UK Exotica TV

[Ottotemp@AOL.com]

>Las Vegas Grind With El Vez

>

>Screened on January 28, 2000 as part of Channel 4's late night documentary

>strand The Other Side, the 50-minute programme Las Vegas Grind With El Vez

>covers the first ever Las Vegas Grind, a three-day celebration of surf,

>garage rock and 60s trash and exotica held in Sin City over the 1999

>Hallowe'en weekend.

>

>Held at The Gold Coast Hotel & Casino, the event drew more than 2,000 mondo

>culture fans who mingled with go-go dancers, burlesque performers, crazy

>DJs and the 60 or so wigged out and wild bands who played there.

>

>Your guide is Robert Lopez, aka El Vez, the Mexican Elvis whose Latino

>culture take on impersonating The King has won him fans from Bjork and Beck

>to Jonathan Ross and Jarvis Cocker.

>

>El Vez, who has featured on every major US TV programme from Oprah to The

>Tonight Show with Jay Leno, is also currently starring in Americanos, the

>HBO film directed by actor and Chicano activist Edward James Olmos which is

>currently rocking the US indie film world and premieres at the forthcoming

>Sundance independent film festival at the end of January.

>

>As the guide to The Grind, El Vez provides insights into Vegas's sleazy,

>ratpack past and the family veneer now adopted by the gambling capital of

>the world. "I don't like the family-oriented version of Las Vegas," he

>says. "It's too Disneyland. But there is still a lot of vice, money and sex

>here in Sin City. Sin isn't for the whole family - at least not together!"

>

>During the programme, El Vez also encounters an incredibly strange and glam

>set of characters, including the following:

>

>*The Devil-Ettes. San Francisco's 18-strong female alternative dance troupe

>who always wear their devil horns with dignity and pride.

>

>*Otto von Stroheim. Crazed editor of Tiki News and the world's foremost

>expert on Polynesian culture and South Sea island cuisine, decoration and

>art.

>

>* Tom Ingram. Rockabilly DJ and English-born organiser of Las Vegas Grind

>whose only fear is that his local liquor mart in Long Beach will run out of

>Fuller's ESB.

>

>* Grinders Steve and Rachel. Steve plays guitar in besuited and bequiffed

>UK beat merchants The Arousers, while Rachel, a psychiatric nurse at a

>secure hospital, is Leicester's own Betty Page.

>

>* Among live performances is an electric showing by Thee Mighty Ceasars,

>Chatham's finest garage punk group led by the infamous Billy Childish, the

>ultra-prolific punk, poet, painter and Tracey Emin's sparring partner who

>has recently been the subject of media coverage in the likes of The Sunday

>Times, the Mail on Sunday and the Daily Telegraph.

>

>* There is also a surprise cameo appearance by the legendary Rudy Ray

>Moore. Also known as Dolemite, the king of the party records and the

>Godfather of Rap, Moore's fans include the Beastie Boys, Snoop Doggy Dogg

>and Dr Dre.

>

>The Grind is also the subject of a feature in the February issue of Mojo

>magazine (published January 15, 2000).

>

>Made for just  5,000 as part of Channel 4's late night low budget

>initiative for new film-makers, Las Vegas Grind With El Vez is an Id World

>production.

>

>The men behind the documentary are writers Paul Gorman and David Knight.

>Gorman, who has held senior editorial posts with Screen International and

>Music Week and is a regular contributor to Mojo and Heat, is currently

>working on book projects including one on the history of post-war music and

>fashion. Knight's background is in television advertising in the US. He is

>editor of the music video industry bible Promo.

>

>Further information, interviews and review copies contact:

>Ashley Jones, Channel 4 press office - 0171 396 4444

>Id World - 0171 684 6110/fax: 0171 684 1441

>Paul Gorman - 0171 652 2855/07771755713

>David Knight - 0171 940 8546/0411 356 977

>ENDS


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