Section 3
ASuccessandFailure.
Hughisonthetelephone. ListentohisconversationwithHerrKohler.
Ihaveacallforyouonlineone, Mr. Gibbs. It'sMandredKohlerinDusseldorf.
Oh, yes. Puthimthrough. Hello, HerrKohler. Howareyou?
Verywell, thankyou. Andyou?
Justfine.
Gladtohearit ... uh ... I'llcomestraighttothepoint, ifyoudon'tmind. I'msureyouknowwhyI'mphoning.
Yes, ofcourse. Aboutthe ...
Exactly. Areyouinapositiontogiveusadefiniteassurancethatthegoodswillbedeliveredontime?
Well, um ... youcancountonustodoourverybest, however...
Hmm. Excuseme, Mr. Gibbs, butI'mafraidthatreallyisn'tgoodenough ... Ibegyourpardon, Idon'tmeanyourbestisn'tgoodenough, butwillyoumeetthedeadlineorwon'tyou?
I ... Iwascomingtothat, HerrKohler. Imustbefrankwithyou. We'verunintoafewproblems.
Problems? Whatkindofproblems?
Technicalproblems. Nothingveryserious. There'snoneedtoworry.
Ihopenot, Mr. Gibbs, foryoursakeaswellasours. I'msureyou'reawarethatthere'sapenaltyinyourcontractwithusforlatedeliveryandwe'll ...
Yes, HerrKohler, I'mperfectlyawareofthat. Butdoyouneedthewholeorderbythe 24th?
Wewouldcertainlypreferthewholeordertobedeliveredbythen, yes.
Yes, butdoyouneedthewholeorderthen?
Whatexactlyareyousuggesting?
Youcancountonustogethalfoftheordertoyoubythen.
Hmm ... andhowlongbeforetheotherhalfisdelivered?
Anotherweekatthemost!
Hmm ... you'resurethat'sall?
Yes, absolutely! Youcandependonustogethalftheordertoyoubythe 24thandtheotherhalfwithinaweek.
Hmm ... yes, thatshouldbeallright... buttheremustbenofurtherdelays!
Therewon'tbe! Youcancountonthat.
Verywell, Mr. Gibbs.
Thankyou! You'vebeenveryunderstanding.
Goodbye, Mr. Gibbs.
Goodbye, HerrKohler. Andthankyouagain! Phew! Well, ... that'satleastoneproblemoutoftheway!
BElvisPresley.
WhenElvisPresleydiedon 16thAugust, 1977, radioandtelevisionprogramsallovertheworldwereinterruptedtogivethenewsofhisdeath.
PresidentCarterwasaskedtodeclareadayofnationalmourning.
Cartersaid: 'ElvisPresleychangedthefaceofAmericanpopularculture ... Hewasuniqueandirreplaceable.'
Eightythousandpeopleattendedhisfuneral. Thestreetswerejammedwithcars, andElvisPresleyfilmswereshownontelevision, andhisrecordswereplayedontheradioallday.
Intheyearafterhisdeath, onehundredmillionPresleyLPsweresold.
ElvisPresleywasbornonJanuary 8th, 1935, inTupelo, Mississippi. Histwinbrother, JesseGaron, diedatbirth.
HisparentswereverypoorandElvisneverhadmusiclessons, buthewassurroundedbymusicfromanearlyage.
Hisparentswereveryreligious, andElvisregularlysangatchurchservices. In 1948, whenhewasthirteen, hisfamilymovedtoMemphis, Tennessee.
Heleftschoolin 1953 andgotajobasatruckdriver.
Inthesummerof 1953 Elvispaidfourdollarsandrecordedtwosongsforhismother'sbirthdayatSamPhillips'SunRecordsstudio. SamPhillipsheardElvisandaskedhimtorecord "That'sAllRight" inJuly 1954.
Twentythousandcopiesweresold, mainlyinandaroundMemphis. HemadefivemorerecordsforSun, andinJuly 1955 hemetColonelTomParker, whobecamehismanagerinNovember. ParkersoldElvis'scontracttoRCARecords.
SunRecordsgotthirty-fivethousanddollarsandElvisgotfivethousanddollars. WiththemoneyheboughtapinkCadillacforhismother. OnJanuary 10th, 1956, Elvisrecorded "HeartbreakHotel", andamillioncopiesweresold.
Inthenextfourteenmonthshemadeanotherfourteenrecords, andtheywereallbighits. In 1956 healsomadehisfirstfilminHollywood.
InMarch, 1958, Elvishadtojointhearmy. Hewantedtobeanordinarysoldier. Whenhishairwascutthousandsofwomencried. HespentthenexttwoyearsinGermany, wherehemetPriscillaBeaulieu, whobecamehiswifeeightyearslateronMay 1st, 1967.
In 1960 heleftthearmyandwenttoHollywoodwherehemadeseveralfilmsduringthenextfewyears.
By 1968 manypeoplehadbecometiredofElvis. Hehadn'tperformedlivesince 1960. ButherecordedanewLP "FromElvisinMemphis" andappearedinaspecialtelevisionprogram. Hebecamepopularagain, andwenttoLasVegas, wherehewaspaidsevenhundredfiftythousanddollarsforfourweeks.
In 1972 hiswifelefthim, andtheyweredivorcedinOctober, 1973. Hediedfromaheartattack. Hehadbeenworkingtoohard, andeatinganddrinkingtoomuchforseveralyears. Heleftallhismoneytohisonlydaughter, LisaMariePresley.
Shebecameoneoftherichestpeopleintheworldwhenshewasonlynineyearsold.