It was 40 years ago on 16 August 1977 that the world was shocked by the death of Elvis Presley, known widely as “the king of rock and roll”. He was just 42.
Just as radio stations the world-over suspended their regular programming back then to play Elvis music, Mushroom FM is suspending its regular schedule on 16 August to bring you 24 hours of Elvis-related programming. Whether you’re a dedicated fan who wants to pay homage on a difficult day, or someone who’s curious about the extent of this incredible figure’s contribution to music, you’ll be glad you joined us.
The centrepiece of our 24 hours of programming, from midnight to midnight US Eastern time on 16 August, is “The Elvis Presley Story”.
“The Elvis Presley Story” was produced by Ron Jacobs as Watermark Inc, and narrated by Wink Mardindale, the famous US DJ and game show host. It was released first in 1971 as a 12-hour radio documentary. It traced, in considerable detail, Elvis’s life and musical career in chronological order. It was updated to reflect new material, including further developments in his career, in 1975, and extended to 13 hours. Finally, a 1977 revision was made after Elvis’s death.
This documentary was produced for the most part while Elvis was still alive, so doesn’t deal with some of what we now know regarding Elvis’s demons and dependencies. However, it remains a stunning chronology of his career, and it’s significant because it was produced at a time when so many people close to Elvis, and important in his story, were still living.
We’ll be bringing you episodes of “The Elvis Presley Story” throughout our day’s programming.
But there is also 11 hours of other programming you won’t want to miss.
Make sure you have popcorn, because we’ll be bringing you two of the many movies Elvis made, fully audio described, as well as music from their soundtracks.
Steve Cutway, the host of our popular show “The Early Years”, is a huge Elvis fan. He was lucky enough to see him in concert, and he has a special show in which he shares some great music and anecdotes you may not have heard before.
Elvis was an incredibly versatile performer. Bruce Toews remembers a genre of music that was profoundly important to Elvis, gospel.
We’ll bring you the famous, and career-resurrecting, NBC 1968 come-back special in its entirety, as well as one of the individual shows that made up that final special.
At the end of the day, Jonathan Mosen will be live, inviting you to tell us about Elvis songs that are special to you, and sharing your memories of where you were, and what you were doing, when the news of Elvis’s death came through.
To find out what’s on when, you can display all our programming for Elvis day in your time zone, by visiting http://MushroomFm.com/schedule. Lock us in, and enjoy the great music and memories. We remember Elvis, all day on 16 August, here on Mushroom FM, the station that brings you four decades of magic Mushroom memories.