Memphis filmmaker/sculptor Mike McCarthy threw his annual El-Bow party, in homage to the shared birthdays of Elvis Presley and David Bowie, on January 25th at McCarthy’s Midtown home.
Each icon got his own cake made by Kasey Dees.
Millet Vance
Laura Jean Hocking
The party, McCarthy says, “was for people who I worked with and sort of a payback to people I’ve been collaborating with.”
This year, the party was part of a longer series of events dealing with the history of rock-and-roll in Memphis. The Marcialyns with Marcia Clifton, Tim Prudhomme, Rev. Neil Down, and Memphis Flyer reporter Chris McCoy performed.
Kasey Dees
Jake Inman
McCarthy kicked everything off with his Glam Rock Picnic last June, where he unveiled his 10-foot papier-mâché work-in-progress sculpture of Bowie, who performed in Memphis.
McCarthy will tentatively hold his “next Bowie sculpture awareness event”on February 25th. The four Bowie faces have been cast into bronze by the Lugar Foundry. The statue, which portrays Bowie in the “Tokyo Pop” jumpsuit by Kansai Yamamoto, has four heads, which represent Bowie’s predilection for taking on different identities, McCarthy says.