WEBVTT - Bonus Episode 8: How a Haircut Changed Music History

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<v Speaker 1>March twenty fourth, nineteen fifty eight. The press dubbed it

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<v Speaker 1>Black Monday. The tempo is HUT two three four for

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<v Speaker 1>Private Presley, the King of rock and Roll will be

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<v Speaker 1>keeping time to non hip bugle calls. That day, Elvis

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<v Speaker 1>Presley reported for duty in the U. S. Army and

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<v Speaker 1>for a hair cut at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, along with

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<v Speaker 1>about seventy reporters and photographers. A gyrating guitarist departure from

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<v Speaker 1>the public eye left his blue jeans fans all shook up,

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<v Speaker 1>so we hear, but Albus doesn't seem to mind at all.

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<v Speaker 1>An army barber shaved off the King's rebellious sideburns and

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<v Speaker 1>dark locks as the cameras flashed. Elvis joked as his

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<v Speaker 1>hair fell to the floor. Well, here today, gone tomorrow.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Sean Braswell. Welcome to another bonus episode of flashback

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<v Speaker 1>on a fateful moment from history. Black Monday marked the

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<v Speaker 1>start of a two year military hiatus for the most

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<v Speaker 1>famous person on the planet. It was a day that

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<v Speaker 1>changed the course of Elvis's life and career, but it

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<v Speaker 1>would do even more than that. In nineteen fifty eight,

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<v Speaker 1>the twenty three year old sex symbol was at the

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<v Speaker 1>very peak of his era defining powers, and the loss

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<v Speaker 1>of that famous hair and his temporary disappearance from the

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<v Speaker 1>public eye would impact the course of American music and

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<v Speaker 1>pop culture for years to come. Here he is singing

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<v Speaker 1>sensation all over the country, Elvis pres Where you ain't

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<v Speaker 1>what I said? The young, hip, thrusting Elvis Presley exploded

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<v Speaker 1>out of almost every television set in America in nineteen fifty.

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<v Speaker 1>The cocky, handsome singer was an instant icon, one that

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<v Speaker 1>threatened the very conformity at the heart of nineteen fifties America.

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<v Speaker 1>To watch Elvis gyrate on the Milton Borough Show seems

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<v Speaker 1>rather tame to us today, but during the King's three

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<v Speaker 1>minute performance of hound Dog, you can almost feel American

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<v Speaker 1>culture shifting in real time before your very eyes. The

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<v Speaker 1>blowback against Pressley's animal magnetism was equally potent. Music critics

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<v Speaker 1>were quick to condemn Pelvis Pressley as a sexhibitionist. A

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<v Speaker 1>convention of high school principles voted to band blue jeans

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<v Speaker 1>and Pressley's signature ducktail hairstyle. A judge in Florida even

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<v Speaker 1>threatened to arrest him, and talking heads took to the

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<v Speaker 1>airwaves to warn the nation about him. I suspect that

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<v Speaker 1>some of you are going to be surprised at the

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<v Speaker 1>subject of this telecast. This is political journalist Drew Pearson.

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<v Speaker 1>On the nineteen fifties news pro Graham he hosted, called

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<v Speaker 1>the Washington Merry Go Round because today I want to

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<v Speaker 1>relax a that and reports some inside facts about a

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<v Speaker 1>young man who has become the rage of millions of teenagers,

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<v Speaker 1>and who has some of our experts on juvenile delinquent say,

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<v Speaker 1>just about as worried as the teenagers are crazy. I'd

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<v Speaker 1>refer to Elvis Presley. Drew Pearson was a renegade journalist,

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<v Speaker 1>one who also reported gossip and rumors and innuendo, kind

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<v Speaker 1>of the TMZ of his time. He'd taken on powerful figures,

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<v Speaker 1>from General Patton to Joseph McCarthy, whose actions he thought

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<v Speaker 1>pose threats to the country, and in nineteen fifty six

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<v Speaker 1>he put aside the political theater and turned his attention

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<v Speaker 1>to America's latest and greatest threat. If you look back,

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<v Speaker 1>you recall the famed Matinee Idols who preceded Presley worked

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<v Speaker 1>hard for their success. But Elvis Presley was a truck

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<v Speaker 1>driver who still can't read music and whose main appeal

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<v Speaker 1>appears to be frankly sex. Pearson predicted that if parents

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<v Speaker 1>ignored Elvis, their teenagers would too, and of Presley finally

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<v Speaker 1>learned that vulgarity is not the way to permit success.

