Address | 1190 University Avenue West |
---|---|
Location | Saint Paul, Minnesota |
Capacity | 2,000 |
Construction | |
Opened | 1941 |
Demolished | 1987 |
The Prom Ballroom was a dance hall in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States.
The Prom Ballroom opened in 1941 with a performance by Glenn Miller.
The club played a diverse array of acts, ranging from rock to polka and jazz, and included acts like Count Basie and Lawrence Welk. The house orchestra was called the Jules Herman Orchestra. It was considered one of the most prestigious clubs in the Midwest. [1]
Performers at the venue included Bobby Vee, The Trashmen, The Beach Boys, and the Everly Brothers. It was also one of the most important venues for the burgeoning rock-music scene in Minnesota in the 1950s and 1960s. [2]
The ballroom was one of the final stops (January 28, 1959) on the infamous, ill-fated "Winter Dance Party", the Buddy Holly-led tour which ended in the plane crash that killed Holly, The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens. The performance drew an overcapacity crowd of more than 2,000 people. [1] [2]
Prince celebrated his 27th birthday at the Prom with a masquerade party and live concert; he and the Revolution had been scheduled to play songs from his then-new album Around the World in a Day , but instead played a selection of as-yet-unreleased songs including "Sometimes It Snows in April." [3]
It was torn down in 1987. [4]
Charles Hardin Holley, known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer, songwriter, and musician who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas, during the Great Depression, and learned to play guitar and sing alongside his two siblings. Holly's style was country and western music which he performed in Lubbock with his friends from high school.
Richard Steven Valenzuela, better known by his stage name Ritchie Valens, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens died in a plane crash just eight months after his breakthrough.
On February 3, 1959, American rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and "The Big Bopper" J. P. Richardson were all killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, together with pilot Roger Peterson. The event became known as "The Day the Music Died" after singer-songwriter Don McLean referred to it as such in his 1971 song "American Pie".
Jiles PerryRichardson Jr., better known by his stage name The Big Bopper, was an American musician and disc jockey. His best-known compositions include "Chantilly Lace," "Running Bear", and "White Lightning", the latter of which became George Jones's first number-one hit in 1959.
Ray Edward Cochran, known professionally as Eddie Cochran, was an American rock and roll musician. His songs, such as "Twenty Flight Rock", "Summertime Blues", "C'mon Everybody" and "Somethin' Else", captured teenage frustration and desire in the mid-1950s and early 1960s. Cochran experimented with multitrack recording, distortion techniques, and overdubbing, even on his earliest singles. Cochran played the guitar, piano, bass, and drums. His image as a sharply dressed and attractive young man with a rebellious attitude epitomized the stance of the 1950s rocker, and in death, Cochran achieved iconic status.
La Bamba is a 1987 American biographical drama film written and directed by Luis Valdez. The film follows the life and short-lived musical career of American Chicano rock and roll star Ritchie Valens. The film stars Lou Diamond Phillips as Valens, Esai Morales, Rosanna DeSoto, Elizabeth Peña, Danielle von Zerneck and Joe Pantoliano. The film also covers the effect that Valens' career had on the lives of his half-brother Bob Morales, his girlfriend Donna Ludwig, and the rest of his family. The film is titled after a traditional Mexican folk song of the same name, which Valens transformed into a rock and roll rendition in 1958.
The music of Iowa includes such notable musicians as Rock and Roll Hall of Famers The Everly Brothers, Bix Beiderbecke, Art Farmer, Peggy Gilbert, Patty Waters, Mortimer Wilson, Thurlow Lieurance, Charlie Haden, Arthur Russell, Greg Brown, William Elliott Whitmore, Clarence Whitehill, Andy Williams, Meredith Willson, composer of The Music Man, and Alice Ettinger who was renowned enough to perform in Europe in the 1890s. Famed swing era musician and band leader Glenn Miller was born in Clarinda. Rock and metal bands from Iowa include B. R. Olson, a phenomenal guitarist in Des Moines, For Today, Euforquestra, The Envy Corps, In Loving Memory, The Cassandra Disease, Hawks, Slipknot, Stone Sour, Radio Moscow, Modern Life Is War, Marmot, and Unknown Component. The city of Walnut is home to the National Traditional Country Music Association (NTCMA), which produces programs for local radio and television in Iowa. NTCMA also operates the Walnut Country Opera House, which is a theatre and home to several halls of fame and museums. The town of Clear Lake is known as the place the Big Bopper, Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens took off from on the day they died; their last performance was at the Surf Ballroom. The Escorts are one of the first bands to be inducted into the Iowa Rock N Roll Music Association's Hall of Fame. Sioux City brought to the National scene The Velaires, and rocker Tommy Bolin. Also from Iowa is Black Iowegian heavy blues artist John-Paul Jones Group.
