Important Stuff -- Or Not: When Elvis Left the Building

Thursday, August 16, 2007

When Elvis Left the Building

Today (Thursday) is the 30th anniversary of The King's death. Do you remember where you were the day Elvis died?

I was a 28-year-old disk jockey living in the Azores. I was working the overnights (seems I've ALWAYS worked the overnights) and was just about to leave for work when the phone rang. It was my boss with the news. It must have shown on my face because my then-wife said, "Who died?"

My boss wanted me to produce a one-hour radio special on Elvis's life before I left work in the morning. OK. I only had to do a one-hour live "acid" rock show, a one-hour live country show, a three-hour live morning show, seven live five-minute newscasts and one live 15-minute newscast during my shift. No problemo.

The teletypes were churning out bio copy faster than I could read it and I had a full record library, so I played a lot of LONG album cuts like Tubular Bells and InAGaddaDaVida on my rock show. The stoners in the audience loved it. I managed to get the special produced and not only was it the first radio special to hit the airwaves in Europe, it went on to win an award.

That was a full-circle experience for me. A full-circle experience is one in which you were there for the beginning and the end. For instance, I was in Hawaii when the Unknown Soldier of the Vietnam War came through on a naval vessel bound for Arlington. And I was in Arlington when the same soldier was disinterred because he had been identified. I guess the ultimate full-circle experience would be your life. You are there at the beginning and at the end.

Anyway, the beginning of the Elvis experience for me was his first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show on September 9th, 1956. I was seven years old, but I distinctly remember being on the floor with the other kids and my parents on the couch. My mom was scandalized! Whenever my parents wanted to keep a secret from us, they spoke German. My secret was that I understood German. They had never seen anything like that before. And look where we have come. Elvis is kiddy stuff compared to the other "entertainment" we see on TV. But back then, people believed he would bring down the Republic.

Elvis would be 72 years old today. He was one of those people nobody imagined would ever grow old. And he didn't.

4 comments:

Trader Rick said...: A girlfriend once dragged me to a Heavy Elvis concert a few years before he died. The hall was packed with middle-aged housewives ACTING THE SAME WAY they did as when they were teens -- Screaming, crying, fainting, fighting each other over the scarves he threw from the stage...

HE WAS AND EVER WILL REMAIN--

THE KING!!

Trader Rick has left the blog.

Thank you. Thank you very much.; 7:40 AM
Lone Ranger said...: I think I do a better Elvis impersonation: Thangyew! Thangyewwarymuch.; 11:06 AM
Cathy said...: I always enjoy when you let us take a glimpse into your memories. Thanks for sharing.; 8:25 AM
Lone Ranger said...: My past is almost a total blur. I couldn't write an autobiography to save my life. But I do have some specific memories going all the way back to infancy. Add to it that I lived much of my childhood under 19th century conditions, and it makes for some interesting stories.; 10:05 PM

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Talking Points

I don't use talking points, I create them.

1. Hate makes people stoopid.

2. There is nothing so impenetrable as a closed mind.

3. A stupid person is not someone who can't learn, but someone who refuses to learn.

4. It is a small mind that has no room for God.

5. You can take Stalin out of the gene pool, but you can't take Stalinism out of liberals.

6. The best way to sabotage a bad plan is to follow it to the letter.

7. The race card is the first refuge of people who have nothing to say.

8. Ignorance is the cornerstone of arrogance.

9. Which is more racist, to hate someone who is not white or to assume someone is racist because he is white?

10. Children are not stupid. If a child is taught, the child will learn. If a child is not learning, the child is not being taught.

11. To express righteous indignation, one must first be righteous. And that's a label that doesn't stick to liberals.

12. Profanity is ignorance made audible.

13. An open mind is a liberal's worst enemy.

14. Paternalism is the purest form of racism.

15. People who bend the truth, usually bend it in their favor.

16. If you always stand in opposition to liberalism, you will never be wrong.

18. Life is simple. People who make it complicated usually have an agenda.

19. Getting your news from the corrupt, liberal media is like sticking your head in the sand, except you don't get grit in your teeth.

20. Liberals' emotional development stops at the age of 16.

21. To anger a conservative, lie to him. To anger a liberal, tell the truth.

22. Idealism seldom matches up with reality.

23. Those who don't hate communism have never lived it.

24. This was a much more civil country when men walked about heavily armed.

25. This economy will never heal as long as Obama keeps picking at the scab.

26. Liberals don't think outside the box; they ARE the box.

27. You cannot change the hearts and minds of liberals, because they possess neither.

28. There is no such thing as a kind liberal.

29. Reading Democratic Party platforms is like reading the history of human rights abuses and crimes against humanity in this country.

25 Immutable Truths About Liberals

Over the years I've been writing this blog, I've been throwing out little self-evident truths that seem to have no exceptions that prove the rule. I've made a list of some of them and will add to it as I remember them or make up more. Most of this list I've come up with myself. A few I've borrowed from others.

1. Always expect the worst from a liberal and you will never be surprised.

2. Never try to reason with a liberal. They disregard any evidence that conflicts with their beliefs.

3. You can always tell what liberals are up to by what they accuse conservatives of doing.

4. Liberals don't debate, they argue.

5. The only standards liberals have are double standards.

6. Liberals feel, conservatives think.

7. Whenever you don't understand a liberal's motives, just look for the money.

8. Liberals cannot be embarrassed. They lack the gene to blush.

9. The Liberal Golden Rule is, "Do unto others but scream bloody murder if they do unto you."

10. Liberals don't have leaders, they have demi-gods.

11. There are no honest liberals. If they were honest -- especially to themselves -- they would be conservatives.

12. A liberal's business is nobody's business, but everyone's business is a liberal's business.

13. Liberals have an inflated sense of self-worth. They are like house flies that criticize the air-worthiness of a Stealth fighter. (Sarah Palin, George W. Bush, ad infinitum are morons.)

14. Liberals lack a sixth sense that conservatives have in abundance -- common sense.

15. Liberals never stop hating.

16. There are only two types of liberals -- the deceivers and the deceived. The difficulty is telling them apart.

17. Every time liberals get on their high horse, they get bucked off.

18. Liberal programs are so wonderful that they have to be forced on people.

19. Liberals always choke on their own medicine.

20. When given a moral choice, liberals always come down on the wrong side of the fence.

21. The only way liberals can build themselves up is by tearing others down.

22. Liberals not only refuse to learn from their mistakes, they refuse to admit them.

23. Liberals have only two political positions -- blind devotion and blind hatred.

24. Liberals are incapable of attacking the message, so they always attack the messenger.

25. Liberal diversity is only skin deep.