In a couple of weeks
Andylon Lensen will open the first Elvis shop in The Netherlands.
Andylon is pretty well known inside the Elvis-collectors world,
and we thought this is a good time to learn a bit more about
her.
Can you share a
little about yourself with us?
First of all I am
Dutch, born in Haarlem, on April 28th 1953. I was the youngest
of a family, with three brothers and one sister. We were all
familiar with 40's and 50's music and country. When I was eight,
I appeared on stage and for radio programs singing Dutch songs,
together with my brothers and sister. My mother always wrote
the songs herself and while we were on stage she accompanied
us by accordion or guitar. This went on, till I was thirteen
years old, then my mother got very ill and after the divorcement
of my parents, I became like a hermit in my own little Elvis
world that console me through the years that has gone by with
ups and downs. Funny though later on, I wrote my own songs music
and lyrics for different artists known and unknown, even wrote
three songs with Timi Yuro, who was a close friend of mine,
and I was her European manager in the eighties. She became very
popular in Holland and Belgium as a comeback from the 60's.
Her biggest hit was Number 1 in many countries with her song
"Hurt" in 1961, if I recall well. Yes, the song covered
by Elvis. She also went with her husband and daughter to see
Elvis in Las Vegas and also met him backstage because Elvis
wanted to see her privately. She still lives in Vegas after
all those years.
How did you become
an Elvis-fan?
My mother worked many
years at different movie theatres. In 1961 on school vacation
in the middle of August I was always able to see a free movie
on Wednesday afternoons. At that time I didn't know who Elvis
was and saw my first Elvis movie "G.I. Blues". Oh
my God. I fell in love with his voice and his face -from that
moment I was an Elvis-fan. I remember I had some pocket money
left that my mother gave me that afternoon. The first thing
that I did when I walked back home after seeing "G.I. Blues",
I spent my last 30 cents on two postcards one color and one
B/W - This is something I'll never forget. Months later, my
oldest brother got as his birthday present a (German) 78 Rpm
of Elvis called "Mystery Train/ I Forgot To Remember To
Forget." Of course within a week it was mine and I played
it over and over again, that's when I started to collect 78's.
Yes, it's now forty years ago that I turned into an Elvis-fan.
You know that the official Dutch fanclub: "It's Elvis Time"
started in 1959 in my hometown Beverwijk, where I live for more
than 20 years now? In 1961 Streutker and Boersma took it over
and I was able (moneywise) to become at that time the youngest
member of the Dutch fanclub. Times goes fast doesn't it?
We are told you
have a huge collection yourself. How did you build it up?
Well I always managed
to earn money, after I saw the movie "G.I. Blues",
I asked my dad, can I clean the poo poo (he had three wooden
barns with pigeons, always hated the smell, but suddenly I didn't
;-)) So, I did this twice a week and on Saturday morning I did
all the shopping and Saturday afternoon I sold the music magazine
called Hitkrant (later called Oor) at the main streets in Haarlem,
whether it was raining or shining as long as I made money. I
was able to buy Elvis records, magazines like the Dutch music
magazines Muziek Express, Muziek Parade, Tuney Tunes, Juke-box
(from Belgium), and magazines from other countries. So, that's
how I build up my huge collection. I still kept the 45 scrapbooks
that I put together myself. Many crazy articles and photo's
if I go through it nowadays
What made you thinking
about starting the shop?
Well after all these
years I came to point that I wanted to put myself boundaries.
Because one bedroom was stacked with so many boxes with Elvis-items,
I didn't even know what I had in my collection. When I opened
a box, I was saying, oh my God, I have this and that, I didn't
even know anymore what I had in my private collection and then
I also found out I had the same item 2 or 3 times. My hobby
was really growing over my head. That's when I started thinking
to open an Elvis-shop.
How long did it
take before ideas became real plans?
It was five years
ago when I had the idea of opening a real Elvis-shop in Holland,
and now it becomes reality.
Will you sell collectibles
only, or also the more "tacky" merchandise?
I am a die-hard fan
and love original items, always hated tacky things like buttons,
pencils and dolls. This really started after Elvis died, all
so commercial. In the early sixties there wasn't much of Elvis
on these kind of items and when they did you were happy to buy
them, but nowadays they kill you with that kind of garbage.
What, in general,
is your favorite Elvis-stuff?
I am still a fanatic
on collecting 78's worldwide, acetates (always nice when there
are unreleased songs or alternate takes on it). I still collect
rare covers from all over the world on singles, EP's and LP's.
Next to that I collect: unreleased soundboards, alt. studio
recordings, unseen or unpublished photos. At the time I am working
on a book with unpublished photos from Elvis in Germany and
Lamar Fike has a memory like a computer, so he is helping me
on the information, to build up the story around these photos.
