70’s tour promoter Danny O’Day hired plastic surgeons to create a “clone army” of tribute artists to impersonate deceased icons like Elvis.
Tribute bands are nothing new, but this guy didn’t feel like costumes were enough. Way before celebrity holograms were a thing, concert promoter Danny O’Day decided to pay tribute to dead musicians in the craziest way possible – getting plastic surgeons to transform a group of tribute artists into “clones” of Elvis Presley, Jim Croce, Janis Joplin, and Jim Morrison for his conceived tour, “Rock and Roll Heaven.”
In the words of Jim Croce’s son A.J., as quoted in Rolling Stone, “Jesus Christ — that’s some twisted shit.” We feel you on that, A.J.
The first singer to go through the surgery was Elvis impersonator Dennis Wise; a former car salesman from Hawaii who traveled to the U.S. to try his luck as a tribute act. Following the transformation, he made his TV debut on Good Morning America in early 1978. Later that year, he was joined by the rest of the “clone army” for their post-surgery reveal on the daytime show America Alive!
Despite O’Day’s high hopes, and a decent amount of news coverage, the “Rock and Roll Heaven” tour didn’t quite make the impact he’d imagined. According to Rolling Stone, less than 50 people turned up to their debut show in Atlanta. Recalling those early performances, the group’s Janice Joplin impersonator, Mona Caywood-Moore, was quoted saying, “they were bombs, man. We did a couple of state fairs where there were, like, four people in the audience.”
Overall, the short-lived careers of Danny O’Day’s “Rock and Roll Heaven” tribute band made a pretty minute dent in music history. However, it’s been rumored that they may have inspired this funny Saturday Night Live sketch, “Behind the Music: Rock & Roll Heaven.”
So at least that’s something.
