Elvis, had he lived, would have celebrated his 80th birthday last Wednesday.

Imagine the King of Rock and Roll attempting his Karate kicks on stage if he was still performing.

I wonder what he would have looked like.

As some of you know, I was one of the many Elvis impersonators. I never attended the big convention in Las Vegas, but it was fun performing as “The King” for almost 10 years.

Prior to performing as Elvis, I never really paid much attention to him. I liked a few of his songs but I would listen to and buy albums of Eric Burdon and the Animals and Joe Cocker.

My other life as Elvis began in 1988 when the social director, Janet Foret, at Club Mirage approached me to put together an act for the first anniversary of the tennis and swim club that operated in the community for a number of years.

I laughed when she asked me.

“Why me?” I asked.

“I saw you dancing at the Village Pub last Saturday night and you move a lot like Elvis when you dance. I think you could pull it off,” she said.

I had two weeks to put together my act. I rented the video of “Elvis in Hawaii.” It was a concert he performed in Honolulu in 1973. It was the concert where he looked the best and sang the best of his 25-year career.

I recorded the music from six songs on a cassette tape and I watched his every move on the video. I practiced each night in daughter Holly’s room where we had installed a large mirror.

I rented a costume complete with a wig and sideburns at a shop in Tempe.

Wanting to sound like him, I decided I would lip sync the words to the songs.

Well, I pulled it off and I thought that would be the last of it. But people got such a kick out of it that I actually got phone calls to see how much I charged to make an appearance.

At first, I was taken back by the request. So I continued to practice. I did birthdays, anniversary parties and I performed at the Silver Stein, the Village Pub and even my high school reunion. Cassie Hansen, who at the time was the Town Clerk, asked me to perform at the 1994 July 4th celebration in the park.

Probably the highlight of my Elvis days was when I kicked off the state jail-a-thon fund-raiser for the American Cancer Society. It was held at the La Paloma Hotel in Tucson. I added “Jailhouse Rock” to my cassette of songs.

Another was for the Make A Wish Foundation. I’ll never forget one little boy, who was bald from the cancer treatment he was receiving, coming up to me and saying, “Mr. Elvis, can you give my mom one of your scarves. She really is a big fan of yours.”

How could I say anything but “sure, little buddy?”

The last time I did Elvis was New Year’s Eve 1998 at the 19th Hole restaurant at Desert Canyon Golf Course.

By that time, I was three years into my diagnosis of having Parkinson’s Disease. One of the songs I had taped on that original cassette was “Whole Lot of Shakin’ Going On.”

My left hand by that time had constant tremors. Of course, I didn’t want The King to look bad.

So that was the end of the Elvis years for me. The King had left the building.

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Here’s a last reminder for business operators, Monday, Jan. 19, is the deadline for advertising in the Fountain Hills & Verde Communities Telephone Directory.

Call 837-1931 for rate information.