I also collect RIAA Awards.
Name your favorite
Elvis-song, -movie and -album.
My favorite movie
is King Creole. As an album, his first and "His Hand in
Mine" (technically the best quality I ever heard on Elvis
recording, next to "Elvis Is Back"). As a single I
always loved "One-sided Love Affair". I always used
to play this song and made funny faces to others when he sang
the words "If you wanna be loved, you gotta love me to",
and then I crossed my eyes, and the same lines with kiss, than
I again I made funny faces so I looked really ugly. So this
was for me a funny - comical song, it still is. Elvis really
acts with his voice when he sings the words. It is still funny
when I play this song.
How do you remember
Elvis' passing?
When Elvis died I
had a booking agency for artists national and international,
besides a modeling agency. I heard the news at 7 o'clock in
the morning, and I collapsed, couldn't work stayed home and
cried all day. The only song I was able to play that day was
"Anything That's Part Of You", that was written by
Don Robertson (I love his ballads that he wrote for Elvis) It
took me half a year to get over it (emotionally it took many
years) I bought all the newspapers from all over the world day
by day, till maybe some articles months later. I still have
this scrapbook with all these newspapers. The shock had such
an impact on people all over the world. It's still impressive
when I open this scrapbook and it's also very sad.
Do you use the
Internet for Elvis and other things?
The last two years
I use the Internet to buy some rarities on Elvis for myself
sometimes. Mind you, I also collect other Rock 'n' Roll artists.
I love Chuck Berry, Eddie Cochran, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison,
Bobby Darin, Timi Yuro, Brook Benton, Gene Vincent, Johnny Burnette
and his Trio and many other artists of the 50's and 60's. That's
why I also sell (next to Elvis) these recording artists in my
shop, even some personal items too.
What is your favorite
Elvis site?
My favoutite Elvis-site?
Mmm, I guess you want me to say ......(hihi) Well I can tell
you I always have a peek on Elvis-collectors, Solid Gold, the
Japanese website and yes, ElvisNews.com.
And I just discovered Apache Elvis from Pete Smith. I think
they are all great on their own way. I think they all have their
own style. I do think that many message boxes are sickening,
these Elvis-fans are behaving a-social, have no moral and the
language they use sometimes…. this wasn't happening before Elvis
died. At that time Elvis-fans weren't competitive, but you had
more a family feeling, you were helping each other. Nowadays
there's a lot of jealousy, it's all about how to make money
or rip off Elvis-fans with too high prices. It's really sad.
I miss the old days sometimes, you know.
Who do you think
we should interview in the future and what do you want us to
ask him or her?
I think you should
interview Joe Franklin. He is still alive and kicking in New
York. He had his own television-show in the US. And to my knowledge,
he was the first television personality, that had Elvis broadcasted
on television in the U.S. in 1955. He had a 30 minutes program.
Elvis sang one song in his show, called: "Shortnin' Bread"
(original song from Nelson Eddy). At the same show Ann Margret
Olson (she called herself Olson at that time) was in the panel
and was interviewed. So, Elvis already met her, along with Jimmy
Rodgers. It's sad, that at that time they had no money to make
a cinema-scoop on this show, (costs $45.000 dollar back then).
So, we will never be able to see this. But it's still very interesting
to get more information on this legendary person Joe Franklin.
Don't you think so? Maybe someone made a reel-to-reel tape on
this song in the studio, wouldn't it be great to hear this???
If it sounds just as good as the medley Elvis sang in 1955 at
the Louisiana Hayride ("Rock Around The Clock"), I'd
be very excited.
Next to Joe Franklin,
it would be nice to have an interview with Joan Blackman (co-star
in "Blue Hawaii" and "Kid Gallahad"). I
invited her to come to Holland next year with my (and her) good
friend Robin Roseanne (who wrote the book "Kings Things")
and they took the offer, great huh? I also planned to get her
some gigs for meetings. She is working on a book about Elvis
and herself. With lots of unpublished photos. You know, it was
planned she would also sing duets with E in the film "Blue
Hawaii"). Elvis loved the idea, but the Colonel said: No
way! She lived a withdrawn live in the mountains as a
hippie for many years. But now she is back to reality, I guess
(hihi). Last New Years Eve she sang in a night-club in California
some songs, and the people loved it. She is now recording songs
for a release on CD. Would it not be exciting to have an interview
with Joan Blackman?
Is there anything
else you want to get rid of?
Can I thank all my
Elvis friends all over the world for the help and support they
gave me through all the years, to make this all happen? Well,
thank you so much guy's for asking me al those questions and
the interest for me and my Elvis shop. Till we meet again (haha)
(ed.: And that will be very soon)
