1977 CBC 8 San Diegans react to death of Elvis Presley in 1977

[NinaFromCanadaEh]

The death of Elvis Presley on August 16, 1977 sent shockwaves around the world. He was only 42 years old and his contributions to the music world were immense. It’s clear the San Diegans Gene Gleeson interviewed were sad and stunned. A Tower Records employee said, “Elvis can’t die…it’s not something that can happen, he’s too big…it’s like Frank Sinatra dying or the Beatles dying.” Tower was selling ten or twelve albums a week before he died--50 were sold in just a few hours right after his death. Record stores around the country were scrambling to restock. RCA in Los Angeles described the flood of record order in one word—extraordinary.
Contrary to what this story says, Elvis performed in San Diego twice in 1956—his June appearance is in this, 1970—film included here, 1973, and 1976. We do not have the 1973 concert and we only have fans lined up outside for the 1976 show—included in this piece.