Kansas City, 1977

Sadly not one of Elvis' great nights. As for the gay act, we have to remember `humour' was different in the 70s, just think of British comedies like `Are You Being Served'.

Was Sundial at the cleaners that night? God, he must have been so uncomfortable.

Maybe he liked the Spades better than the Sundial and wanted to test it out for the Special. He was too overweight at this point, though.

Sadly not one of Elvis' great nights. As for the gay act, we have to remember `humour' was different in the 70s, just think of British comedies like `Are You Being Served'.

Balderdash. Since when is demeaning a group of people OK?

There is nothing in "Are You Being Served" that parallels the "gay act" which Hodge and Presley presented on stage in 1976-77. We should quit making excuses for it now, and be grateful it did not become a concert staple in this period.

I'll bet they kept that newspaper away from him.

There would actually have been no need to do so, as Star did not publish a review, only this photo with a flattering caption...

kansascity77pic.png

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Sadly not one of Elvis' great nights. As for the gay act, we have to remember `humour' was different in the 70s, just think of British comedies like `Are You Being Served'.

Balderdash. Since when is demeaning a group of people OK?

There is nothing in "Are You Being Served" that parallels the "gay act" which Hodge and Presley presented on stage in 1976-77. We should quit making excuses for it now, and be grateful it did not become a concert staple in this period.

I was simply pointing out that `gay' comedy was not uncommon in the era. I never said anything about demeaning any group of people and I don't think Elvis meant to demean anybody. Even today, I know gay people who are quite happy to make jokes at their own expense. Not everyone is super sensitive. I'm not gay but recently attended a gay `wedding' ceremony and it was a great event and included some `gay humour'.

I’m one of those who find the ‘gay act’ cringeworthy. Elvis usually stayed neutral on social and political issues, and one wonders why he deemed this act appropriate in his show. Very poor judgement call on his part, if you ask me. No doubt he offended the gays that were present at the shows where he performed this act… Completely unnecessary, and just plain stupid.

From Ebay.

Did Elvis leave the stage sometime during this show? When he first walks out, he looks like he is wearing an uncomfortably too tight girdle. But in these pictures he looks like he released his too swollen stomach.

I have never heared, that Elvis left the stage in Kansas. But I'd love to hear what the CBS people thought of the performance, knowing they had to film a television special the next day....

I'm very sorry doc, i wasn't born yet...
Maby its just like Sonny said: how can you protect a men from 42 against himself... its hard too see Elvis this way... but we all know Elvis gave his all till the very end... Thats what makes Elvis special... he loved his fans more then he loved himself... sadly enough...

I believe the quote you referenced was spoken by Dave Hebler, not Sonny, but I get what you're saying.

I'm very sorry doc, i wasn't born yet...
Maby its just like Sonny said: how can you protect a men from 42 against himself... its hard too see Elvis this way... but we all know Elvis gave his all till the very end... Thats what makes Elvis special... he loved his fans more then he loved himself... sadly enough...

I believe the quote you referenced was spoken by Dave Hebler, not Sonny, but I get what you're saying.

It's pretty difficult for 'friends' to protect someone from themselves, maybe impossible, but his management should have taken the appropriate steps.

That's where Elvis was badly let down.

Please stoip being so negative, Ken.

It's still Elvis, so it's still good.

Sorry Rob.i had my "Tony"head on for a minute

I didn't know there were two of me around here....

I'm very sorry doc, i wasn't born yet...
Maby its just like Sonny said: how can you protect a men from 42 against himself... its hard too see Elvis this way... but we all know Elvis gave his all till the very end... Thats what makes Elvis special... he loved his fans more then he loved himself... sadly enough...

I believe the quote you referenced was spoken by Dave Hebler, not Sonny, but I get what you're saying.

You are correct, KHoots.

From Ebay.

Did Elvis leave the stage sometime during this show? When he first walks out, he looks like he is wearing an uncomfortably too tight girdle. But in these pictures he looks like he released his too swollen stomach.

I have never heared, that Elvis left the stage in Kansas. But I'd love to hear what the CBS people thought of the performance, knowing they had to film a television special the next day....

He left the stage for an entire thirty-minutes in Baltimore, MD on May 29, 1977.

I'm very sorry doc, i wasn't born yet...
Maby its just like Sonny said: how can you protect a men from 42 against himself... its hard too see Elvis this way... but we all know Elvis gave his all till the very end... Thats what makes Elvis special... he loved his fans more then he loved himself... sadly enough...

I believe the quote you referenced was spoken by Dave Hebler, not Sonny, but I get what you're saying.

It's pretty difficult for 'friends' to protect someone from themselves, maybe impossible, but his management should have taken the appropriate steps.

That's where Elvis was badly let down.

Agree it's pretty difficult for 'friends' to protect someone from themselves, but it didn't help matters that most of them were on his payroll. Elvis had more disgruntled employees than friends.

