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Other Topics => Off Topic Discussion => Topic started by: trekgeezer on August 15, 2007, 07:31:19 PM



Title: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: trekgeezer on August 15, 2007, 07:31:19 PM
I will always know the anniversary of The King's death because it was the day I got separated from the Navy.  I was at the Naval Support Activity in Bremerton, WA getting processed out and I had my 1974 Austin Marina shipped there from Adak, AK (an island in the Aleutians).  It was at a dealer in Seattle having some body work done  to repair damage sustained when my roommate misappropriated it, missed a curve and made a run through the tundra with it, but that's another story.

Anyway they gave me my paper work and I took a cab down to pick up my car.  I overheard the guys in the body shop talking about Elvis dying. 

I got on the road about  1:00pm and while I crossed Washington and part of Oregon that night  all I could get on the radio was Elvis tributes and  talk shows talking about him.  I passed by Boise, Idaho about dawn the next morning and kept going until about ten o'clock and got off the interstate. I found a little motel on the side of the road and got a room. It was a strange little place and they had to give me a gallon jug of drinking water because the tap water wasn't fit for consumption. The room had a full size bed and a set of stacked bunk beds.

Anyway, about five in the afternoon I got back on the road and that night I drove across Idaho, across the NW corner of Utah, then on across Wyoming to Cheyenne.  I slept for about an hour at a rest stop before heading south to Denver. I headed east through Kansas, arriving in Kansas City some time after dark. I got turned around and was heading back in to Kansas when I stopped on the side of the freeway to try and get my bearings. A cop stopped and gave me directions.

Okay at this point I had been up for over 24 hours and I was getting to the point of having hallucinations. I drove down US 71 into Missouri for a couple of hours and found a motel at about 1:00 am .   When I got into the room  and looked at myself in the mirror, I saw Two-Face from the Batman comics.  My car had no AC so I had been driving with windows down and my arm out the window. The left side of my face and my left arm were bright red.  I figured I had been on the road at least 30 hours straight.

I managed to get about six hours of sleep and hit the road again  and arrived at my parents home at about six that evening.

This was back when the speed limit was 55 and the front end of the car would start shimmying really bad if  I got much above that.

I've always thought it was such a shame I missed all that scenery crossing the Rockies at night, but I will always remember where I was and what I was doing the day Elvis died.

Do you remember where you were?


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: Torgo on August 15, 2007, 07:38:39 PM
I was 2 years old.    :twirl: :drink:


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: Shadow on August 15, 2007, 07:44:00 PM
I was 8 years old, so I was probably running around in the street enjoying summer.


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: Zapranoth on August 15, 2007, 08:06:02 PM
Aug 16, 1977?

Bit of a troll there, Trek, though not intentionally.  :)  You know that some people here are young enough that they won't have meaningful answers to this.

I was six.  I was going to kindergarten and had no concept of Elvis, popular music, etc.

You used to live on Adak?  Wow.  I've been to some remote parts of Alaska, but not there...


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: Susan on August 15, 2007, 08:18:57 PM
i was in germany sucking on my thumb  :wink:


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: trekgeezer on August 15, 2007, 08:22:59 PM
Aug 16, 1977?

Bit of a troll there, Trek, though not intentionally.  :)  You know that some people here are young enough that they won't have meaningful answers to this.

I was six.  I was going to kindergarten and had no concept of Elvis, popular music, etc.

You used to live on Adak?  Wow.  I've been to some remote parts of Alaska, but not there...

The great thing about people commenting on your age is that you know you already have your revenge because getting older happens to everyone.

Yes, I was stationed on Adak for a year.  It's gone civilian now, the Navy moved out back in the 90's.


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: Allhallowsday on August 15, 2007, 08:47:30 PM
Green Island, Toms River, New Jersey: I was at my brother's house, and was staying with them that summer.  I was too young to have been of Elvis' first generation of fans (when I was very young, I grew up listening to The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Lou Christie...) and did not myself discover his many magnificent recordings until the 80s when I got into 50s rock... !  Though I don't care for the movies, I love ELVIS !!    
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/51/Elvispresleydebutalbum.jpeg)


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: Susan on August 15, 2007, 08:49:25 PM
elvis costello died?


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: Shadow on August 15, 2007, 08:52:25 PM
elvis costello died?

Accidents Will Happen.  :wink:


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: HappyGilmore on August 15, 2007, 09:10:27 PM
I wasn't even alive when Elvis died.

