February 3 is the 50th anniversary of the day the music died. I was buying the record "Hey Venus" by Frankie Avalon in the record store on Orange Street between 7th and Roseveille Avenue for my sister's 11th birthday whenb I heard.

Sorry, Saranne. Did not want to make you a year older. We were amazed at all the great stores, bakeries, restuarants food stores and food stores on Orange Street. In forest Hills,
we had Bernies and Neds, and that was about it. There was even a record store.

With the possible exception of Down Neck, I can't think of another business district in the city that had the vitality and variety that Orange St had. We were so fortunate to grow up there; sometimes you don't know what you've got, til its gone.

Friday, February 7th Beatles arrive at NTC Airport. Forget which one? Newspapers call it "Beatlemania". Murray The K appoints himself "Fifth Beatle".

Sunday, February 9th Beatles appear on The Ed Sullivan Show. We see it at Menlo Park Movie Theatre with Mike Torluccio, Raymond Iannuzzi, and Joe Grabowy. We went to see "Soldier in the Rain" , starring Jackie Gleason and Steve Mcqueen. We thought it was a comedy. The cinema had televison sets tuned to channel 2 in the lobbies. We really saw the Beatles perform, much by accident. I remember a lady remarked that their appearances were hideous. She though their har was too long. Remember, it was 1964.

I remember this time more so because I got my drivers license Thursday, February 6th and drove to school the next day in a 1960 aqua and white Chevy Impala. A week later the car went dead and we had to bring it to George's Electric for repars, an astronomical $68 charge.
Funny what we remember.

Bob Shannon is doing a tribute to Buddy, Richie, and The Big Bopper today at noon. Two great movies dealt with Buddy and Richie. Some say the crash was inspiration for the son "American Pie". Buddy could have been as big as Elvis.

Frank, I think the music died a long, agonizing death at places such as Woodstock and Altamont and a thousand lesser-known venues. The drug infested counterculture took the stage and initiated a decade-long mudbath that culminated in the artistically stillborn "music" known as, you guessed it- Disco.

I still have all those rock albums from way back then. I still play them now and again; they have some great songs. But I gotta say things look a lot different at 55 than they did at 15.

I still have Beatles ALBUMS that are mono and wrapped in their original packaging. Technology changed dramatically too Marty...from 'records to tapes to discs to fitting your entire album collection on a tiny device that clips to you shirt pocket...and sounds great too!

Frank,
Don McLain supposedly gave tribute to those three legends in the plane crash in his line, "The three men I admire most, The Father Son and Holy Ghost, They caught the last train for the coast, The day the music died".

And if your car was fixed at George's Auto Electric, it's a good chance that Mike L. fixed it for you!