Ten years after the death of the 'King of Rock and Roll', members of the Irish Elvis Presley fan club explain why his memory will never die.
Over 200 Elvis Presley fans gathered at the Clarence Hotel on Wellington Quay in Dublin for a 10 hour charity festival in honour of the singer who died on 16 August 1977. The Clarence was re-named Heartbreak Hotel for the occasion.
The ‘Memories of Elvis’ fan club was established in 1985 with a membership of just 25 members. Since then it has grown significantly and now has over 400 members from almost every county in Ireland. Fan club secretary George Twamley says the average age of the fans in the Clarence is the early 20s, which demonstrates there is still an incredible interest in Elvis.
Once the youngsters maintain the interest, Elvis can go on forever.
One young fan discovered Elvis through his father and will not listen to anything else.
He’s got power...there’s no one like him.
Another man collects anything and everything he can relating to Elvis.
If I walk by a shop, I see Elvis, I just have to buy.
A woman is heartened to see how relevant Elvis remains to young people a decade after his death.
He is a person that never dies, ten years later he still has something to offer.
Once every two weeks George Twamley dresses up as Elvis and goes to the fan club in the Iveagh Rooms Hotel. He acknowledges he is perhaps living out a fantasy, but come 7 o’clock he goes home and lives a normal life again.
A ‘Morning Ireland’ report broadcast on 18 August 1987. The reporter is Maggie O’Kane.
