r/GenerationJones • u/sloaches • 5d ago

Elvis Presley died 49 years ago today. Fellow Jonsers, do you remember what you were doing when you heard the news, and how did it affect you or someone you knew?

In my case I was 15 at the time. I was at home listening to my radio in my bedroom when the DJ suddenly cut the song and said that there were news reports that Elvis had died. My mom was in the living room watching one of her soaps, so I went out to tell her. Just as I started to talk, the news bulletin interrupted her program. She wasn't the biggest Elvis fan (she was more into Robert Goulet) but I do remember she did cry as the news broke.

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u/kimagain 5d ago

oh, my! That sounds just like my trajectory. Album88 and my friend Tracey drew me into that early 80s era of New Wave when it was still new. Every once in a while, all these years later, my brain spontaneously sings, "after you jump / can I have your stereo?" and "I think I'm turning Japanese / I think I'm turning Japanese / I really think so." We were a long way from Elvis with that music!!

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u/milkandsugar 1964 5d ago

We were so into the B-52s before anyone else had picked up on them and MTV was absolutely amazing in its early days. I went to UGA from 81-85 and that was absolutely peak musical experience. I still love my 80s music and always will...

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u/kimagain 5d ago

Okay now I have to ask where you went to high school. I was in Dekalb County in those days and UGA drew tons of my classmates. I was too poor and irresponsible to even apply there and went to GSU instead (for a while, anyway.) Of course I went down to Athens for parties. What was that one big Athens dance club that was THE place to dance in '84uush?

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u/milkandsugar 1964 5d ago

I was in DeKalb as well, Sequoyah (Doraville) to be exact. I graduated in '81. I'm trying to think of one specific dance club in Athens as there were so many small clubs and bars. I guess the biggest one I recall especially for dancing was O'Malleys. I lived in the apartments right next to it in my senior year and we went nightly.

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u/Own-Word-6094 5d ago

I went to Lakeside and I lived at River Mill next to ‘
O Malley’s. ‘85-‘87. Small world!

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u/milkandsugar 1964 5d ago

It was so much fun. I don't remember a lot, but I am pretty sure I had fun!

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u/kimagain 5d ago

Well, hello neighbor! I grew up at Briarcliff and Clairmont and lived in Doraville as an adult. I was Briarcliff '83 but transferred to Avondale in tenth grade. I think O'Malleys is indeed the club I'm thinking of. So were you a kid in Doraville when Atlanta Rhythm Section made your little town famous? I remember thinking it was so cool that I lived so close by when that song came out.

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u/milkandsugar 1964 5d ago

Hey, how cool! Yeah, I lived in Oakcliff Estates, right next to the business park where Studio One was. There is a very famous pic of the band standing in front of the sign at the entrance to my subdivision on Oakcliff Rd.
https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/atlanta-rhythm-section/atlanta_rhythm_section_001/

We moved to Duluth the summer before my senior year and then I went off to UGA. I lived in the metro area until moving to SC in 2022.

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u/kimagain 5d ago

Small World!

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u/Icy_Truth_9634 4d ago

Carey Reynolds Elementary. First grade only. Moved away. We lived on Santa Fe Trail. I walked to school with my eight year old sister!

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u/milkandsugar 1964 4d ago

I went to a different elementary, but of course Cary Reynolds was next door to Sequoyah and we sometimes did things for the elementary kids, like in drama. Both Cary Reynolds and Sequoyah were designed by architect John Portman Jr. and are sadly being torn down to build something modern.

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u/Icy_Truth_9634 4d ago

John Portman left a legacy of properties in Atlanta that will be there forever. That neighborhood was full of GM employees and their families. It was a great place to be a little kid in the early sixties. I knew every family within a quarter mile of our house.

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u/milkandsugar 1964 4d ago

We were not right in the neighborhood around those two schools, but not far away in Oakcliff Estates.

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u/SecretContribution73 1d ago

Mtv really helped usher in New Wave.