Elvis was badly let down. But his dad should have taken the appropriate steps imo.

I’m one of those who find the ‘gay act’ cringeworthy. Elvis usually stayed neutral on social and political issues, and one wonders why he deemed this act appropriate in his show. Very poor judgement call on his part, if you ask me. No doubt he offended the gays that were present at the shows where he performed this act… Completely unnecessary, and just plain stupid.

100% AGREED!! I, honestly, don't think that Elvis found it all that funny, either, because when they attempted it the next night, Elvis tried to get Hodge to stop.

Forget the the whole gay act, Charlie holding the microphone in the first place was stupid and looked gay! It looks sycophantic! Same with Charlie holding the microphone for Unchained Melody. They didn't have mic stands and extensions?

I'll bet they kept that newspaper away from him.

There would actually have been no need to do so, as Star did not publish a review, only this photo with a flattering caption...

kansascity77pic.png

Cool!

He was not making fun of gays.

He was paradoying the song itself.

He always found a way to joke his way thru the song from 1961 to 1968 to 1970 to 1977.

Context.

No one complained then.

But different people do have different sensibilities and so, perhaps it was best to axe the act in 1977 based

on the fact that some people could misunderstand the humor.

But the real reason for not including the act is probably the way it looks to the public that an actual person is holding a mic up to his face,
when a metal mic stand would have sufficed. People would've noticed that more than anything else.

Last edited by ekenee on Tue Mar 05, 2013 8:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I guess Elvis was a little insecure of his abilities to play guitar and piano and just wanted Charlie at his side. My impression is, that Elvis simply was underrehearsed and didn't know the lyrics of "Are You Lonesome Tonight" and the chords of "Unchained Melody". Instead of sitting down and learning his part he relied on his talent to joke and entertain.

Over the top reactions guys.
Listen, Elvis was surrounded by a large crew of concert promotors and personal staff.
Major newspapers were present and thousands in attendace leading to countless reviews.

I have never heard anything negative on this act by anyone involved, it's Elvis and his sidekick taking things not too serious.
And here we are thinking it's a badly judged strategical move, with a racist motivation in the back of our heads.

The 'gay' act during AYLT was the least of all worries in 1977.

I have never heard anything negative on this act by anyone involved ...

I have.

... it's Elvis and his sidekick taking things not too serious.

If you have even one friend or acquaintance who is gay, please run that Kansas City '77 YouTube performance for them.

Then tell us what their reaction is.

I have never heard anything negative on this act by anyone involved ...

I have.

... it's Elvis and his sidekick taking things not too serious.

If you have even one friend or acquaintance who is gay, please run that Kansas City '77 YouTube performance for them.

Then tell us what their reaction is.

Point is Doc, if this is an offensive act, the press would have picked it up at the time.
I also wonder how gay people feel about this.. I don't have gay friends to share this with but I can imagine gay people are not too worried about it.
Keep in mind us Dutch people are quite liberal on things like this, but it may be a different case in other countries..
To elaborate a little bit more on this, the entertainment industry is dominated by gay people in the Netherlands and I can assure you many of them constantly share gay jokes beyond imagination on national television. It's no big deal and people are respected in every aspect.

There is nothing in "Are You Being Served" that parallels the "gay act" which Hodge and Presley presented on stage in 1976-77. We should quit making excuses for it now, and be grateful it did not become a concert staple in this period.

Elvis also made a gay-joke in '68, how do you feel about that?

Point is Doc, if this is an offensive act, the press would have picked it up at the time.

It was not performed on the CBS program and Elvis did not sing it a lot in 1976-1977. So that is a poor argument.

I also wonder how gay people feel about this.. I don't have gay friends to share this with but I can imagine gay people are not too worried about it.

Spoken like a true expert.

There is nothing in "Are You Being Served" that parallels the "gay act" which Hodge and Presley presented on stage in 1976-77. We should quit making excuses for it now, and be grateful it did not become a concert staple in this period.

Elvis also made a gay-joke in '68, how do you feel about that?

My comments are very clear and consistent on that unreleased studio jam.

Would you like me to find them for you?

Point is Doc, if this is an offensive act, the press would have picked it up at the time.

It was not performed on the CBS program and Elvis did not sing it a lot in 1976-1977. So that is a poor argument.

I also wonder how gay people feel about this.. I don't have gay friends to share this with but I can imagine gay people are not too worried about it.

Spoken like a true expert.

I don't really have the ambition to be a true expert in this area, obviously you are and that's fine and you clearly got signs this part of Elvis' act was not appropriate. I believe you on that one Doc.
If this "gay act' was done around 10 times in front of let's say 150000 people with 10 newspaper reporters in attendance and it never generated some sort of debate I still don't think we have a major topic.

Are these skits offensive?

Skit at 3:20: