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Dave Good
Marty Graham
Moss Gropen
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Eva Knott
Thomas Larson
Ken Leighton
Matthew Lickona
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A vastly expanded and updated (thru 2010) version of this article, with over 100 additional rare photos, is available at
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2010/…
— April 2, 2011 7:58 a.m.
Long Live the King
Martin had been with Elvis backstage in the hours leading up to the show. “Elvis was a blonde,” he says. “I kept his secret for many years, until I learned that he had been outed…When I entered the dressing room, I was flustered to see that the King had no clothes. He was pacing buck naked in the dressing room…Seeing me, he grabbed his gold Lamé suit and covered himself. Too late. I had caught him.” “In contrast to his black head of hair was a golden wheat-colored tuft [down below]. Yep, he was a natural blonde, alright. ‘You ain’t gonna tell nobody, are ya?’ he asked, almost pleading. I nodded a firm no, and that was that. I later learned that Tony Curtis was his idol. He regarded Tony as the ultimate babe magnet, so he dyed his hair raven black, just like Tony's…the kid obviously did not realize that his hair could have been [turd brown], and it would not have mattered.” When Presley was scheduled to return to the Arena June 6, Police Chief Adam Elmer Jansen (the city's longest-serving Chief, at 14 years) had had enough. "If he puts on the same kind of show that he did last April, I'll arrest him for disorderly conduct," he was quoted saying in the Union (repeated nationwide after newswires picked up the story). "I've had enough complaints from parents to assure me that twerp is not doing the kids any good." Late in the year, the city Social Services Department held a series of hearings, to discuss whether Presley should be banned from playing in San Diego . Presley escaped town without being arrested or banned and in fact returned years later to pack them in for three more sold-out performances, after Police Chief Jansen retired - November 15, 1970 (ticket sales 14,659), April 26, 1973 (15,050 attendees) and April 24, 1976 (17,500 attendees).
— March 30, 2011 10:30 p.m.
Long Live the King
More from earlier Reader coverage: "This is the first time that the Hancock is going to rock and roll, while still in anchor!" The titular host of NBC's Milton Berle Show [aka Texaco Star Theater] introduced Elvis Presley to a live audience on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Hancock, docked at the Naval Station in San Diego bay. Presley's first-ever California performance (with his new backing band the Jordanaires) included "Heartbreak Hotel" (on its way to becoming his first #1 hit) and a few others. The singer gamely acknowledged the raging controversy about his "shocking" onstage pelvic gyrations by taking part in a comedy sketch. Presley introduced Berle, dressed as Elvis (world's first Elvis impersonator?), saying "Mah twin brother, Melvin Presley." Berle/Melvin then takes credit for all the hip-wiggling, saying "I gave him his singing style - I used to drop grasshoppers down his pants." Elvis' sexually-charged "singing style" was no joke to San Diego police, however. The next two nights, both of Presley's concerts at the San Diego Arena on 8th and Harbor Drive (aka Glacier Garden ) were sold out and police presence was heavy. Over both evenings, several young women were removed from the Arena, reportedly for "hysterical and lewd behavior." The Shore Patrol had to set up a floating blockade behind the venue, after two teen girls in their underwear and carrying soaked dresses emerged from the water to make a run for Presley's dressing room (they were caught by police and released, presumably after their garments dried). Three people were arrested. "Some girls broke into the bathroom of Elvis's dressing room and stole the toilet seat," recalled KCBQ disc jockey Don Howard in a 1979 interview with localKicks Magazine. "His Cadillac was covered with obscene messages, and two sailors were arrested for masturbating during the show from watching the antics.... After the concert, the police arrested 12 girls running nude through the halls of the El Cortez Hotel, looking for Elvis.” “I introduced him [to the stage],” says longtime local DJ Happy Hare Martin, “and he rushed out and sang the first chorus of Hound Dog, which I could not hear above their primal screams. Then…he began wiggling and rotating his pelvis. This is when half the girls lost control of their bladders.”
— March 30, 2011 10:29 p.m.
VW Painted by the Art Kids of San Diego County
Wow! Very impressive - would it be possible to provide a link to a larger version (or alternate takes) of this photo??
— March 30, 2011 10:19 p.m.
