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"She’s not afraid to face the real issues of her life. When I met her, she radiated the kind of charisma it takes to be a successful recording artist. It was just a matter of finding the right context sonically."
—Andy Slater, Capitol Records President
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LISA MARIE "LIGHTS" UP RADIO

Elvis and Priscilla's Only Child Proves More Than the Sum of Her Tabloid Headlines
Her new record’s anything but a hound dog.

Lisa Marie Presley is proving to be more than just a tabloid sensation, as the radio reception to "Lights Out," the first single from her eagerly awaited Capitol album, To Whom It May Concern, would have made her famous daddy proud.

It was the impetus of label President Andy Slater that put the project back in the fast lane after the singer was originally signed to Glen Ballard’s Java label, distributed by Capitol at the time.

Slater said, at first, he couldn’t "find the artist in the record," but immediately responded to Presley’s lyrics. "She’s not afraid to face the real issues of her life. When I met her, she radiated the kind of charisma it takes to be a successful recording artist. It was just a matter of finding the right context sonically. And I always loved the music of her father, Jerry Lee Lewis."

Elvis and Priscilla’s little girl, who was 9 when her father died in 1977, apparently has enough talent to offset the tabloid headlines generated by her brief marriages to Michael Jackson and Nicolas Cage.

"Lights Out," produced by Slater, has scored more than 100 big-market adds since hitting radio Feb. 10, including N.Y.’s Z100 and WPLJ and L.A.’s KIIS and KYSR. The album lands at retail April 8.

Label Sr. VP Promotion Dan Hubbert donned his white spangled jumpsuit and raved about a recent promo tour that took Lisa Marie to Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, L.A., N.Y. and S.F.: "We wanted to have her in the marketplace talking about the record, to introduce her to radio as an artist and songwriter. People realize this record can stand on its own."

The video was delivered to various outlets this week and immediately added by VH1.

"Lights Out" deals directly with her legacy ("Someone turned the lights out there in Memphis/That’s where my family’s buried and gone"). Lisa Marie shows her sass in the expletive-charged rocker "S.O.B" ("I’m just a son of a bitch no matter what you say"). These two, along with "The Road Between" and "Nobody Noticed It," both dealing with romantic loss, make up the four-song sampler sent to media earlier this month with an EPK. Presley collaborated with producer Eric Rosse (Tori Amos), Slater, Ballard, Clif Magnes and first husband Danny Keough on the album.

"The record is about her and from her," says label product manager Sharon Lord. "When you talk to her, you can see who she is and what she’s about. The next step is to have her play live."

Among the setup elements:

*L.A. Times Calendar, Rolling Stone cover.

*Diane Sawyer ABC primetime special first week in April.

*Performance on ABC’s Good Morning America day of release (4/3), interview on Prime Time Live that night.

*Cable/network TV ad campaign starting April 3.

*AOL streams "Lights Out" to half a million, with MSN, Launch campaigns upcoming.

*First run of CD enhanced with video.

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