1983: The Elvis Was a Truck Driver World Tour is planned for 1997. The tour is to begin in China and end with a finale on a raft in the South China Sea to commemorate Hong Kong's return to China. The world holds its breath.
1984: The Vancouver Province newspaper chooses Monica M as their "Sunshine Girl". In her profile, Monica names Elvis Was a Truck Driver as her favourite band. Elvis has its first (and only) mention in the local media.
1984: A friend of a friend of a friend of a friend did a radio show at one of the local universities and was black-mailed or bribed into playing one of our songs on his show. It was the only time that Elvis music was made available to the public. Although there was no public outcry, band members were very proud to hear their sounds on the radio.
1985: Neckties From Hong Kong is released as a single and hits the charts at #1 with a bullet.
1986: "ELVIS GOES ELECTRIC" is what the world press would have reported had the band changed instantly from acoustic to electric instruments. But the change occurred so slowly and subtly that the media were too preoccupied to notice. Fortunately the band was able to avoid a situation similar to Bob Dylan's electrification.
1987: Human Head Transplant Symphony is banned in North America. Riots break out in New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Maple Ridge. Human Head Transplant Symphony is never released.
1988: The album Starve Your Granny is released featuring the hit single Shopping with the Contras.
1989: Elvis moves out of the Godwin Avenue studio and into their new studio at Alison's place. We're still there.
1990s: Elvis exchanges their cookie tins for a real set of drums.
1996: When the Elvis World Tour was announced in 1983 it was considered a safe plan because no one would have guessed that the band would still be together in 1997. But time has a way of surprising us and when 1996 came along it was time to plan the World Tour for the following year. Instead of planning the tour, we decided to cancel it. It was possibly the greatest World Tour that never happened. Dave says he has fond memories of the tour... but he can't remember them.
2000: The band moves out of Alison's basement and into a real rehearsal studio on Granville, in the heart (or is that groin?) of downtown Vancouver.
2002: Elvis Was a Truck Driver's 20th anniversary. Is there another Elvis World Tour in the making?
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