presley once privately said, “Sometimes when I walk into a room at home and see all those gold records hanging around the walls, I think they must belong to another person. It’s not me. I just can't believe it's me."
No one has ever tried to quantify the impact Elvis Presley made on American culture, but many people have tried to explain or report about it, Jordan continued.
Ray Connelly of the London Evening Standard on August 2, 1969, summed it up rather nicely, according to Jordan, when Connelly wrote about his experiences at a Elvis Presley concert.
"Attending an Elvis Presley concert is the most exciting thing I've done in years," wrote Connelly in his London Evening Standard story. “Elvis worked and sweated, gyrated and shuddered, warbled and sang, and grunted and groaned his way through 20 songs.”
“Looking as slim as a ramrod, and not a day over 23 (he's actually 34 now after a stint in the Army), he ambled back on to the stage after a nine year absence like a sheepish young lad going to meet his girl friend's parents for the first time.” “Hardly daring to look or acknowledge the audience, which was composed mainly of over-30s, since young people could never normally afford the price, he went straight into Blue Suede Shoes, and had completed I Got A Women and That's All Right, Mama before finding it necessary to begin any chatting.”
“He flogged himself to near exhaustion moving wildly and sexily around the stage all the time, and now and again reaching for a handkerchief or a glove from the ecstatic and many-splendoured ladies in the front row. Although his early fans are grown up and mothers themselves now, Elvis has remained the boy from the South - awkward, shy, full of evil promise and a dynamic performer.”
“It is difficult to describe the exact appeal of the man,” wrote Connelly. “True, he is a great and rhythmic singer, but there's something more. His perfect looks and style add a charisma that is magnetic. Having seen his show it is easier now to understand how he became the legend that he is in pop music.”
Restauranteur Jordan believes that many of his guest feel the same way when they see Michael Hoover portray Presley during Elvis Weekend.
