On the 30th anniversary of Elvis' death, it seems few radio stations are even mentioning the event. Why? Television is all over it. Elvis is not just some outdated oldies artist "who does not fit our format or demos" Elvis is a Frickin' Icon.

there's no sales tie-in, so it doesn't exist!

ah, radio life under corporate rule!

Elvis Costello died? Who knew!

This November 22nd is the 44th anniversary of JFK's death. Should news & talk stations re-run his speeches?

We just passed the 45 anniversary of Marilyn Monroe’s death. Should some movie theatres have had a Monroe film festival?

This past April was the 141st anniversary of Lincoln’s assassination. Should we all wear stove pipe hats?

Elvis is dead. Get over it. Move on.

Funny, you should mention JFK and marylin in the same post.

Elvis is dead? elvis will never die, he's what Rock and Roll is all about.

Sheesh, Tommy...did you get out on the wrong side of the bed this morning? Relax! As a heart patient, I can tell you first hand it's not worth elevating your blood pressure over...

Let's see:

* 30 years ago, I remember I was on vacation from my job at KGRL, spending time at the Oregon Coast when I heard that Elvis had left the building permanently. Now THAT makes me feel old!

* One of the movie channels (like AMC) might run a few MM movies.

* They might even run a few Elvis movies, too.

* I'm surprised that the neo-rights haven't vilified JFK by now.

* From the news I hear down here in the desert, there's talk of doing away with the (Lincoln) penny because, due to the rising cost of raw materials, it costs nearly 2 cents each to mint.

* Oh, yes... I heard KUPL online this morning, giving away tickets to the Oregon State Fair and delivering the prize to winners in "bad Elvis impersonator style"... It was fun to hear!

It's 108 degrees as I write this...let's all be cool.

**Ice cubes rattle in lemonade** Cheers!

Elves are dead!?!?!?? All of them?

Who is going to bake those cookies? Will the hollow tree bakery be closed or is there a buyer?

Maybe they will just turn the place in to a museum like they did with that singer.

As for Marilyn, a few movies on the tube are in order... and not that AMC cable crap. some of us don't have cable.

Mark, 108 degrees? where are you typing from, hell?

I'm home today - feels like I'm coming down with some bug or another...anyway, I flipped on the TV around 2:00 and TCM is running Elvis movies..Clambake etc.

Long live the King!

And, as far as Elvis tributes, Miss Meghan on KPSU is a huge old timey rockabilly etc. She does this every year, 'cause she's a huge Elvis fan. To listen, go here:

http://archive.kpsu.org:8080/station/archives/193

and click on Wed. 8/15 - you can either listen from the website or download it. It's an hour long show.

Once again the suits are deciding that anyone over 50 is not important. I work at an AC, and played Walking in Memphis today and mentioned the anniversary, but that is about it.

As for Kennedy, the anniversary's are important for one reason...as the years pass and all the principle players die, we may unravel a different story of the events of November 22, 1963. Or maybe not.

I enjoyed the Bio' on Elvis' daughter Lisa Marie.

She really reminds me and many others a lot of her father. The way she moves , especially while on stage her low voice, especially for a female. She enjoys being a Parent and staying home most of the time. Very rich woman, and her life style is real interesting too. She lives in a "compound " with close friends, mostly groups of families, much the same way her father kept his ' Memphis Mafia " around Graceland. She says that she is doing a version of what her father did, without the substance abuse and certain other negative lifestyle choices.

She has the same 'Mojo' her Dad had.

Tommy Vance,
Movie theatres show movies that sell tickets. Radio stations get people to listen when they become relevant to the lives of their listeners. Elvis' indelible influence on music and culture is worth acknowledging because it is relevant to our culture.

Elvis died when he went into the army .."John Lennon" ....I, unfortunately agree.

If KISN were still on the air you can bet there'd be coverage.

Phillykid - I'm in Mesa, an eastern suburb of Phoenix. And this time of year, the entrance to Hell is located about 2-1/2 miles to the south-southeast of here... Kinda reminds you to behave yourself! If you ever hear Walter Brennan's "Dutchman's Gold", I'm looking at the mighty Superstition Mountain to my east. Here...you can see for yourself in the daytime here:

http://www.phoenixvis.net/supm1/index.html

I knew one of those cable networks would come through on Elvis! (Sorry, Roger...)

