7/18/07

Elvis is still in the bank



Tri-O's Oddities, observations, and opinions
By Herb Kandel

How would you like to earn income not only during your working life but also from the beyond? Yes, even after the bed, bath, and last rites. Well, not exactly for you, as you won’t be around to spend it, but for your estate or the loved ones left after you enter the hereafter. Simple. Your best bet is to just become a rock star, song writer, artist or entertainer. Follow me on this.

Next month will be the 30th anniversary of death of Elvis Presley, He strummed his last note at the age of 42 yet his estate last year, according to Forbes.com, made a million dollars for each year he lived. Right, $42 M. And get this, Elvis was second, behind Kurt Cobain who gyrated in at $50M (what Nirvana!). Of the top 13 named, five other high unearthly earners were in the musical category ( John Lennon $24 M, Ray Charles $10 M, Johnny Cash $8 M, George Harrison $7 M, and Bob Marley $7). The Arts/Entertainment drew three (Charles M. Schulz $35 M [don’t call that Peanuts], Andy Warhol $19 M, and Marilyn Monroe $8 M). There were two authors ( Theodor Geisel [ Dr. Seuss- only fat green cat in the hat] $10 M, and J.R.R. Tolkien $7M) and a lonely scientist (Albert Einstein $ 20 M). So earning from the other side is more readily accomplished artistically, but don’t tell that to Bill Gates.

There are several candidates from the recently departed that may have a shot to be on the list next year. Here are a few that may make it:
Johnny Carson was king of the late night talk shows for 30 years when he called it quits in 1992. After his death from emphysema in 2005 ( I can still see that ash tray that sat on his studio desk) his estate owned over 4000 hours of video footage (The Tonight Show broadcasts which aired from 1962 to 1972 were erased to save on storage costs……some heads rolled for that, I’m sure). On a recent entertainment news segment they showed the vault where the collection is kept; it is housed 54 stories below ground in a climate controlled salt mine near Kansas City, Kansas. You can occasionally see some of the highlights on a 30 minute infomercial and smile as Johnny chuckles or swings his air golf club.

Dale Earnhardt Sr. drove his last lap in 2001 which ended in the crash at the Daytona 500. Yet less than two years later his estates took in $20 M through licensing and royalty fees. General Motors Chevrolet Division honored him by naming a limited edition of a pickup truck the 2006 Silverado Intimidator SS (“The Intimidator” was Earnhardt’s nickname). With all the merchandise, collectables, souvenirs, superstore, and increased NASCAR visibility Dale’s estate can get that checkered flag again.

“‘Ol Blue Eyes“, “The Chairman of the Board“, that was Frank Sinatra whose career spanned 60 years of radio, television, movies, cabarets (“saloon singer” as he referred to himself), and records. He has been missing from the list of late but has usually been up there and will be again. I have high hopes he’ll be no stranger to those rites.

There are other notable musical names who continue to materially affect the lives of the living from the grave. Consider Gangsta rapper Tupac Shakur who died in 1996 and whose estate made $12 M in 2003 and $5 M the next year. Then there are Rogers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Lowe, Ira and George Gershwin, along with Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jerry Garcia who have been on the list consistently. What music this must bring to their heirs.

Lastly, did you know that the deceased artists have agents? You’ve seen John Wayne, Audrey Hepburn, James Dean, Fred Astaire, and Charlie Chaplin on TV commercials hawking a host of products. A company out of Indianapolis had a corner on that market until recently when a division owned by Microsoft purchased a competing agency and added icons such as Warhol and Liberace. There will be a lot more seen from beyond the crypt and who said that there’s no life after death? Well it may be so if you don’t have a song in your heart. Gee, I wish my dad sang better!

By the way, it makes you wonder if there is an IRS agency on the other side of the grass? Now, that would be a humm-dinger!
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