It was like, 7 years before I was born.


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: CheezeFlixz on August 15, 2007, 09:16:16 PM
I was on a farm driving a tractor cutting hay, and Mr. Moore who was really old and I was cutting the hay for him, came out of the house and waved me down and said "Elvis died." I was stunned and it really bummed me out as I grew up listening the Elvis as my Dad was and still is a huge fan and I now have many of my Dad's original Elvis Sun records. So yeah I'm old enough to know where I was when Elvis died.

Tomorrow on  TMC there will be running a full day marathon of Elvis movies.


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: JaseSF on August 15, 2007, 09:24:21 PM
I was nearly 4. This was probably two years before I started humping things.


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: indianasmith on August 15, 2007, 11:02:01 PM
I was 13 years old that summer, but I don't remember what I was doing when I heard the news.  I remember that it happened and that a lot of people were upset, but I just never was into the whole Elvis/Beatles/early rock era.


But I will never forget what I was doing the day Reagan was shot . . .


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: Eyesore on August 15, 2007, 11:22:44 PM
 It was my 12th birthday, but the only thing that I remember was that a girl in my class missed a few days of school because her mom was too broken up to bring her in.

 But I remember where I was when Randy Rhoads and Kurt Cobain died. :teddyr:

 (Great board, by the way. I really enjoy the reviews and recommendations.)


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: Shadow on August 15, 2007, 11:31:04 PM
But I will never forget what I was doing the day Reagan was shot . . .

Neither will I, cuz I was watching it live as it happened!  :buggedout:


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: CheezeFlixz on August 15, 2007, 11:42:35 PM
Here a link to the satellite view of GRACELAND (Center Screen), just click the logo on the opening screen to make it go away, across the street you'll see a plane that is the 'Lisa Marie' and just south of it is the Elvis Auto Museum.

Back over at the house the see the 2 pools, the south pool (fountain) is were the King is buried.

http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=35.046081&lon=-90.024184&z=18.7&r=0&src=msl (http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=35.046081&lon=-90.024184&z=18.7&r=0&src=msl)


Tomorrow for lunch it's fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches. 

1 tablespoons peanut butter (preferably smooth)
2 slices white sandwich bread
1 small ripe banana, mashed with a fork (about 1/4 cup)
2 tablespoons butter

Spread peanut butter evenly on 1 slice of bread, then spread mashed banana on other slice, leaving a 1/4-inch border around edge. Close sandwich, gently pressing bread slices together.
Heat butter in an 8- to 10-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat until foam subsides, then fry sandwich, turning over once, until golden brown, about 2 minutes total. Eat immediately with a knife and fork.


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: Dennis on August 16, 2007, 01:05:36 AM
I was driving back to the yard from making a lumber delivery in the City of Industry Ca. just turned right off of 7th Ave. on to the transition road to the 60 fwy westbound, about halfway up the on ramp the announcer on KHJ broke into a commercial and said "Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll is dead." and for the rest of the day that was all anyone could talk about.


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: RCMerchant on August 16, 2007, 05:44:33 AM
 I was four days from my 14th birthday. I remember that Groucho crooked too. My Dad told me about it...he was a big Elvis fan.He had just watched his last show on TV when he was all fat and big. Dad,at that time said ,something along the lines of " He looks like sh1t."

  I remeber EXACTLY where I was when Reagan got shot! I was in my Uncle Ron's basement playing pool by myself,with the TV on...it was live! I thought it was cool. That may not sound right,but that was my first thought at the time! "SH!T! WOW! " I ran upstairs to holler it out to my Cousin Ronny (yeah...he was named Ron too. 3 Ron Merchant's in one house...there was Big Ron,Ron Jr. and Ronny-me. Stoopid drunk Norwegian's with no imagination... :bouncegiggle:)


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: Scott on August 16, 2007, 08:20:37 AM
We were driving home at night approaching Ithaca, N.Y. from the North on route 34 along Cayuga Lake when we heard it on the radio. The adults in the car were shocked, but I didn't even know who Elvis was at the time.

(http://www.adc9001.com/templates/pages/company/visit_image001.gif)

i was in germany sucking on my thumb  :wink:


Susan, where you also a Army brat born in Germany? I was born in Landsthul, Germany in 1964.


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: raj on August 16, 2007, 03:29:50 PM
I was in my room at home (Middletown NY at the time) listening to the radio -- WPLJ (102.7, IIRC), back when it was a rock and roll station.  DJ came on the air and announced it.  Funny, because the rock stations back then very rarely played any of Elvis's music anymore.


