Friday, 24 February 2023
Tuesday, 21 February 2023
Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii
In 2023 we celebrate the 50th anniversary of this first worldwide satellite concert by ONE MAN.
Some interesting tidbits surrounding this historical broadcast:
- There
were other satellite concerts before and after Elvis.
- The
satellite that would transmit the concert signal belonged to NBC and
was very costly to hire. NBC was asked to host the Special and in
return received the highest TV ratings for the year.
- The stage was
made in L.A. and shipped to Hawaii.
- When
the wife of Kui Lee heard that about Elvis' concert for her
charity foundation, she had to go straight to the doctor for tranquilizers.
- You cannot
charge money for a TV audience, so donations were asked for
each ticket.
- Aloha From
Hawaii was the most expensive TV concert of its time at $2,5 million.
- The
rehearsal concert was set to be recorded at 20:30 on 12 January 1973 but by 19:00
six thousand fans had already stormed the venue and crammed
into the available 5,300 seats.
- Elvis
wanted a suit that said America. Initial ideas included the outline
of a map or the star-spangled banner, but they eventually decided on the
national bird.
- The live
broadcast had to be just shy of an hour, after which the satellite
feed would be cut off, so Elvis organised for Joe Esposito to be at the side of
the stage with a flashlight to indicate when there were 10 minutes left.
- The sound equipment
of NBC and RCA combined overloaded the power. Two hours before the rehearsal
concert the lights flickered on and off and the sound engineers went to borrow
extra equipment from the Navy. A few minutes before the start of the show,
there was a hum in the sound system, caused by the stage lights, and lead
plates were obtained, again from the Navy, to counteract this.
There are many more fun facts, especially the 1.5 billion people having watched the broadcast, amongst others South Africa. (NOT!) At this point in time? Sure! The Parker marketing machine did the trick, though, and it's all now part of Elvis lore.
Tuesday, 24 January 2023
1. U.S. MALE
2. MAMA LIKED THE ROSES
Tuesday, 1 November 2022
Who Was Elvis?
He had just finished high school when he plucked up the courage and walked through the doors of Sun Studios, ready to record his first song. After this came hit after hit, and he popularized a new genre of music that mixed all kinds of different styles. That genre was Rock 'n' Roll, and it would take the world by storm!
All the great artists that came after him still look up to little Elvis, the King of Rock 'n' Roll, the unique and irreplaceable artist who changed the course of music history.
Tuesday, 27 September 2022
From Dick to Roy
In an interview Guyton said:
I have enjoyed every minute of every day. It has been fun and it's been a great ride, a real pleasure to serve the community as well as all the international visitors that we've had. Our board of directors have been looking to continue to improve the place but at the same time to keep it to how the fans want it to be, because that's what we're all about.