The Day the Music Died
February 3, 1959
Buddy Holly - born Sep 7, 1936 - Lubbock, TX
Charles Hardin Holley
Richie Valens - born May 13, 1941 - Pacoima, CA
Richard Steven Valenzuela
The Big Bopper - born Oct 24, 1930 - Sabine Pass, TX
Jiles Perry Richardson
The 1959 Winter Dance Party Tour also included Dion & The Belmonts,
Frankie Sardo, Waylon Jennings, Carl Bunch, and Tommy Allsup. The February
cold weather and trouble with the heat on the tour bus led Holly to charter a
small four passenger plane from Dwyer's Flying Service out of Mason City,
Iowa. Holly age 22, Valens age 17, and Richardson age 28, died early on
the morning of Feb. 3, 1959 when the plane crashed upon takeoff into a snowy
Iowa cornfield. Also killed in the crash was the Iowa 
Pilot, Roger
Petersen age 21. The story is that Waylon Jennings was scheduled to be on
the plane, but Waylon gave up his seat to The Big Bopper.
Replacements, Bobby Vee, Jimmy Clanton, and Frankie Avalon filled in to complete
the rest of the tour.
This Commemorative Show at the Surf is generally a sell-out, so plan ahead if
you're going to attend. The Surf Ballroom was built in 1933, destroyed by
fire in 1947, and reopened across the street to the present site in 1948.
It's one of the last of the BIG Ballrooms still in use, holding 2,100 people
with a 6,300 sq ft dance floor. The Winter Dance
Party in this small Iowa town is a great party celebrating good old Rock-n-Roll
from the early days and you won't be disappointed if you attend.
Featured artists in the past have been: The Drifters, Del Shannon, Rick Nelson,
Carl Perkins, Bobby Vee, Gary Lewis, The Crickets, Dale Hawkins, Freddy Cannon, Little
Anthony, Johnny Tillotson, DJ Fontana, Don McLean, Bo Diddley, Frankie Ford,
Tommy Allsup, Cleftones, The
Shirelles, Wolfman Jack, and Paul Burlison. Also appearing have been Maria
Elena Santiago Holly (Buddy's widow), the original Donna (Donna Fox), and the
original Peggy Sue (Peggy Sue Gerron-Rackham), made popular in song. Peggy Sue
still lives in Lubbock, TX in 2005 and remains active in honoring Buddy
Holly. A special event Ham Radio Station, W5B, operated in February 2004,
February 2005, & February 2006 from Lubbock. Peggy Sue is K5PSG (ex
KE5AKW) and was involved in
the operation of this commemorative station. It is very likely the station
will continue to operate each year during February.
The popular
International stage musical, "Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story", was
performed once as a special event during the 1990's at the Surf.
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