WHISPERING SMITH: Funny how time slips away...

Elvis Aaron Presley, for me the King of rock and roll, would be in his early eighties had he lived, and I cannot help but wonder what he would have looked like now had he followed a healthier lifestyle.

A lot pudgier I bet.

I bought his first LP and, when I first went to the US, his extended play records which always had superior high definition colour photographs on the sleeves.

In later years, when hard up, I sold them all for a song – A Fool Such As I.

I saw his debut movie in a packed Cape Town cinema in South Africa – Love Me Tender.

It was a sell-out and two shipmates and I, without tickets, bluffed our way through foyer chaos with the old pointing behind you and saying ‘he’s got the tickets’ ploy.

We had to sit on the stairs with dozens of others and, in those days with no health and safety police to bother us, we were set fair.

Just imagine your hero in his first movie, and a western to boot – it didn’t get much better than that for a 16-year-old fan.

Well, actually it could have been better – it was a lacklustre movie, a love story by any other name and to top it all (spoiler alert) Elvis gets himself shot at the end.

Happy memories though in many ways and brought to life last week when my jive group at the Honey Hush Club celebrated the King’s birthday with a special celebratory evening.

A disco and live performance from three talented youngsters – Dylan Bunce and The Memphis Mafias, Guido King and Vince Whittaker – paying their own brand of homage to the King.

A fun evening.

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If visiting Littlehampton make sure to ‘spend a penny’ before leaving home as, due to council cuts, you may find it difficult to spend one in our town...

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