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: Allhallowsday on August 16, 2007, 03:46:05 PM
I was in my room at home (Middletown NY at the time) listening to the radio -- WPLJ (102.7, IIRC), back when it was a rock and roll station.  DJ came on the air and announced it.  Funny, because the rock stations back then very rarely played any of Elvis's music anymore.
I remember WPLJ; album oriented radio, no?  You're right they wouldn't have played Elvis.  At that time they would have been playing Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Yes, Styx, Eagles, but no Elvis...you'd have to go over to WCBS-FM for the "oldies..." 


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: raj on August 17, 2007, 09:55:04 AM
Yup, total AOR.  In the summer of 1983 we went to Britain as a family vacation.  When I got back I turned on the radio and WPLJ was playing Michael Jackson.  Wow, what a shift.  After a couple days of their new crappy Top 40  format I found WNEW-FM.  I guess I'm just a rocker.


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: Allhallowsday on August 17, 2007, 10:40:34 AM
Yup, total AOR.  In the summer of 1983 we went to Britain as a family vacation.  When I got back I turned on the radio and WPLJ was playing Michael Jackson.  Wow, what a shift.  After a couple days of their new crappy Top 40  format I found WNEW-FM.  I guess I'm just a rocker.
WNEW was the true "head" station in the 70s and later also had a debate in the early 80s with their listeners over "should we play Michael Jackson...?"  There was a brief moment there when it seemed there was a lot of cross pollination going on in pop music.  WNEW is no longer AOR.


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: raj on August 17, 2007, 11:30:46 AM
I remember that debate.  And Memorial Day weekend they'd play the top 1000 or so songs -- with Stairway to Heaven always coming out #1.  I forget the names of the old guy who DJed a lot and the ditzy blonde who was a total metal head.  Haven't been back to the area in years, didn't know it had changed formats.


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: Allhallowsday on August 17, 2007, 12:16:37 PM
I remember that debate.  And Memorial Day weekend they'd play the top 1000 or so songs -- with Stairway to Heaven always coming out #1.  I forget the names of the old guy who DJed a lot and the ditzy blonde who was a total metal head.  Haven't been back to the area in years, didn't know it had changed formats.
Scott Muni, Alison Steele, Carol Miller (who used to "get the Led out") Pat St. John...


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: Susan on August 21, 2007, 10:32:20 PM
We were driving home at night approaching Ithaca, N.Y. from the North on route 34 along Cayuga Lake when we heard it on the radio. The adults in the car were shocked, but I didn't even know who Elvis was at the time.

([url]http://www.adc9001.com/templates/pages/company/visit_image001.gif[/url])

i was in germany sucking on my thumb  :wink:


Susan, where you also a Army brat born in Germany? I was born in Landsthul, Germany in 1964.


no, born on mather afb but was in germany as a tot - weiselberg to be exact. A tiny little town where nobody spoke a lick of english, including our landlords..lol  Were there 2 years, years later they wanted to station us there for another 4 and my dad basically said 'hell no, i retire'

btw i meant to ask - do you have dual citizenship?


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: BlackAngel75 on August 22, 2007, 01:50:58 AM
I was 2 years old.    :twirl: :drink:

Same here.


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: Fishasaurus on August 22, 2007, 07:40:03 AM
I was four days from my 14th birthday. I remember that Groucho crooked too. My Dad told me about it...he was a big Elvis fan.He had just watched his last show on TV when he was all fat and big. Dad,at that time said ,something along the lines of " He looks like sh1t."

  I remeber EXACTLY where I was when Reagan got shot! I was in my Uncle Ron's basement playing pool by myself,with the TV on...it was live! I thought it was cool. That may not sound right,but that was my first thought at the time! "SH!T! WOW! " I ran upstairs to holler it out to my Cousin Ronny (yeah...he was named Ron too. 3 Ron Merchant's in one house...there was Big Ron,Ron Jr. and Ronny-me. Stoopid drunk Norwegian's with no imagination... :bouncegiggle:)

I, too, was about to turn 14 when Elvis bit the big one.  I didn't even hear about it until months afterward, when I was sitting in math class.   Now, John Lennon, that was different.


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: Raffine on August 22, 2007, 12:36:31 PM
I was a sophmore in high school at marching band practice.

Our band director stopped the rehearsal, gathered us all together and announced it.


