In 1959, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and “Big Bopper” J.P. Richardson perished in a plane crash while on tour through the Midwest in the dead of winter.
Fifty years later, in honor of those performers and others who created some of the most memorable music of all time, Mark Shurilla presents “The Day the Music Died” Oct. 24 at Door Community Auditorium.
Milwaukee native Shurilla, who performs Holly’s music, is pleased to bring the show to Door County.
“Wisconsin is very important to the music of the ’50s and particularly to the Winter Dance Party, which was the tour they were on when they died,” Shurilla said. “The Dance Party tours might include as many as 15 acts. The kids danced to the music, and many big recordings came out of those shows. And they served as a model for the ‘American Bandstand’ show, which was created with the same premise.”
The four headliners of that 1959 tour — Holly, Valens, Richardson and Dion and the Belmonts — had performed in Green Bay’s Riverside Ballroom Feb. 1.
The next day, they performed at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, a last-minute addition to the tour. Their 1 a.m. flight following the show was scheduled to transport them to Moorhead, Minn., for the next performance. The plane never arrived, crashing only five miles from departure.
The tragedy was forever immortalized in Don McLean’s 1970 smash hit “American Pie.” Ever since, “the day the music died” is identified with the loss of Holly, Valens, and Richardson.
Shurilla won this year’s Wisconsin Area Music Industry (WAMI) award for best tribute/nostalgia artist.
“We are not doing an impersonation act,” Shurilla said. “Rather, this is a dedication to the spirit of the founders of rock ’n’ roll, the great American pop music. We get inside the music and times of Buddy Holly and his contemporaries, allowing the audience to feel the drama of what created this exciting, timeless music.”
Joining Shurilla on stage are Liam Ford, who performs a tribute to Johnny Cash; John Van Thiel, paying homage to Elvis; Jayne Taylor and Brenda Rothenberg, representing the girl groups; and Danny J., the “Pavarotti of Rock.” Four-year-old Valor Yost, the “Kid in Black,” will make a special appearance.
Mark Shurilla’s 50th anniversary of “The Day the Music Died” takes the stage at 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24, at Door Community Auditorium, 3926 State 42, Fish Creek. Tickets are $25-$28. For tickets or more information, call 868-2728 or visit www.dcauditorium.org.
