ELVIS 36 YEARS ON
It was 36 years ago today that Elvis Presley died. I was working at WVIA TV and FM. Working the 2 to 10 shift, I walked through the TV Studios to the FM side and the teletype bell kept ringing. That was a bulletin. Big time bulletin from UPI. I tore it off and it read, “PRESLEY DEAD AT 42”.
Bill Kelly was walking through the Control Room taking a shortcut through the studios to his office. (At that time he had office number 2). When he asked “What’s up”? and I told him, he took the bulletin and cut an announcement in the TV sound booth. I did one for the automated afternoon programs running at that time on WVIA FM. IN the next month, the news and magazines were filled with news of Presley’s demise.
And for the next few months, the best ice breaker a single guy could make in a bar when approaching a woman, especially one a tad older than you was to say, “It was a shame about Elvis, wasn’t it?” Presley’s last chart song was this one. “Way Down” from the “Moody Blue” (the album was really blue) LP.