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: Scott on August 24, 2007, 02:52:56 PM

btw i meant to ask - do you have dual citizenship?

Supposedly I do have duel citizenship and with both a German birth certificate and an American born abroad certificate. Never looked that far into my rights concerning both.

I hear if your a German citizen you can own land there.

My only question is.........If I was born on German soil with German citizenship and as an American Citizen born abroad can I run for President of the U.S.?

My fathers side of the family came direct from Germany.

I also notice that many Germans are quite about being German here in the states and don't generally want to talk much about it.


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: IzzyDedjet on August 28, 2007, 02:18:19 PM
I was about to be 8 years old, sitting on Markie Greene's front porch enjoying my summer vacation.
I'm probably going to blaspheme in a lot of people's eyes here, but I never really liked Elvis.
I'm of one mind with Eddie Murphy.  Elvis couldn't sing or act. 
I can't fault the man for not being able to act.  I can't either.
I CAN, and DO fault him for not being able to sing or play the guitar that he always had.
I do this not to rile anyone up, and not to be contrary.  I fault him for this because he was a musical recording artist and had no real ability to do so.  Much like a large number of today's "artists".
Elvis had one encompassing thing going for him.  His delivery.
His physical delivery need not even be mentioned.  We've all heard mention of Elvis' pelvis and the nick names that accompanied such.
A lot of Elvis' delivery was in his presence.  That's a no brainer.
The rest came from the way he put his songs out.  Much like Johnny Cash (who was actually and literally tone deaf), Elvis could just deliver a song in such a way that you really didn't have much choice but to like it.

Oh well.  Let the flaming begin.


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: Allhallowsday on January 21, 2015, 08:13:28 PM
Green Island, Toms River, New Jersey: I was at my brother's house, and was staying with them that summer.  I was too young to have been of Elvis' first generation of fans (when I was very young, I grew up listening to The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Lou Christie...) and did not myself discover his many magnificent recordings until the 80s when I got into 50s rock... !  Though I don't care for the movies, I love ELVIS !!    
([url]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/51/Elvispresleydebutalbum.jpeg[/url])

"Them" being David and Gayle.  They have both left the building since I posted this nearly 8 years ago. 


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: HappyGilmore on January 21, 2015, 08:57:46 PM
I wasn't alive when Elvis was.  But I grew up an Elvis fan.  I can say this...Andy Kaufman made a brilliant Elvis impersonator:
Andy Kaufman Impersonates Elvis Presley and Foreign Man on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r59AWfhwpPg#)

This is probably my favorite Elvis song.  I say 'probably' because it may not be his 'best' but it's one of the first I heard so I'll always hold it highly:
Elvis Presley Jailhouse Rock 1957 colour (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpzV_0l5ILI#)


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: WingedSerpent on January 21, 2015, 09:16:40 PM
I wasn't alive when Elvis was.  But I grew up an Elvis fan.  I can say this...Andy Kaufman made a brilliant Elvis impersonator:
Andy Kaufman Impersonates Elvis Presley and Foreign Man on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show ([url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r59AWfhwpPg#[/url])




I remember hearing some where that Andy's impression of him was Elvis's favorite one.

I wouldn't be born for a few more years when Elvis died.


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: HappyGilmore on January 22, 2015, 10:26:33 AM
I've heard that Andy's "Elvis" was Elvis's favorite as well.

I mean, he really does nail it. 


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: FatFreddysCat on January 22, 2015, 03:08:28 PM
I was seven years old when Elvis died in '77. Most kids my age probably didn't know or care who he was but my Dad was a big fan and I'd heard his records playing around the house my whole life so I was well aware.

On the day the news broke we were on vacation in the Adirondacks in upstate New York, staying in a cabin with my grandparents. There was no TV in the cabin so my Dad found out when he went to town in the morning to pick up the newspapers. I remember my grandma saying it was "such a shame" and she "felt sorry for Elvis." 

We must've been home from vacation by the time his funeral was held, cuz I have vague memories of seeing it on TV, whether it was live as it happened or just a recap on the nightly news, I cannot recall.


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: retrorussell on January 22, 2015, 06:12:52 PM
I was 6, not quite ready to start grade school.  So I was probably sitting around the house in Portland, OR with my mom (dad was working as grocery manager at Fred Meyer department store).  Likely watching game shows or soap operas with mom.  I probably watched the news break about Elvis; I was too young to really comprehend what he meant to the music industry.


