50 Years Ago, Elvis

excellent radio show about Elvis Presley   #radioshowsthatstaywithyou

" His show was, most of all, an event. In the old days, people would plan their trips to Las Vegas and then book their shows: if Frank or Sammy wasn’t in town, there were always plenty of others to choose from, among the many stars who were constantly circulating in and out of Vegas.
Now people began to schedule their trips to Vegas around Elvis shows. He was the first major star to establish something like a regular schedule in Las Vegas: two four-week engagements a year, one in the winter, one in the summer —a forerunner of the “residencies” of latter-day Vegas stars like Céline Dion. Elvis fans came from all over the world, and some would get tickets for a whole week of shows. The big gamblers who didn’t care for Elvis could plant their wives in the showroom and spend their evening at the crap tables.
The International would give complimentary tickets for Elvis’s shows to high rollers from other hotels; in return, the Riviera or Caesars would comp the International’s guests for their headliners. When Elvis was in town, everybody did well. https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2019/08/02 … -las-vegas