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<v Speaker 1>And if it works hard, which he's never done before,

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<v Speaker 1>I further predict he'll find a less spectacular but steadier

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<v Speaker 1>place in our entertainment world. If he does not, then

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<v Speaker 1>I predict Elvis Presley star will fall as rapidly as

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<v Speaker 1>it rose. And on January seven, Elvis's twenty second birthday,

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<v Speaker 1>Pearson got his wish. The Memphis Draft Board announced that

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<v Speaker 1>Presley would serve two years in the U. S. Military.

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<v Speaker 1>A year later, he reported for duty. Elvis was on

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<v Speaker 1>his way to a less spectacular and steadier place in

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<v Speaker 1>the entertainment world, just as Pearson had predicted, and nothing

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<v Speaker 1>would ever quite be the same. The news of Elvis

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<v Speaker 1>being drafted raised many questions. James, how could the most

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<v Speaker 1>popular man in America serve his country best? Should he

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<v Speaker 1>entertain the troops instead of serving alongside them, And perhaps

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<v Speaker 1>most importantly, what did it mean for his hair? Hundreds

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<v Speaker 1>of concerned female citizens wrote letters to President Dwight D.

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<v Speaker 1>Eisenhower to plea for clemency before it went under the knife.

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<v Speaker 1>One U S. Senator even petitioned for the king to

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<v Speaker 1>get an exemption from the standard g I buzz cut.

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<v Speaker 1>Elvis tried neither to escape his service nor the mandatory haircut,

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<v Speaker 1>and so America Sampson was publicly short of his potent locked,

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<v Speaker 1>even if, as Time magazine reported afterward, the haircut left

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<v Speaker 1>him still looking much too dreamy for the army. Elvis

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<v Speaker 1>assigned to a base in West Germany, where he drove

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<v Speaker 1>a truck, drew an eighty two dollar paycheck, and remained

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<v Speaker 1>relatively inconspicuous. Elvis, do the other soldiers give you a

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<v Speaker 1>rough time because you're a famous not, sir? I was

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<v Speaker 1>very surprised. I've never met a better group of war

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<v Speaker 1>was in my life. Elvis also encountered two other things

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<v Speaker 1>in Germany that would change his life. One was his

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<v Speaker 1>future wife, Priscilla, the teenage daughter of a U. S.

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<v Speaker 1>Army colonel. The second the amphetamines shared with him by

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<v Speaker 1>a fellow soldier, which started a battle with drug addiction

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<v Speaker 1>that would last for years. Elvis Presley was honorably discharged

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<v Speaker 1>from active duty on March five, add Fort Dix, New Jersey,

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<v Speaker 1>and newsreels TV, the Press, the Lot told the world

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<v Speaker 1>how Elvis came marching home for seventeen interminable months. The

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<v Speaker 1>cats hadn't seen him. What a price to pay for

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<v Speaker 1>national events. So bring Army life? Changed your mind about

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<v Speaker 1>rock and roll? So bring Army life? Uh No, it hasn't.

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<v Speaker 1>It hasn't. It hasn't changed my mind because I was

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<v Speaker 1>in tanks for a long time to see and they

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<v Speaker 1>rock and roll quite a bit. Elvis might not have

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<v Speaker 1>changed his mind about rock and roll that rock and

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<v Speaker 1>roll changed rapidly while he was away. Not only was

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<v Speaker 1>the King out of commission, that rockers Chuck Berry and

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<v Speaker 1>Jerry Lee Lewis also fell from grace thanks to scandals

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<v Speaker 1>tied the teenage girls and then we interrupt this program

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<v Speaker 1>from Especial News Bulletin. Three young singers who soared to

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<v Speaker 1>the heights of shore business on the current rock and

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<v Speaker 1>roll craze were killed today in the crash of a

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<v Speaker 1>light plane in an iowasn flurry. The deaths of Buddy Holly,

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<v Speaker 1>the Big Bopper and Richie Vallen's in a ninety nine

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<v Speaker 1>plane crash sent the music world and the country into shock.

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<v Speaker 1>It was a bleak time for rock and roll, but

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<v Speaker 1>many held out hope that the return of the King

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<v Speaker 1>to his throne would change all that. They were soon disappointed.

