A half century since 'The day the music died'

Golden anniversaries are special things. Remembering what occurred 50 years ago is no small feat, something I appreciate more every day as I struggle to remember what I had for breakfast.

Anniversaries are often happy things, marked by family gatherings and celebrations. Others are more somber and conjure images of what could have been.

This week marked the 50th anniversary of the final performances of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson. The trio had performed in Clear Lake, Iowa and boarded a small plane for the next stop on their tour. The plane crashed, killing the three musicians as well as the pilot, Roger Peterson.

Holly was 22, Valens only 17 and Richardson was 28.

Don McLean's 1972 hit, "American Pie," talks about February 3, 1959 as the day the music died. I was 11 years old when the song came out and was drawn to the uniqueness of the song. Of course the lyric "February made me shiver, with ever paper I'd deliver," resonated with me for very different reasons than McLean. I literally was shivering delivering papers in 1972. I can still recall the cold. At the risk of sounding like an old man, it was so cold in the winter of 1972, I wore several layers of clothing and a snowmobile suit, complete with a scarf rapped around my face. The condensation from my exhaling breath would literally freeze my eyelashes shut. Using my semi-warm hands, I would melt the ice so I could see again.

But I digress...

My friends and I would discuss the eight minute long song's lyrics and would try to figure out what he was singing about. As a pre-teen, it didn't make a whole lot of sense. It turns out that we weren't as stupid as we felt about the whole thing, because it seems there is an entire subculture dedicated to deciphering the code contained in the song.

In doing some research for this column, I came across a site, http://www.whrc-wi.org/americanpie.htm, that explains the song, line by line. Some of it makes sense to me, other parts do not. I heard a story on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" about a man who has interpreted the song to be about the end times on Earth. Not surprisingly, Mr. McLean has a long standing restraining order against this person, who hounded the singer for years about the hidden meanings in the song.

McLean will not discuss the meaning of the lyrics, but has acknowledged that he did learn about the death of Buddy Holly while he was folding papers for his route on February 3, 1959.

Later when I was attending school for broadcasting and doing some work on the college AM station, I learned that "American Pie" was a favorite of many in radio because the length of the song allowed announcers to go to the bathroom, take a break or find more music to play. The song was number one for a solid month in 1972, so I imagine there were lots of happy DJs -- at least for that month.

The song placed number five on the list of culturally significant songs of the 20th century. "Over The Rainbow" by Judy Garland was number one, in case you were wondering. Interestingly enough, Buddy Holly's "Peggy Sue" placed at 111 and Ritchie Valens' "Donna" was 158 on the 365 song list.

The death of the three recording artists who were each taking rock music in a different direction was a true tragedy. Who knows what Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper would have done musically in the 1960s and beyond?

Many agree that the 1960s were a tumultuous time in American history, and some believe that the end of the relative innocence of the 1950s began on February 3, 1959 when that small plane crashed in Iowa.

As always, I welcome your comments. You can reach me by email at tstangl@lemarscomm.net, telephone 712-546-7031, x40 or toll free 1-800-728-0066 x40.

Thanks for reading, I'll keep in touch. Feel free to do the same.