A Toast To The King

‘NOTHING could bring Elvis back from the dead, especially as he’s actually alive and well and working in a KFC outlet in Norwich. But, in the lead up to the 25th anniversary on Friday of his so-called death, the tabloids are filling their pages with tributes to the Burger King, and none more so than the Star, where this week has been declared ”Elvis week”.

The bit of Elvis that never tanned

To mark this special occasion, the paper publishes an article headlined: ”The King is toast – it’s Edible Presley in bread role.” ”The King has been immortalised in a 12-foot high portrait made from 4,000 slices of toast,” it informs us.

Observers may be disappointed to note that artist Maurice Bennett did not create the work with some of Elvis’s favourite sandwich toppings, such as peanut butter and bacon or strawberry jam and lard, but rather used a huge oven to toast up to 90 slices of bread at a time, grilling the bread to different shades – ”ranging from burnt for Elvis’s hair to lightly warmed for his skin”.

Not surprisingly, the idea ”came four years ago while Maurice was out drinking with friends”. It’s a grand tribute to the rock’n’roll legend, but it’s just as well that he’s not here to see it – nobody would want to see Maurice’s masterpiece reduced to a pile of crumbs.

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Posted: 14th, August 2002 | In: Tabloids Comment | TrackBack | Permalink