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THE ARTS
MUSIC He inspired scores of imitators, sold millions of records. He got drafted into the Army, served a tour of duty in Germany, sold millions of records. He went to Hollywood, appeared in 33 movies, sold millions of records, lived a gaudy life so high and wide that it seemed like a parody of an American success story. And he kept selling records, well over 500 million in all. The music got slicker and often sillier, turned from rock toward rhinestone country and spangled gospel. Only the pace remained the same. Elvis Aron Presley always lived fast, and last week at the age of 42, that was the way he died. He was found lying on the bathroom floor, dead of "cardiac arrythmia"--a severely irregular heartbeat--brought about by "undetermined causes." Doctors said there was "no evidence of any illegal drug use" although a new book co-authored by three former Presley bodyguards maintains that "E" consumed uppers, downers and a variety of narcotic cough medicines, all obtained by prescription. He also was wrestling halfheartedly with a fearful weight problem and was suffering from a variety of other ailments like hypertension, eye trouble and a twisted colon. --Aug. 29, 1977
ART In imaginative force and outright terribilita, it is quite possibly the most crushing and exhilarating exhibition of work by a 20th century artist ever held in the U.S. Over the next four months a million people will queue outside New York City's Museum of Modern Art to get a glimpse of it. Pablo Picasso, who died in 1973, is being honored in a show of nearly 1,000 of his works, some never exhibited before, drawn from collections the world over. What gives the exhibit its overwhelming character is the range and fecundity of Picasso's talent--the flashes of demonic restlessness, the heights of confidence and depths of insecurity, the relationships to the art of the past, the sustained intensity of feeling. "Pablo Picasso: A Retrospective" contains good paintings and bad, some so weak that they look like forgeries, as well as works of art for which the word masterpiece--exiled for the crime of elitism over the past decade--must now be reinstated.
--By ROBERT HUGHES
SHOW BUSINESS Check it out! Man walks down that street so fine. Strides easy. Long, looking right. Left then. Then ahead, then left...snap!...again, follows that little sister in the tight pants a ways, then back on the beam. Arms arc. Could be some old trainman, swinging an imaginary lantern in the night. Smiling. Stepping so smart. Rolls, almost. Swings his butt like he's shifting gears in a swivel chair. Weight stays, sways, in his hips. Shoulders, straight, shift with the strut. High and light. Street's all his, past doubt. And more, if he wants. Could be he might step off that concrete. Just start flying away. It's all there, in the walk that John Travolta takes through the opening credits of Saturday Night Fever. --April 3, 1978
LIVING The new discos are strobe light-years removed from the borax boites of the '60s--most of which died a well-deserved death. In place of the tacky, bare-wall closets wired for din, push and crush, the best new places project sensuality, exclusivity and luxury. And they are booming: there are some 15,000 discos in the U.S. today, v. 3,000 only two years ago. Many of the night places are for members only, with fees and dues ranging as high as $1,000 a year. Many have good restaurants and pool, pinball and backgammon rooms. In many, the furnishings can best be described as haut kitsch: kaleidoscopic lighting, silver vinyl banquettes, tented nooks, twinkly Italian lights, jungles of synthetic plants, Plexiglas floors. Not a few, however, are decorated in notably good taste; and some seem to have been designed by the people who went on to make Star Wars. --June 27, 1977 RELIGION A New Pope Suddenly, after the puzzling signals began to billow [from the Sistine Chapel chimney], the Vatican's ranking Cardinal-deacon in the Sacred College, appeared at the Window of the Benediction in St. Peter's Basilica. His Latin words boomed out over loudspeakers: "Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum. Habemus Papam!" (I announce to you a great joy. We have a Pope!) "He is the Most Eminent and Most Reverend Lord Cardinal Albino Luciani, who has taken the name of John Paul the First." --Sept. 4, 1978 Brief Reigns Thirteen Popes did not serve even as long as John Paul. The shortest reign was that of Stephen. Elected Pope in 752, he died three days later, before consecration. --Oct. 9, 1978 Another New Pope Savoring the suspense, Felici drew out the syllables of the name. "Ca-ro-lum..." Some priests gasped. They thought he meant Carlo Confalonieri, 85-year-old dean of the College of Cardinals. "They've gone crazy!" cried one of the priests. Enjoying himself, Felici went on "...Cardinalem Woj-ty-la." The crowd froze. "Chi e?"--Who's he?--Italians asked one another. Possibly an African!? Japanese tourists thought it might be a countryman. An Italian TV announcer uncertainly said, "Polacco" (the Pole), and many viewers thought he had said "Poletti," the name of Rome's vicar general. --Oct. 30, 1978
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