THE DAY THE KING DIED
I am not usually to be found hanging around Liverpool Street Station but I’d narrowly missed my train and was resigned to a long wait. It was mid- evening on a memorable day, Tuesday 16th August 1977, the day Elvis died and well past the rush hour, so the amorphous mass of commuters had thinned and I was left to wearily scan the remnants as they scurried home. A cheery little group approached from my left, they looked a pretty ordinary lot, obviously a family out without the mother. Two early teenagers, too young to worry about trends or taking sides. I could tell that the dad had travelled the Rocker road to his forty years by his haircut which was still clinging onto it’s personality whilst fast disappearing, not so the sideburns though, they screamed Teddy boy. His clothes had mellowed since his youth too, they were no longer a badge of style or rebellion but more the misconceived trendiness that gets in the way of graceful ageing.
Off to my right I heard a commotion, a group of three youths staggered into the station. A self supporting unit, leaning in, bouncing off, arms clutching one minute and flailing the next. They were young or relatively so, teens, dressed in a sort of nouveau rocker style. Flimsy sideburns framed their sad weepy eyes as they sobbed their way across the polished concrete concourse stopping to confront the family. One of the three youths attempted to spit at the alarmed dad but virtually propelled himself backwards into his mates arms. All three tear stained faces glared with hatred at the innocent group standing shocked in front of them. Then one stepped forward, his snarling face thrust into the face of the young dad….. BLEEDIN’ ……..at this point an anguished sob tangled with his vitriol………..PUNKS ! …..he managed to gasp.
“What did that man say? “ I overheard the the younger one say as he shuffled closer to his dad. “The silly bugger thinks we’re Punks and we killed Elvis!,” replied the dad. ………..”what’s a Punk, dad ?”……”I haven’t the faintest” dad said. …….“ let’s go get a burger and an early night, we’ve a lot to do in the morning.”
John Loker February 2022