You're right Bhone2000...if KISN was still around...

I think our KOOL-FM (yes, those are the legal calls!) did something on Elvis today, but I wasn't tuned in. They're one of few stations of any format today that "get it" when it comes to superserving their target audience.

Other than the aforementioned antics on KUPL, any Elvis features heard on PDX radio?

There should be some Elvis songs on K-Hits in about a minute, as I write this.

I don't know bout dat! I think there is something very exciting about the 68-73 Elvis...I mean seriously the Singer TV Special from 68 was monumental in kickstarting the second part of his career- an unbelievable touring schedule after that...I saw the King in 1971 at Sahara, Lake Tahoe and I can vouch..he was all that and more in concert!

I was at KRKT when Larry Blair (our mid day jock) broke in with an AP news flash...at the same time our GM Gary Grossman said..what's up did Elvis die?...and when the news did come across that Elvis was found dead, his jaw hit the deck..and everyones eyes shifted to him...not a word was spoken. creepy to this day!

Mark -

it's pretty where you live (at least, the picture on the web was nice) - but yes, if I lived within a couple miles of hell, I would behave.

you asked about PDX coverage of Elvis. Looks like there wasn't much on commercial radio, but I did post about Miss Meghan's show, listed below.

However, it does seem that KPSU's archives are temporarily down.....
And, as far as Elvis tributes, Miss Meghan on KPSU is a huge old timey rockabilly etc. She does this every year, 'cause she's a huge Elvis fan. To listen, go here:

http://archive.kpsu.org:8080/station/archives/193

and click on Wed. 8/15 - you can either listen from the website or download it. It's an hour long show.

We played Elvis all day on K-Dock (KDCQ 92.9) in Coos Bay! We even had sweepers produced for the event. ELVIS is and always will be Rock and Roll, period!

So quit RubberNeckin or I will Kentucky Rain all over your parade. Don't bother mailing me a complaint, I will just Return To Sender.

Wait, I Feel So Bad and a little Moody Blue about the One Night I Got Stung by a Hard Head Woman In The Ghetto at Heartbreak Hotel. I Surrender I am Stuck On You! Can't I just be Your Teddy Bear? I want you, I need you, I love you!

Sincerely,

Your Hound Dog!

I watched Clambake last night in his honor.

And you know, Clambake would pretty much be be the "essential" Elvis movie, only because it was so bad...it had just the right mix of music and really bad acting and corny comedy.

However, Viva Las Vegas is also a must. Ann-Margret was spectacular in this, plus some great shots of the Strip in the mid-60's.

My personal favorite was not his best..."It Happened At The Fair"...'cause it was shot in my hometown, Seattle, at the 1962 Worlds Fair. The acting is so-so, the songs are mediocre, but great early 60's shots of Seattle!

Much to my surprise, K-Hits' Elvis tribute last night was all from the '50s! It was only 3 songs but still...

Clambake is so bad it's almost good! But "Viva" and Ann Marg-rock rule!

Spoken like a true Flintstones fan. Now let's all dance the "Bedrock Twitch."

and after that, "Here we come on the run..."

http://www.fakebands.com/graphics/rockroll.gif

One joyful moment of my childhood was finding out the Beau Brummel-Stones were based on a real group and "Laugh Laugh" could actually be bought in stores.

Back to Elvis, I first heard the announcement of his passing on KUGN (70s equivalent of Hot AC) when they actually interrupted a song to break the news. Then they finished playing whatever song was interrupted and went back to the regular rotation for at least a short time before spinning some Elvis.

Hey Paul Walker, you knew an Elvis movie C0-Star !

I liked G.I Blues only because a guy named Robert
(Bob) Ivers co-stared as PFC Cookie. Bob Ivers worked for MGM later as a production assistant and some other positions and was friends with my Aunt Gerry, who worked for MGM Culver City for 25 years. You can look him up on Wikipedia. I think this guy was close to my Dad's age. Older than Elvis.