From Hell
The comic book series this was based on came from the same typewriter responsible for V For Vendetta, Watchmen, and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, tho typist/creator Alan Moore claims he hasn't seen any of the movies based on his work. I suspect he would like this least of all, as it captures very little of the mood or depth of the original comics. That said, the story makes for a fine little entry in the overpopulated Ripper film genre, ranking somewhere between Yours Truly Jack The Ripper (a Robert "Psycho" Bloch story adapted for the TV show Boris Karloff's Thriller) and Hitchcock's The Lodger, ie an engaging -- if somewhat queasy -- way to knock a coupla hours off your lifeclock.
— March 30, 2011 10:18 a.m.
Dad works in Hollywood – I was a Ninja Turtles baby
Mindy brings up an interesting point. I've written many celeb-centered features for the Reader, like My Brunch With Yoko, Why I No Longer Date Porn Stars, and How Not to Interview a Celebrity, a collection of my worst celeb encounters. None of those stories generated such discourteous and dismissive comments -- Is it because of Hayley Rafner's youth that her cover feature inspired such vitriolic response from chargernation24 and adrian_ar3? Is she somehow not allowed the latitude of Reader columnists like Duncan Shepherd, Jeff Smith, myself, and other staffers prone to first-person pop culture accounts rife with "name dropping"? In any event, I second Visduh's suggestion that Miss Rafner pursue more writing opportunities -- if this article is a fair indication, her work may well turn up again in these pages and/or in other publications well worth a read ---
— March 26, 2011 8:11 p.m.
Capital
T
The SDMAs
I was just looking up this band for the first time, and the top search results were this excellent article and a much less informative CityBeat piece that actually managed to make the group seem boring and pointless -- I look fwd to the band's first recordings --
— March 24, 2011 10:31 p.m.
Dad works in Hollywood – I was a Ninja Turtles baby
This young lady had an interesting story to tell, and she told it very well! Enjoyed this feature a bunch ---
— March 24, 2011 7:40 p.m.
Letters
The Reader gets death threats via voicemail?! "Look Out Commies" seems to have been threatening something anyway - "your paper will be shot down...you will no longer circulate your newspaper because we will find a way to get rid of you." Wow, the Reader must be doing something right, to inspire that kinda ire!
— March 23, 2011 2:36 p.m.
Escondido Art - what now that the galleries are gone
Terrific artwork, very bright and evocative --
— March 21, 2011 5:54 p.m.
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A vastly expanded and updated (thru 2010) version of this article, with over 100 additional rare photos, is available at http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2010/…— April 2, 2011 7:58 a.m.
Long Live the King
Martin had been with Elvis backstage in the hours leading up to the show. “Elvis was a blonde,” he says. “I kept his secret for many years, until I learned that he had been outed…When I entered the dressing room, I was flustered to see that the King had no clothes. He was pacing buck naked in the dressing room…Seeing me, he grabbed his gold Lamé suit and covered himself. Too late. I had caught him.” “In contrast to his black head of hair was a golden wheat-colored tuft [down below]. Yep, he was a natural blonde, alright. ‘You ain’t gonna tell nobody, are ya?’ he asked, almost pleading. I nodded a firm no, and that was that. I later learned that Tony Curtis was his idol. He regarded Tony as the ultimate babe magnet, so he dyed his hair raven black, just like Tony's…the kid obviously did not realize that his hair could have been [turd brown], and it would not have mattered.” When Presley was scheduled to return to the Arena June 6, Police Chief Adam Elmer Jansen (the city's longest-serving Chief, at 14 years) had had enough. "If he puts on the same kind of show that he did last April, I'll arrest him for disorderly conduct," he was quoted saying in the Union (repeated nationwide after newswires picked up the story). "I've had enough complaints from parents to assure me that twerp is not doing the kids any good." Late in the year, the city Social Services Department held a series of hearings, to discuss whether Presley should be banned from playing in San Diego . Presley escaped town without being arrested or banned and in fact returned years later to pack them in for three more sold-out performances, after Police Chief Jansen retired - November 15, 1970 (ticket sales 14,659), April 26, 1973 (15,050 attendees) and April 24, 1976 (17,500 attendees).— March 30, 2011 10:30 p.m.