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: Allhallowsday on January 22, 2015, 08:17:34 PM
I've heard that Andy's "Elvis" was Elvis's favorite as well.

I mean, he really does nail it. 
I wonder if ELVIS would have known of ANDY KAUFMAN since ELVIS died in 1977... and though ANDY was probably doing his imitation by then for a couple of years, I think ANDY did not become part of the mainstream until after ELVIS' death. 


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: HappyGilmore on January 22, 2015, 09:05:10 PM
I've heard that Andy's "Elvis" was Elvis's favorite as well.

I mean, he really does nail it. 
I wonder if ELVIS would have known of ANDY KAUFMAN since ELVIS died in 1977... and though ANDY was probably doing his imitation by then for a couple of years, I think ANDY did not become part of the mainstream until after ELVIS' death. 
This is true. 

Unless Elvis saw Andy in the clubs or something.  Andy didn't hit the mainstream til around 77, right around when Elvis passed.  A biography on Kaufman on the E! Network stated the Elvis/Andy thing, but that's the only thing I could find.   :question:


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: ER on January 23, 2015, 12:11:31 AM
My parents were together on the day Elvis died, August 16, 1977. It was the summer they met, half a year before they’d defy my grandpa in Ohio and marry, and since it was nearly time for my dad to return to college in New York, they weren’t certain they’d ever see each other again. In the near future would come my father leaving school for a semester and going back to Ireland to ask my grandfather for permission to make his oldest daughter his wife, and since my father was a nice Catholic young man with honorable intentions, my grandfather would consent. But my parents didn’t know all that was ahead, and the day was already heavy enough with sorrows, so when news came that the most famous American in the world had died, it was a big enough event to generate its own depressing energy. My father is known for some of the lines he spontaneously delivers, and that day he let out a biggie, telling my mom, “Elvis’ death will be great for his career.” To which Mom replied, “You’re so evil to say a thing like that.” And they both smiled a moment, despite the gloom of the late-summer evening.


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: Trevor on January 23, 2015, 04:13:25 AM
I was nine and I remember our local radio stations in what was then Rhodesia playing Elvis songs almost the whole day.


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: RCMerchant on January 24, 2015, 12:16:38 AM
But I will never forget what I was doing the day Reagan was shot . . .

Neither will I, cuz I was watching it live as it happened!  :buggedout:

I willtoo-I just got back from NYC,and I was living in my Uncle Ron's basement-watched it on a little black+white TV-I thought it was cool.
Elvis? I was 14. I was more upset because Groucho Marx died. :buggedout:
I was 14-Elvis? HA! I was into Sabbath and Kiss. I liked old horror films-I liked (and still do like) old Laurel and Hardy,Harold Llyod,The Stooges,Buster Keaton...yup,I'm still drunk.
 :drink:


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: Alex on January 26, 2015, 08:01:42 AM
I was 3 when he died and living in Glasgow. So far though the only famous person I can remember where I was when they died has been Freddy Mercury.


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: Alex on January 26, 2015, 10:23:09 AM
I've been fighting the urge to say this all day and just can't fight it anymore.

Elvis isn't dead, he just went home.


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: sprite75 on February 07, 2015, 11:16:22 PM
I was a little over two years old when Elvis died.  If I had to guess I was probably taking a nap or just waking up from one when he passed.


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: Olivia Bauer on February 08, 2015, 01:34:21 AM
In my Dad's ballsack.


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: RCMerchant on February 08, 2015, 05:54:35 AM
I love Elvis now-but back then-my Dad was a huge fan-and I was kinda glad he died-because the very fact my Dad loved him-and I really hated my Dad-now I love Elvis-I still hate my Dad. :bluesad:


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: Ed, Ego and Superego on February 09, 2015, 04:48:39 PM
I was moving into our new apratment in Germany.  Right before starting 1st grade.


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: etmoviesb on February 09, 2015, 04:50:40 PM
I wasn't


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: The Burgomaster on February 16, 2015, 02:02:33 PM



Elvis Costello died?????  :buggedout:




Actually, I was at home (still living with my parents at the time . . . I was 13) when I saw the news report.  It was surreal.  I felt the same way when I saw the news report that John Belushi had died.  "How can he be dead?  He's famous!"

 


Title: Re: Where were you when Elvis died?
Post by: A_Dubya on February 16, 2015, 09:31:51 PM
I wasn't even alive when Elvis died.

It was like, 7 years before I was born.

This.