SLOT-NOSED KIDS GIVE WAYNE A PAIN
By PHIL ROURA
LONG BEFORE there was the new Las Vegas of theme shows and megahotels for "the entire family," there was the old Las Vegas the one of smoke-filled lounges with gravel-voiced saloon singers who sang late into the night. The desert was solely for grownups communing with sevens, 11s, inside straights and slot machines. Wayne Newton remembers the then as much as he recoils at the now. Indeed, he was only a kid himself when he first wailed a note on the Strip to begin a saga that would eventually earn him the title of Mr. Las Vegas. But while he still at age 54 miraculously possesses that freshly scrubbed kid look, Newton is apparently not a happy camper. At least, not with the direction things are heading in the Land of Neon. And if they are wise, the gaming moguls of Atlantic City those who are anxious to follow in Las Vegas' family-oriented footsteps might pay him heed. They should look him up at the Taj Mahal on Friday and Saturday, where he will be performing. "I think the city fathers and the gaming associations [in Las Vegas] who decided to lean toward 'family-oriented' destinations have realized that they have made a mistake," Newton recently complained to the Indianapolis Star. "You now have people stepping over strollers getting to slot machines. And I'm not sure that the people who are stepping over the strollers like that, and I know that if it were my baby they were stepping over I wouldn't like it. "I've noticed some changes lately. I've noticed the advertisements have gone from 'Bring your kids and enjoy the fun of Las Vegas for the whole family' to 'Bring the kid out in YOU.
' That's quite a different message.
" Born in Roanoke, Va., on April 3, 1942, Newton at the age of 6 was playing piano and guitar on a radio station before school each morning. When Elvis was still driving a truck, Newton was singing to President Truman in the White House. And before the Beatles ever ventured beyond Liverpool, Newton had done a star turn on the Jackie Gleason TV show. "Danke Schoen" in 1963 and "Red Roses for a Blue Lady" in 1965 made him a fortune and led to Las Vegas contracts that kept him playing on the Strip for most of the year. The purists may have criticized his singing but the crowds ate it up. Hard times came much later, when he became a co-owner of the Aladdin. After all sorts of whispers about unsavory connections, the Aladdin went belly up. And Newton's star as an entertainer dimmed but only slightly. Today, he still commands attention whenever he hits Atlantic City or Vegas, as well as his theater in the family resort of Branson, Mo. His continuing interest in the Boardwalk community, by the way, is not simply musical. During his last visit East, Newton told the Daily News that he was "definitely interested" in starting up his own casino here. "I've been shopping around and I will continue to shop around," but nothing definite is in sight. One thing is for certain, however. If the singer with the kid's face has his way, it'll be strictly for grownups.