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<v Speaker 1>He's the Star Wars Show. Elvis's first televised performance after

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<v Speaker 1>returning State Side was much different than the ones that

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<v Speaker 1>electrified the country just four years earlier. The King's hair

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<v Speaker 1>had grown back out, but without his trademark sideburns. Dressed

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<v Speaker 1>in a tuxedo, he sang mild duets with the aging

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<v Speaker 1>crooner Frank Sinatra beat Tender Lovely que never let Me Go,

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<v Speaker 1>You have made my life to break, and I love

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<v Speaker 1>you so Inger, Come given stand my very lovely. Elvis

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<v Speaker 1>looks rusty, distant, out of place. He sounds like he's

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<v Speaker 1>trying to sing in a foreign language. He even screws

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<v Speaker 1>up the lyrics to Witchcraft I Always Will. It was

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<v Speaker 1>clear to many observers that Elvis had lost more than

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<v Speaker 1>his sideburns and his pelvic thrusts. He lost his edge,

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<v Speaker 1>his own witchcraft, and worse, he'd gone mainstream. As a

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<v Speaker 1>New York Times critic put it, Elvis's recent liberation from

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<v Speaker 1>the army to co star with Sinatra was one of

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<v Speaker 1>the most irritating events since the invention of itching powder.

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<v Speaker 1>Elvis still had hits left in him like Are You

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<v Speaker 1>Lonesome Tonight in the years ahead, but he was not

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<v Speaker 1>the same barrier breaking performer. He descended further into drug addiction. Eventually,

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<v Speaker 1>he quit touring entirely for eight years to focus on

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<v Speaker 1>Hollywood and other projects before his untimely death from a

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<v Speaker 1>heart attack at age two thousands a day. Still in

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<v Speaker 1>shock over the death of singer Elvis Presley, President Carter

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<v Speaker 1>today called him a symbol of the vitality, rebelliousness, and

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<v Speaker 1>good humor of this country, and said that his death

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<v Speaker 1>deprives our country of a part of itself. Elvis had

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<v Speaker 1>a remarkable career and millions of devoted fans, But it's

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<v Speaker 1>hard not to wonder what if. What if he'd never

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<v Speaker 1>lost two years of his prime to the army. What

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<v Speaker 1>if he'd never become addicted to drugs? How might the

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<v Speaker 1>landscapes of rock and roll in American culture have been altered?

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<v Speaker 1>With the countercultural revolution that came later in the nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>sixties have happened much sooner, We'll never really know. Don

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<v Speaker 1>McClean famously called the airplane crash that killed Buddy Holly

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<v Speaker 1>the Big Bopper and Richie Vallen's the Day of the

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<v Speaker 1>Music Died and his song American Pie, but some music

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<v Speaker 1>historians instead date that moment to an earlier day, the

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<v Speaker 1>morning when Elvis turned up for his haircut at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas.

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<v Speaker 1>That government issued haircut and the two years of service

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<v Speaker 1>that followed it not only blunted the sex appeal of

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<v Speaker 1>the nation's biggest bubble, but shifted his mindset as well.

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<v Speaker 1>The norm busting, hip thrusting singer who had unleashed teenage

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<v Speaker 1>riots was eager not to stand out in Germany, to

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<v Speaker 1>serve just like any other soldier. They had the same

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<v Speaker 1>haircut as everyone else, and when he returned home, Elvis

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<v Speaker 1>was also ready to fit in. That was like, the

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<v Speaker 1>music has changed since you've been out of the service,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean since you've brought in the service. Possibly, yes,

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<v Speaker 1>I can't say I haven't been here long enough, even

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<v Speaker 1>though the only thing I can say is it if

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<v Speaker 1>it has changed, well, I would be foolish not too

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<v Speaker 1>try to change with it him. Flashback has written and

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<v Speaker 1>hosted by me Sean Braswell, senior writer and executive producer

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<v Speaker 1>at Ozzy. He was edited by Maybe mcgarren and produced

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<v Speaker 1>by Tracy Moran and Negorio Didus. Chris Hoff engineered our show.

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<v Speaker 1>Make sure to subscribe to Flashback on the I Heart

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<v Speaker 1>Radio app, or listen wherever you get your podcasts m