Also Bob Ivers wandered up to the NW sometime later in the 60s and became a News Anchor for KNDO-23 in Yakima, Wa. He stayed with the company for years and years doing News/Weather and Sales. When I came to the Tri-Cities in 85' he was doing the Weather on KNDO/KNDU weekends as they did all thier news from Yakima in those days. Bob became an acct rep and then thier media rep and used to come into OK95/KALE radio station here in the Tri-Cities every once in awhile. I recognized him and one day when I was doing some kind of techie work or voice tracking or some such thing and I walked up to him in the front office in front of the station mgr and our sales mgr and started rattling off his accomplishments and the fact that he knew and worked with my Aunt, who had just died 6 months before.

The look on his face was something I wished that I had taken a kodachrome of. Everyone in the office had their jaws dropped. The office and sales folks were goin' Bob? You knew Elvis, you worked with Elvis? You did a movie with Elvis? Tell us more ! And when that happened he went through his whole routine and we learned something about how Elvis movies were made, especially in the early days. What really blew him away was that Geraldine Cook was my Aunt and how did I know he and she worked at MGM??! Well she had moved to Vancouver wa several years before she died, where my family still lives and mentioned to me about this Bob Ivers who he was and how he had moved to some TV station in Yakima and had I ever run across him etc etc..Small world and all that you know...etc..

Paul Walker you should remember BoB Ivers he was in Mike Kelley's office every few weeks doing media trades...This was when you PD'd at OK95....Be fun to get a DVD of that thing and look at BOB acting as Elvis' army buddy and manager in the movie.

Kennewickman: Here's some trivia. The KALE calls in the Tri-Cities were first used in Portland between 1932-48. Richland picked them up in 1950 for use on 960kc & 103.9mc.

Yes you are correct as usual Craig...LOL...

The guy that literally bought a bankrupt radio station in Portland was Mr. John McCaw the second (I think). John the first founded the Chehalis-Centralia newspaper.. founded and put KELA on the air with his son involved and thier second station was KALE, I think by this time John the first had died. THere is another John McCaw, a son who is well known here in the NW.

McCaw bought the station lock stock and barrel, including the call sign because it sounded a lot like KELA and moved it to Richland Washington and went on the air April 1, 1950.I got this from the late Herb Brindamour, sales manager who was around to know ...LOL... The sale included an RCA transmitter that is STILL in that old studio/transmitter building in west Pasco TO THIS DAY to my knowledge. It has been rebuilt several times, but still runs if needed, its a standby to the MW 5 main.

Richland didnt have thier own radio station, but Kenenewick and Pasco did, and the old AEC (atomic energy commission ) had as much to do with that station getting approved as the FCC did really. They did have an FM station too. A tower climber died installing the FM Antenna , or if not on installation, doing maintenance on it...It was on the air briefly, as was the usual in those days with FM...

McCaws bought and operated a number of other stations in the NW. They moved from Chehalis to Seattle by 1959. My Great Aunt Agnes ( I know I got a lot of Aunts associated with broadcast people) worked for the McCaw family as thier Nanny and housekeeper for both their homes in Seattle and the one in Chehalis that they retained. They had a number of children who are still very rich ! one of which ( Edward McCaw ) founded Cellular One ..and then sold it back in 1990 to 92 or so

I got to be in the McCaw home in Seattle as a child several times..They had a mansion really a great dane that stood taller than I did, swimming pools etc...All I knew at age 8 or so was that the 'Dad" owned radio stations....I mustah picked up a vibe from this guy..or something, cause many years later I would work at one of his original facilities..KALE...

John McCaw died young ( my grandmother's words ) and his wife inherited the broadcast group, the cable company and re-married, she and her second husband eventually liquidated thier stations...most of them went to SRO..Fred Danz...Sterling Recreation Organization or Sterling Broadcast and that is the company that I worked for for 9 years.

Also, forward looking McCaw built and operated one of the very first Cable TV systems in the country. McCaw cable Chehalis , Wash. They built that one up, didnt liquidate with the radio, and sold what they had in the early 70s to KING CABLE which sold to COX I think...anyway ...lots of broadcast moxy in this family...

