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- NATION, Page 27American NotesLAS VEGASStop the Music!
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- Lounge music may be to the symphony what Velveeta is to
- cheese, but hey, it's all part of what makes Las Vegas great.
- That is why 195 musicians are on strike against five casinos
- that want to replace them at least some of the time with audio
- tapes and synthesizers. The musicians are getting tremendous
- support within the community -- 87% of the callers to a local
- TV talk show applauded the strike. Performers like Rodney
- Dangerfield, Connie Francis and Dionne Warwick have canceled
- their shows. Lounge lizards like Sammy Davis Jr. and Tony
- Orlando have vowed not to cross the picket lines.
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- Casino operators will not say how much the canceled floor
- shows are costing, but Bally's alone estimates that bands run
- $1.1 million a year and are becoming obsolete: visiting
- performers often provide their own backup. Strikers argue that
- the live music lures customers. Keeping the music, says picketer
- Elizabeth Smith, who played the French horn with Bally's
- Jubilee!, "is something a classy hotel should do."
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