Long Live the King
More from earlier Reader coverage: "This is the first time that the Hancock is going to rock and roll, while still in anchor!" The titular host of NBC's Milton Berle Show [aka Texaco Star Theater] introduced Elvis Presley to a live audience on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Hancock, docked at the Naval Station in San Diego bay. Presley's first-ever California performance (with his new backing band the Jordanaires) included "Heartbreak Hotel" (on its way to becoming his first #1 hit) and a few others. The singer gamely acknowledged the raging controversy about his "shocking" onstage pelvic gyrations by taking part in a comedy sketch. Presley introduced Berle, dressed as Elvis (world's first Elvis impersonator?), saying "Mah twin brother, Melvin Presley." Berle/Melvin then takes credit for all the hip-wiggling, saying "I gave him his singing style - I used to drop grasshoppers down his pants." Elvis' sexually-charged "singing style" was no joke to San Diego police, however. The next two nights, both of Presley's concerts at the San Diego Arena on 8th and Harbor Drive (aka Glacier Garden ) were sold out and police presence was heavy. Over both evenings, several young women were removed from the Arena, reportedly for "hysterical and lewd behavior." The Shore Patrol had to set up a floating blockade behind the venue, after two teen girls in their underwear and carrying soaked dresses emerged from the water to make a run for Presley's dressing room (they were caught by police and released, presumably after their garments dried). Three people were arrested. "Some girls broke into the bathroom of Elvis's dressing room and stole the toilet seat," recalled KCBQ disc jockey Don Howard in a 1979 interview with localKicks Magazine. "His Cadillac was covered with obscene messages, and two sailors were arrested for masturbating during the show from watching the antics.... After the concert, the police arrested 12 girls running nude through the halls of the El Cortez Hotel, looking for Elvis.” “I introduced him [to the stage],” says longtime local DJ Happy Hare Martin, “and he rushed out and sang the first chorus of Hound Dog, which I could not hear above their primal screams. Then…he began wiggling and rotating his pelvis. This is when half the girls lost control of their bladders.”— March 30, 2011 10:29 p.m.
VW Painted by the Art Kids of San Diego County
Wow! Very impressive - would it be possible to provide a link to a larger version (or alternate takes) of this photo??— March 30, 2011 10:19 p.m.
From Hell
The comic book series this was based on came from the same typewriter responsible for V For Vendetta, Watchmen, and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, tho typist/creator Alan Moore claims he hasn't seen any of the movies based on his work. I suspect he would like this least of all, as it captures very little of the mood or depth of the original comics. That said, the story makes for a fine little entry in the overpopulated Ripper film genre, ranking somewhere between Yours Truly Jack The Ripper (a Robert "Psycho" Bloch story adapted for the TV show Boris Karloff's Thriller) and Hitchcock's The Lodger, ie an engaging -- if somewhat queasy -- way to knock a coupla hours off your lifeclock.— March 30, 2011 10:18 a.m.
Dad works in Hollywood – I was a Ninja Turtles baby
Mindy brings up an interesting point. I've written many celeb-centered features for the Reader, like My Brunch With Yoko, Why I No Longer Date Porn Stars, and How Not to Interview a Celebrity, a collection of my worst celeb encounters. None of those stories generated such discourteous and dismissive comments -- Is it because of Hayley Rafner's youth that her cover feature inspired such vitriolic response from chargernation24 and adrian_ar3? Is she somehow not allowed the latitude of Reader columnists like Duncan Shepherd, Jeff Smith, myself, and other staffers prone to first-person pop culture accounts rife with "name dropping"? In any event, I second Visduh's suggestion that Miss Rafner pursue more writing opportunities -- if this article is a fair indication, her work may well turn up again in these pages and/or in other publications well worth a read ---— March 26, 2011 8:11 p.m.
Capital T The SDMAs
I was just looking up this band for the first time, and the top search results were this excellent article and a much less informative CityBeat piece that actually managed to make the group seem boring and pointless -- I look fwd to the band's first recordings --— March 24, 2011 10:31 p.m.
Dad works in Hollywood – I was a Ninja Turtles baby
This young lady had an interesting story to tell, and she told it very well! Enjoyed this feature a bunch ---— March 24, 2011 7:40 p.m.
Letters
The Reader gets death threats via voicemail?! "Look Out Commies" seems to have been threatening something anyway - "your paper will be shot down...you will no longer circulate your newspaper because we will find a way to get rid of you." Wow, the Reader must be doing something right, to inspire that kinda ire!— March 23, 2011 2:36 p.m.
Escondido Art - what now that the galleries are gone
Terrific artwork, very bright and evocative --— March 21, 2011 5:54 p.m.