Rant #1,493: A Rock Confluence

Isn't it funny how the calendar works out sometimes?

Don't certain dates take on some added significance, and don't dates sometimes run into each other in a fascinating--and oftentimes eerie--way?

Such is what happened during the past few days, when two rock and roll anniversaries almost met head on, reminding us once again that the calendar often is the most mystifying tool that we use on a daily basis.

On August 15, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Beatles' concert at Shea Stadium.

Those days were really something, as I remember it.

The Beatles had seemingly come out of nowhere to capture our hearts, minds and bodies-and pocketbooks. They were fresh, they were new, and they were the perfect antidote for a nation that was still suffering from the murder of John F. Kennedy, our president, just a few months earlier.

By August 1965, the Beatles had become the most successful rock group in history, racking up hit after hit after hit.

At the time, most acts of any stature played relatively small halls, because, quite frankly, there wasn't anywhere else for them to perform.

Then the whole concert scene changed, where as part of the celebration of the New York World's Fair, the brand spanking new Shea Stadium, home to the then relatively new franchise the New York Mets, was chosen as a concert venue.

Nothing like this had reportedly happened before, and there were a lot of doubts that it could actually be successful.

When tickets were gobbled up at a rapid pace, there was no doubt that such shows could work. The public would buy it, but how about actually being there--could it be carried off?

I was not there, but as an eight year old, I was fascinated by all this stuff revolving around the Beatles.

When they played Shea, the electronics for playing such a vast cavern were not up to the standards we have today.

Reportedly, with more than 50,000 people in attendance, most of them yelling and shrieking during the entire show, nobody could hear anything. With the sound coming out of basically loudspeakers used during sporting events, the results weren't a surprise.

But it worked, and really, the rest is history, and rock and roll and venues like this mixed like peanut butter and jelly.

And talking about peanut butter ...

On August 16, we celebrated the life, and death, of Elvis Presley, who passed away on that date in 1977.

If the Beatles were larger than life figures, then Elvis was almost god-like.

He burst on the scene in the very staid 1950s, and his mix of rhythm and blues, country, pop and rock--and his good looks and swivel hips--set the world on fire back then.

By the mid 1960s, his career was in something of a downswing. He had peaked earlier, still was releasing records, but not with the fortitude and importance that his earlier work had held.

I liked Elvis, but the fact of the matter is that my interest came way after his prime.

By the mid 1960s, the Beatles were king, not the so-called King of Rock, but Elvis was always there, always dependable, always having hit records, many of which were actually pretty good.

By 1977, Elvis was pretty much a caricature of himself.

Old before his time, bloated by pills and excessive eating, he was a mere shell of the man who changed the face of entertainment during my first years on this earth, in the 1950s.

Nonetheless, he still had a full schedule of appearances and record dates, and as I remember it, his latest single, "Way Down," and his latest LP, "Moody Blue," had just been released during the summer of 1977. I liked the single, went out and bought it, and also bought the album, too, which I got on blue vinyl.

Anyway, I was driving home from work--I had a part time job as a security guard in a supermarket--I forget which one--in the Green Acres Mall, Valley Stream, Long Island, New York.

I listened to WNEW-FM, which was the No. 1 rock and roll station on the FM dial back then. They played Elvis every once in a while, but their song lineup at that point in time was heavy into Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and the Grateful Dead.

So as I turned on the ignition, the radio also came on, and an Elvis song was playing, not that unusual, but I kind of knew that Led Zeppelin was probably up next.

Then, they played another Elvis tune, and then another, and then another.

No DJ had yet come on the air, and I remember wondering what was going on.

Finally, after about five Elvis tunes, veteran DJ Scott Muni came on the air, and told me and other listeners the news--that reports were that Elvis had died.

The rest is history.

It is funny how these two dates pretty much run smack dab into each other, but maybe the cosmos knows what it is doing by having these dates so close together.

It helps us remember both pretty easily, and shows a definite link between the original King of Rock, Elvis Presley, and the future Kings of Rock, the Beatles.

Funny how things work out, isn't it?