María Elena Holly is the widow of American rock and roll pioneer Buddy Holly. As a receptionist at Peermusic, she met with Holly and his band the Crickets on June 19, 1958, and Holly proposed to her after five hours on their first date. Less than two months later, the couple married on August 15, 1958, in Lubbock, Texas. On February 3, 1959, Buddy Holly died in a plane crash along with fellow musicians Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper outside Clear Lake, Iowa. After learning of her husband's death from the television news, she suffered a miscarriage the following day and could not attend Holly's funeral in Lubbock.
Thomas Douglas Allsup was an American rockabilly and swing musician.
The Surf Ballroom is a Historic Rock and Roll Landmark at 460 North Shore Drive, Clear Lake, Iowa, United States. The Surf is closely associated with the event known colloquially as "The Day the Music Died" – early rock and roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson gave their last performances at the Surf on February 2, 1959, as part of the "Winter Dance Party Tour".
Carl Bunch was an American musician and drummer best known for his brief stint as the drummer for The Crickets during the Winter Dance Party Tour in 1959. Bunch's time with The Crickets was cut short by lead vocalist and guitarist Buddy Holly's sudden death in a plane crash on February 3, 1959, popularly referred to as "The Day the Music Died." After Holly's death, Bunch enlisted in the United States Army before relaunching his music career with Hank Williams Jr. and Roy Orbison.
Dion and the Belmonts were an American vocal quartet prominent throughout the 1950s. All of its members were from the Bronx, New York City. In 1957, Dion DiMucci joined the vocal group the Belmonts. The established trio of Angelo D'Aleo, Carlo Mastrangelo and Fred Milano formed a quartet with DiMucci.
Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story is a musical in two acts written by Alan Janes, and featuring the music of Buddy Holly. It opened at the Plymouth Theatre Royal in September 1989 before It transferred to the Victoria Palace Theatre on 12 October 1989. An early example of the jukebox musical, Buddy ran in London's West End for over 12 years, playing 5,140 performances. Janes took over the producing of the show himself in 2004, and Buddy has been on tour extensively in the UK since then, having played Broadway, five U.S. National Tours and numerous other productions around the world. The show was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Musical.
"Tribute to Buddy Holly" is a song written by Geoff Goddard, first recorded by Mike Berry and the Outlaws as a single, which was released in September 1961 on His Master's Voice records. His first chart success, it reached number 24 on the UK Singles Chart in November 1961. The song was banned by the BBC for being too "morbid", regarding the death of 1950s rock and roll singer Buddy Holly, who died in a plane crash on 3 February 1959.
The Riverside Ballroom in Green Bay, Wisconsin, is a ballroom that hosts weddings and small concerts. In the past, it has also held boxing matches. The Ballroom was the largest indoor venue in Green Bay until the Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena opened in 1958.
Frank Sardo Avianca, who performed as Frankie Sardo, was an American rock and roll singer, actor and film producer.
The Iowa Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame is a museum located in Arnolds Park, Iowa, and maintained by the non-profit Iowa Rock 'n' Roll Music Association (IRRMA). The mission of IRRMA is to "retain and honor the legacy of rock 'n' roll music and preserve the history of music in the state of Iowa." Established in 1997, IRRMA inducts members into the Hall of Fame annually in one or more of these categories: Artists, Establishments, Establishment Owners, Media Personalities, Songwriters, Record Companies, Managers, and Agencies. The museum was opened in 2003. Notable inductees include Chase, Billy Dale Fries, The Big Bopper, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Everly Brothers.
C3 Entertainment, Inc., formerly Comedy III Productions, is an American entertainment and licensing company founded in 1959 by American comedy act The Three Stooges.
Down the Line is the 21st studio album by American singer Bobby Vee, released on June 22, 1999, by Rockhouse Studios, his 1st studio album in 27 years. It was produced by Vee and his son, Jeff, and arranged and conducted by Greg Armstrong and Jeff Vee with the help of his three sons. as a tribute to Buddy Holly whom Vee listed among his influences. After Holly was killed on February 3, 1959, along with Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper, and pilot Roger Peterson when their plane crashed in Iowa on their way to Fargo, North Dakota, Vee was selected to replace Holly on the tour, which led to the launch of his recording career. He also released another Holly Album in 1963 called I Remember Buddy Holly.