Interview with Wink and Sandy Martindale


By: Elvis Australia
Source: www.elvis.com.au
September 4, 2015

Wink Martindale was the morning DJ at WHBQ in Memphis. Wink Martindale was born Winston Conrad Martindale on December 4, 1934 in Jackson, Tennessee, USA. He is perhaps best known as a game show host for such classic shows as Gambit, Tic Tac Dough, High Rollers, and Debt.

The evening DJ, Dewey Phillips, was known for playing what was then called 'race music', and it was one evening that a record brought in by Sam Phillips featuring an artist by the name of Elvis Presley was played.

'You could tell that something exciting was going on when the record was played', says Wink. Elvis appeared on Wink's 'Teenage Dance Party' show on June 16, 1956 to promote his July 4 charity show at Russwood Park in Memphis -- it was the first of two television interviews Elvis did with Wink.

Wink Martindale and Elvis Presley at WHBQ in Memphis - June 16, 1956
Wink Martindale and Elvis Presley at WHBQ in Memphis - June 16, 1956.

Wink Martindale and Elvis Presley at WHBQ in Memphis - June 16, 1956
Wink Martindale and Elvis Presley at WHBQ in Memphis - June 16, 1956.

Wink and Elvis remained friends for a long time.

Ironically, Wink's future wife Sandy had dated Elvis for six years. Sandy Martindale has fond memories of Elvis: 'My mother came with us on our first dates', chuckles Sandy. 'I was so embarrassed I cried'.

Dewey Phillips, Wink Martindale and Elvis Presley at WHBQ in Memphis - June 16, 1956
Dewey Phillips, Wink Martindale and Elvis Presley at WHBQ in Memphis - June 16, 1956.

Sandy's romance with the King began at age 14, when Elvis was bowled over by the photo, which he spotted hanging in the office of her dad, a Los Angeles nightclub owner.

Elvis Presley MP3 Audio Interview with Wink & Sandy Martindale (2015)

Elvis News Latest Video Updates

'He called me to go out, but I had to tell him I had school the next day', she recalls. 'The next night Mom drove me to the club to meet him. Elvis had a date with a gorgeous actress that night and there I was, with my little ponytail. He was 24. He held my hand, kissed me on the cheek and I was a goner'.

They were an item, on and off, for the next six years --- right up until he married Priscilla.

'I danced in six of his movies because I was going with him', she says. 'In Viva Las Vegas that's me with Ann-Margret and Elvis dancing at the roulette table'. Even after Elvis married, he and Sandy stayed friends. She says she was devastated the last time she saw him, back-stage at one if his last Las Vegas concerts.

Elvis Presley Video Elvis on Wink Martindale show (1956)

Elvis News Latest Video Updates

Above - In 1956 Wink interviewed Elvis on his Dance Party TV Show. Elvis spent the interview leaning against a jukebox, while his hair flopped over his forehead sending new feelings through teen-age America.

Elvis Presley MP3 Audio Elvis Interviewed by Wink Martindale (1956 and 1959)

Elvis News Latest Video Updates

Above - Listen to the full audio from Elvis' Dance Party interview with Wink's - plus the second interview with Elvis on the phone from Germany.

Elvis Presley MP3 Audio Wink Martindale's tribute to Elvis Presley

Elvis News Latest Video Updates

Above - Wink tribute to Elvis.

Elvis Presley MP3 Audio Interview with Wink and Sandy Martindale (2007)

Elvis News Latest Video Updates

Elvis Presley Photos Elvis Presley | Wink Martindale's 'Dance Party' | June 16, 1956

Interviews with or about Elvis Presley More Interviews

Interviews with or about Elvis Presley Interview with Larry Muhoberac
Interviews with or about Elvis Presley Interview with Michael Jarrett, songwriter, I'm Leavin'
Interviews with or about Elvis Presley Interview with James Burton
Interviews with or about Elvis Presley Interview with James Burton Sydney Australia 2006
Articles about Elvis Presley James Burton: First Call For The Royalty Of Rockabilly
Interviews with or about Elvis Presley Interview with Ronnie Tutt
Interviews with or about Elvis Presley Interview with Ronnie Tutt #2
Interviews with or about Elvis Presley Interview with Jerry Scheff
Interviews with or about Elvis Presley Interview with Glen D. Hardin
Interviews with or about Elvis Presley Interview with Sherrill Nielsen
Interviews with or about Elvis Presley Interview with Terry Blackwood & Jim Murray
Interviews with or about Elvis Presley Interview with Tony Brown
Interviews with or about Elvis Presley Duke Bardwell
Interviews with or about Elvis Presley Interview with Scotty Moore
Articles about Elvis Presley Bill Black
Interviews with or about Elvis Presley Interview with D.J. Fontana
Interviews with or about Elvis Presley Interview with Charlie Hodge
Interviews with or about Elvis Presley Interview with Ernst Jorgensen
Articles about Elvis Presley Elvis Presley & the TCB Band

© Copyright 2023 by www.elvis.com.au & www.elvispresley.com.au

This page. https://www.elvis.com.au/presley/interview-with-wink-and-sandy-martindale.shtml

No part of any article on this site may be re-printed for public display without permission.


-
Elvis Presley Video Tupelo's Own Elvis Presley DVD

Never before have we seen an Elvis Presley concert from the 1950's with sound. Until Now! The DVD Contains recently discovered unreleased film of Elvis performing 6 songs, including Heartbreak Hotel and Don't Be Cruel, live in Tupelo Mississippi 1956. Included we see a live performance of the elusive Long Tall Sally seen here for the first time ever. + Plus Bonus DVD Audio.

This is an excellent release no fan should be without it.

The 'parade' footage is good to see as it puts you in the right context with color and b&w footage. The interviews of Elvis' Parents are well worth hearing too. The afternoon show footage is wonderful and electrifying : Here is Elvis in his prime rocking and rolling in front of 11.000 people. Highly recommended.

Tupelo's Own Elvis Presley DVD Video with Sound.