New York Daily News, August 17th, 1977.

Elvis died yesterday. Not Costello--I mean Presley, and I mean forty-two years ago on yesterday's date. (I am nothing if not a thorough reporter of old news, huh?)

In my stash of varied nostalgia items (heavy on printed ephemera, and thus voted "Most Flammable Collection" by the readers of Reminisce Magazine for six years running), I have the NY Daily News edition which broke the sad news on the following day. Btw, I used my phone to take these pics as scanning old papers can be rough on them, so I apologize if they're less than pristine.

Here's the centerfold of the issue, memorializing The King. I was going to say he was a rough-looking 42 (judging from the photo at lower right), but if I met a guy that age without carpet remnant sideburns, wearing a t-shirt instead of a bespangled jumpsuit with albatross-wing lapels, I'd probably think he looked fine.

Of course, there was also plenty of news about David Berkowitz, who'd been recently nabbed for the "Son of Sam" murders. This small article relates instances of Berkowitz using rock lyrics in his correspondence. Barry McGuire?

 

 I'm not much of an athletic supporter (thirty years using that gag and still going strong!), so I'm limiting my sports coverage to this back page piece about transsexual Renee Richards being allowed to play in the upcoming U.S. Open, with the judge citing New York State's "Human Rights Law." Hey, a human given human rights, how about that?

 From Liz Smith's column, a photo of lovely Carrie Fisher along with a bit about her piece of the Star Wars action.

 

Moving on to the movie section, here's a neat little item about Richard Kiel, already known for Eegah! and The Longest Yard, now chewing up screens as "Jaws" in The Spy Who Loved Me.

 Now let's take a deep dive into that movie section, first with a full-page ad for Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, a favorite of mine which I saw in the theater--one of the RKO Twins in my hometown, to be precise. Growing up in Plainview, I was spoiled with FOUR movie theaters, and two of them were twins! By the late eighties, they were all heartbreakingly defunct.

 At center top on the next page, there's an ad for Fantastic Animation Festival. This is another I saw in the theater, probably this very weekend. This one played at the movie house in the Morton Village Shopping Center, within walking distance from my home. I recall my mom and possibly one of my sisters taking me, and I was enthralled. It shouldn't come as a surprise, considering the content of my YouTube channel, that one of my favorite segments featured wildly-animated commercials, including this 7-Up spot that still inspires a twinge of awe in me. (The porno ads displayed here inspire a twinge of something else.)

The entire film can be seen here, with particularly memorable sequences for me including Will Vinton's Closed Mondays, Bambi Meets Godzilla, an 1941 Fleischer Superman cartoon, and a music video of sorts for Cat Stevens' "Moonshadow."

Here's another one-off ad, for Suspiria.

Suspiria is mainly notable to me for the TV commercial, which I may have posted here before but is always worth another look. It absolutely terrified your eight-year-old Non-Parader. Keep in mind that very few people had televisions with remote controls back then, so changing channels required being right next to your TV as you manipulated the dials. Thus, you might flip the channel and find yourself face-to-face with this:

This next page has ads for Disney attractions (also regular viewing that summer, at the Old Country Road Twin) and the first Bad News Bears sequel (which I saw at the Hicksville Twin). Check out the tiny inset for Sinbad at the drive-in.

Of course, Star Wars was well established as a mega-hit by this time. Ruby was less well-received, surprising considering that snappy tagline.

Here are some reviews of flicks playing somewhere in the metro area.

Let's move on to the TV section, detailing a rerun-choked summer schedule. Still, Alan Sues was on Merv Griffin, so who can complain? I could write about a couple dozen things that strike my fancy on this page, but I'll just leave it at mentioning Cancel My Reservation at 11:30. I recommend you tune it in sometime and marvel at how extraordinarily unfunny and ineptly-filmed it is.

Here's a boob tube column which you will either find interesting or not.

This fucking asshole was on channel 9 every weekday morning. He's still on TV every day (via satellite), and still a tremendous fucking asshole.

Some random ads for ya: Never patronized the Circle Line, but the commercial looked tantalizing...

Woolworth's offered back-to-school sales, a nightmarish prospect while summer was still in full swing, but at least there was picking out a lunchbox to ameliorate things somewhat...

Here's just the top portion of a Pathmark ad, with James Karen doing a western turn...

Last and almost certainly least, yet another sugary cereal debuted, which seemed like a daily event by this time.

The cartoon spokes-wizard for Cookie-Crisp was "Cookie Jarvis," in case you were unaware. I guess when the universe takes an Elvis, it gives a Jarvis. Who are we to attempt the deciphering of such a mystery? In any case, I'll keep presenting the long-forgotten evidence for you to make up your own mind.

Until next time, don't stop not parading!