The reason Elvis is dying a second time is from overexposure from his first death.


Paul, the film "It happened at the Fair", was it actually filmed in Seattle or mostly in a lot in Hollywood? I went to the fair in '62 as a kid also (lived there then, too).

Kennewickman: Interesting post. I had not heard those stories before.

Correction: "McCaw Cellular" was founded by Craig O. McCaw not Edward. Craig was the son of Elroy J. McCaw. The McCaw brothers bought MCI's cellular & paging companies in 1986 for $122 Million. In 1988 they purchased "Cellular One" for 3.5 Billion. Then in 1994 they sold their company to AT&T for $11.5 Billion.

KELA was owned in part by Elroy J. McCaw, not John and signed on the air October 31, 1937 on 1440kc. He would later in May 1938 be involved in the new KWLK 1370kc Longview. Call meaning: Wonderful Longview Kelso and also owned KRSC 1150kc Seattle.

KALE & KALE-FM was owned by Robert S. McCaw not John. Robert McCaw also put on the air KYAK 1390kc Yakima in 1947.

I don't know the connection between any Portland station going bankrupt and McCaw. Do you remember the calls?

Yes! The Tri-Cites before 1950 only had KPKW 1340kc Pasco, signing on in August 1945 and KWIE 610 Kennewick which began in January 1948.

"I watched Clambake last night in his honor."

I ate scallops which are almost like clams...

Skeptical, I believe "It Happend At The Fair" was filmed both on location and in Hollywood. Like many movies filmed in Seattle, even in the 70's/80's/90's, the studios didn't exist for extensive indoor shooting. "It Happened At The Fair", used quite of bit of location shooting and is one of the few movies shot in Seattle during the 1960's.

Kennewick Man...I may be losing too many brain cells, but I don't remember Ivers, and don't remember Mike Kelley at OK95/KALE. I do remember a Mike Shannon as sales manager. I started in '90. Perhaps this was a little ahead of me?

Ya well it wasnt just JOhn McCaw then...John ELROY McCaw or Elroy John McCaw. And a Robert? Ok?

John was/is one of what I would guess is Robert's sons. Seems to me that there was a John McCaw that was the father of what you say was Elroy and I will bet dollars to donut holes that he went by Elroy or was named Elroy John McCaw and then there was a Robert?? They were all the same family anyway. The father ( grandfather ) was John McCaw and was the original owner of the newspaper in Chehalis-Centralia. At some point this Elroy went by John McCaw and I think it was after the father died.

It could be that Robert was the one that lived in Seattle that I remembered and had all the radio stations and Elroy had just KELA and maybe the newspaper and cable company..Ill bet that is what it is...Brothers that split the family assets and went thier own way. Because when Fred Danz took much of the " McCaw Broadcast" chain..KELA was NOT one of the stations that Sterling ( Danz ) ever aquired. That would make sense, it was owned by a different McCaw and a still local Chehalis McCaw. The cable company probaby was owned then by Elroy too..

Craig McCaw..ok...he was a son of Elroy not Robert...OK...There is an Edward McCaw in this family someplace and I think he had money in the Cellular One enterprise, along with some of the other cousins..11.5 BILLION !...well spread that money around a bit.... eh? I remember reading the article in the Tri City Herald back in the early 90s when McCaw sold the whole thing to AT&T. and that article it mentioned the principals of Cellular One there was more than one McCaw involved in it..I remembered the Edward..but not the Craig.. Sorry..There is a lot of money around this family..as you might guess..

As to radio....Herb Brindamour old school sales manager guy who worked for McCaw's and Sterling both told me once or twice that KALE radio in Portland went dark in 1948. And that it went dark because of a bankruptcy, they just turned it off. It was not a McCaw station as far as I know, Herb didnt say it was and I think he would have mentioned that fact. I dont know who owned it.

For what ever reason KALE in Portland went off the air, Brindamour said that McCaw's bought the turntables, mixer boards, and transmitter, and other studio equipment which was almost new at the time, to put on the air in Richland ,Wa. including the Call Sign. They got it all put together in April 1950. Richland, Wa was operated by the AEC dba the US Federal Government and they were "hot to trot" to get this radio station on the air according to what I was told, the cold war and Hanford secrecy issues and all that jazz, and the whole operation was fast tracked with governement money infused into the private sector aka McCaw broadcast.

Our 610 AM became KEPR radio then KONA and has been licensed to Pasco, Wa for decades and decades. Our 1340 became KOTY then KTCR and has been licensed to Kennewick, Wa for decades and decades.

Paul,

Mike Shannon is right....it wasnt Kelley, he had an office right across from yours...

Why no Elvis?
Why no Unicorns?
Why no Leprechauns?
Why no Pixies?
Why no Fairies? Oh wait, these are real, I've seen them in certain parts of town.

The real question is

Why a Duck? Why a no chicken?

Paul,

Yes my Aunt died in Jan. 1990. This Ivars/Elvis bit occurred in May or June 1990. Were you there by then? I think so...

Craig,

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2005/54/AIK3.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_McCaw

The upshot of these two links relative to KALE is that John Elroy McCaw Sr. was the father of these kids, Craig and John Elroy JR. John E sr died in 68 or 69 as Craig took the company over at age 19 according to the link. I dont know who Robert McCaw was.

I do know that I have seen the original proof of perfomance paperwork on KALE in 1950 and it lists the owner as McCaw Broadcasting Co. Chehalis, Wa. Now, it could be that John Elroy sr did some kind of paperwork shell game with the Yakima and Richland stations as a diversity set up for tax or other corporate reasons.

SSDI listing ( Social Security Death Index ) John McCaw born Sept 15, 1911 died August 1969. Last residence City , County in Washington state witheld SSN: 539-05-1261. Witheld is usually by family request. This is not unusual in the case of a young person's death. It is unusual in the case of a someone dieing in thier late 50s unless the family is high profile and doesnt want too much public information being released.

Also, the pic of Craig in his link is a virtual spittin' image of the man I stared at in his home in West Seattle allah 1960 or so...

Kennewick man, I started at OK95 as PD in June 1990, must have just missed this episode. You remember this era...Fred Danz and the local GM had decided to move from a Rock-40 to a mainstream Top40, and was met with, shall we say, a little resistance within the market. For years, everyone thought it was my doing, but I was actually just following their plan. An eye-opener for a first time PD for sure! Talk about trial by fire!

Yes,

And other than "me" just being "me" on any format, I never did object to working at a maintsteam top 40 back then, I would NOW of course and the rest of the world wouldnt think much a of a 50s something on thier " Jammin' 95 or whatever. A whole host of other people did object to the change outside of the station, of course. Several of them were still working IN the building when you came, as I am sure you do remember. ha ha ...

During OK95's 'Pirate Radio clone days", pre-P.W. I got real tired of the music rotations and selections really. I was allowed more lattitude in my presentation with the 'pirate format',however. You put the reigns on that somewhat, but not that much really.

Our old friend Greg Allen is the one that put it in words that I could understand ...hey Al...no more neo hippie underground attitude on the FM..over here on Fun Oldies AM 960 KALE you can do some of that. And I did once in awhile, although I learned quickly that an upbeat " AC " presentation most always got good results on either format.

You know one of the most fun times I had on OK95 as a LIVE weekend night jock...was the time that the city of Kennewick LOST THE FIREWORKS BARGE on the 4th of July...as it got un-tethered and floated down the Columbia River !...it took the coast guard or who ever went to fetch it hours to get it back to Columbia Park for the show, I think the show finally got started about 12:30 AM !!. OH did I have fun with that. The bit lines just kept on commin' like : Weve had a call,,the barge was just seen floating past the Snake River delta, hey anyone ...throw a wieghted line on that thing and tow it back to Lampson PITS...This went on and on...The PHONERS...god...these people were PISSED Dark and NO fireworks...these in the days when most people didnt have a Cell phone yet..So the calls were commin' off land lines mostly. And there were a ton of them...And the bits ,,,the callers were the best they had the funniest "bit lines"...I recorded many on that Scully real to real in the control room..I was hackin that tape with a razor blade and pullin' off the splice tape to get the best phoners on the air..for a continuous update as to where the fireworks barge was at any given break... and I was violating your format to get the phoners on, playing them over intros and so forth and I was surprised that you weren't calling me about it..but then I heard that YOU were stuck on a boat with your friends in the middle of the Columbia River waiting for the fireworks too, with no Cell phone Ill bet....and listening to OK95...and a Jock 'out of control'...hhahahahah

Some of the best of times...really...AND A WONDERFUL EXAMPLE OF THE BENEFITS OF LIVE RADIO !!!!

Kennewickman: The 1953 Broadcasting Yearbook lists McCaw station licenses as:

KALE = KALE, Inc. / R.S. McCaw, President.
KELA = Central Broadcasting Corp. / J. Elroy McCaw, President.
KRSC = J. Elroy McCaw / J. Elroy McCaw, President.
KYAK = Yakima Broadcasting Corp. / Robert McCaw, President.

Previous to this, KALE & calls in Portland were owned by "The Oregon Journal" newspaper under license: KALE, Inc. In 1946 The Journal had sold its other station KOIN to satisfy the FCC's duopoly ruling. The Journal pocketed $1,045,000. on the deal. In the transaction was the KOIN Sylvan transmitter site where KALE also had towers.

KALE moved it's transmitter site in late May 1948 to Mount Scott and on June 6, 1948 KALE became KPOJ at its 6:00 AM sign on. The calls reflected its owner: "Portland Oregon Journal". License name changed to KPOJ, Inc. Also on this date, KPOJ-FM signed on the air.

There was NO bankruptcy. The turntables and equipment might have come from the old Sylvan site which might have been disassembled at slow rate since KPOJ had new equipment and the old wasn't needed.

Calls weren't changed until KOIN was sold because the two sister stations call meanings meant the same thing, MONEY:

KOIN = Coin.
KALE = Kale. (a slang for cash).

OK, Craig

then Herb was probably just ad-libing with that bankruptcy comment. ..Ok, well then that solves that mystery. It is interesting about the McCaws, however...

These guys were related, ill bet, and I dont know why they would have different presidents, unless they divided up thier family moneies a certain way and then later on one sold out to the other, ill bet that was it somehow..And some engineer told me...I think it was Dave Hebert..that the KELA / KALE thing was what prompted McCaws to file for that Call sign or buy it what ever they actually did..So then the equipment was not so new..well it was a cheap way to put a station on the air...in a VERY small market...LOL...

And a million dollars for a radio station in Portland in 1946 is one helluva lot of money for those days !!!

Yes! KOIN was over priced but The Journal got the money because it was millionaire Marshall Field that purchased it. Field also lost on the deal in 1952 when he sold the now KOIN AM/FM combination for $700,000.

OH MAN

Did they see him commin'..

I know now why I couldnt get current or past hits on Bob Ivars...cause I got his name wrong ! duh? it was IVERS.

SSDI information :

Robert Ivers DOB : Dec 11 1934, DOD Feb 13, 2003
last residence Yakima, Yakima, Wa 98902.

Looks like he was less than a month older than Elvis, he always looked a lot older than Elvis, I thought, especially when you see the film GI BLUES.

Bob was still doing a radio "movie revue' thing that on some radio stations here in the S.E.Washington area. Tri Cities and Yakima and a few other small markets over here, Wenatchee I think..I heard these during the 90s and early 2000s when I was driving around the inland empire. KALE ran this when they were Jones/ MOYL back in the 90s. KIT in Yakima ran it too..

I know I'm a little late getting this in here, but my kids on Summer Sound on AM1450 KBPS played Elvis all day on the anniversary and as soon as it was available (Friday morning) we started playing the Elvis / Lisa Marie duet of "In the Ghetto". We received a lot of positive response.

I like Lisa Marie !!! She is a hotty !

lisa marie is a hottie. but she was with michael jackson. i would not touch it with a ten foot pole