Pave: More Frenchness, SVP: Morceau d'amour brûlant

The French hate American culture. "Pa-tooie! Pa-tooie, America!" French culture must -- at all costs, at any cost -- be protected from it.

But French Republicans can't get enough of the American king.

IN EUROPE, A GROWING FERVOR FOR ELVIS PRESLEY

PARIS October 21, 2007 (IHT) - Elvis Presley never performed a concert in Europe in his long singing career, but that unfortunate oversight apparently is helping to stoke the burnin' flames of desire for all things Elvis in this Parisian colony [Elvis My Happiness] and other unlikely outposts...

"They're hungry for anything Elvis," marveled Joe Moscheo, a bass singer with the Imperials, a backup gospel band for Elvis that finished one European tour in October and is returning for a second next month. ...

Many of these fans don't know enough English to define the difference between Heartbreak Hotel and a hound dog cryin' all the time.

But the music remains universal enough to build fan clubs of 4,500 members in France... All of the major clubs are watching the average age of their membership fall with a new generation of young people in their 20s joining the clubs. The average age of the French membership of Elvis My Happiness, the fan club that operates the Paris store of the same name, is 27 and dropping, according to Jean-Marie Pouzenc, club president.

... Pouzenc is the author of two books on Elvis, including a new edition published in August of "Elvis à Paris," a glossy title that minutely explores the brief period in 1959 when Elvis, the uniformed soldier, visited Paris, staying in the Hotel Prince de Galles and passing time with the chorus girls at the Lido club.

"The strength of Elvis is that he touches everyone," said Pouzenc, who presides over the Paris store in a yellow shirt emblazoned with gyrating Elvises. "When you go to Graceland you can see that with people there from all countries, races and religions."

Pa-tooie!

PFFT (What is this?): Pa-tooie! ½ | Rayonnement français 1½