We don't compete with the Grammys. The Grammys compete with us. They have taken the stance that anybody who performs on 'The American Music Awards' cannot appear on 'The Grammys.' I don't agree with that philosophy.
In Presley's time, you didn't dare not to be a fan of his, because you were part of a club. Now you can say I prefer Billy Joel or Tina Turner or someone else. It's all fractionalized.
Between Alan Freed in Cleveland and Bob Horn and Lee Stewart in Philadelphia and George 'Hound Dog' Lorenz in Buffalo, they began to find out that white kids liked black music. It was a very significant period of time before I got there.
Well, I'm using a cane, so what? So what if they shot me sitting in a wheelchair? That's life!
I have accomplished my childhood dream: to be in show business. Everybody should be so lucky to have their dreams come true. I've been truly blessed.
I adhere to my exercise program, which is about 20 minutes a day. I do it seven days a week. I have a little stall in the breezeway of our garage where I have a walking machine, a stair climber, and I do 15 pound weights, and I watch television. Because I hate exercise.
My father said to me at one time, 'If you are still a disc jockey by the time you are 30, you better find another line of work.' Little does he realize, I am in my 70s, and I still do seven or eight hours of radio every day - or every week.
I'm always distressed by the supposedly bright people who don't know what they are.
Humor is always based on a modicum of truth. Have you ever heard a joke about a father-in-law?
I was roundly criticized for being in and around rock & roll music at its inception. It was the devil's music: it would make your teeth fall out and your hair turn blue, whatever the hell. You get through that.
Rock had a huge impact. Anything that the older generation hates is usually loved by kids. Nothing much changes - that still continues today.
I keep everything. It's one of my problems. I'm a saver.
Now that we've got computers, you can pump up anything that anybody ever uttered.
