Bon Jovi Concert Line at Erie Stadium

Bon Jovi concert line photo ©Debbi Lyon2013.

When Bon Jovi announced plans to play a concert at Veteran's Memorial Stadium on July 25, 1987, it was big news. The band was at the tail end of its 15 month Slippery When Wet world tour and was at its peak. Bon Jovi nailed the Billboard year end charts, claiming the Top Pop Album, Top Pop Single and Top Music Videocasstette for 1987. They performed in Japan, England, Germany, Canada, and all the major markets in the United States. 

So, how did Erie manage to snag a top-name musical artist? Some say it was because Jon Bon Jovi had a soft-spot for Erie, the town where his mother- formerly Carol Sharkey- grew up. Fame brought frequent Jon Bon Jovi rumors, causing plenty of teenage girls to cruise by the house where Jon's grandmother lived in Erie, hoping for a glimpse of the heart-throb.

Academy High School looms large in the background of the Bon Jovi concert line photo shown above. I walked along State Street from 26th to 29th Street snapping shots like this. It was a rainy day, and some of the people in line at the Erie Stadium were drenched.

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Hank Snow at Erie County Field House 1974

-article in the Gannon Knight, April 26, 1974.

Country star Hank Snow appeared at the Erie County Field House on Route 8 in Erie County, PA on April 5, 1974. Michael Lyon attended the show and interviewed Hank after the show. The following article appeared in the Gannon Knight on April 26, 1974. Photo by Allen Smith.

Ageless Hank Snow: Still Movin' On

by Pamela Verity and Michael Lyon

Country music is known for producing performers who have careers lasting twenty and thirty years. If you happened to have been at the Erie County Field House on April 5 you had a chance to see one of these performers- Hank Snow.

Hank- at age 60- has been at this business a long time. He's been under contract to RCA records for 38 years and has released about 80 albums and numerous singles.

In previous years he used to do anywhere from 250 to 275 one-nighters a year. "That's why I look this way," he says with a smile. But for the past five or six years he has cut down to about 75 concert dates a year.

Adorned in a beautifully embroidered and sequined suit, Hank came out amidst the welcoming applause and immediately broke into his biggest hit "I'm Movin' On." From the additional audience response you could tell that after twenty-four years, it was still a big favorite.

During that first song and even after its conclusion, people kept coming to the stage to snap pictures of Hank and his band, the Rainbow Ranch Boys.

Hank and the boys, displaying the kind of warm, friendly humor that Hank is known for, quickly got into into a humorous pose which included one member of bank putting his hand behind Hank's head and making the two-fingered "Indian" sign. You could tell that they were enjoying everything as much as the audience was.

The whole show went along in that same good, fun-loving fashion. Hank did some of his past hits such as "A Fool Such As I" and "I Don't Hurt Anymore" as well as a Jimmie Rodgers' original, a railroad song, and two instrumentals.

The audience enjoyed everything he did. When Hank did his current single "Hello Love" he received his largest response from the crowd to that point. Maybe that helps explain why "Hello Love" is his biggest record in eleven years.

Hank finished his show with another of his hits "I've Been Everywhere." The audience as it had done numerous times during the show, clapped along with the song.

You don't have to talk to Hank Snow to realize that he likes performing country music. But if you do mention it to him, he doesn't hesitate to answer.

"I'm a person that likes to be occupied all the time. I don't work in the wintertime and I nearly go crazy waiting for the time to go out on the road again."

Hank says he's thought about retirement but will stick with it "as long as my health stays good and people enjoy my work." As far as the Erie area people, Clarence E. 'Hank' Snow was really impressed. "When you come to a city as friendly as Erie and you get a welcome like that, you know you've been away too long. We're not gonna do that again."

Here's a video of Hank Snow performing "I'm Movin' On" which was posted to YouTube by Gatorrock787: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRz8nXFVegc&feature=related

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Sam Cooke at the Warner Theatre in 1958 Erie, PA

Sam Cooke played the Warner Theatre in 1958 in Erie, PA

Twenty acts appeared at the Warner Theatre in Erie, Pennsylvania for the 'Show of Stars for '58' tour on April 23, 1958. They performed two show, one at 7 p.m. and another at 9 p.m. Tickets were reasonable, ranging from two to three dollars. The following singers and groups appeared:

1. Sam Cooke "You Send Me" (a #1 hit which debuted in Oct. of 1957)
2. Jimmie Rodgers "Oh, Oh, I'm Falling in Love"
3. Paul Anka "You Are My Destiny"
4. George Hamilton the IV "Now and For Always"
5. Clyde McPhatter "Without Love" 
6. La Vern Baker "Jim Dandy"
7. Frankie Avalon "Dee Dee Dinah"
8. The Silhouettes "Get A Job"
9. The Royal Teens "Short Shorts"
10. The Storey Sisters "Bad Motorcycle"
11. The Crescendos "Oh, Julie"
12. The Monotones "Book of Love"
13. The Play Mates "Jo Ann"
14. Jimmy Reed "You're Somethin' Else"
15. Jackie Wilson "Reet Petitie"
16. Harold Cromer "Jim Dandy"
17. Huey Smith and the Clowns "Don't You Just Know It"
18. Jimmy Dell 
19. Bobby Marchan (who later had a #1 R&B hit "There's Something On Your Mind Pt. 2"

Paul Anka, La Vern Baker and Clyde McPhatter had appeared at the Warner on Nov. 13, 1957 on the previous 'Show of Stars' tour. Sam Cook died December 11, 1964, just six years after performing in Erie.

Read all about the history of Erie, PA at Old Time Erie

Warner Theatre 1957 Show of Stars Concert

Warner Theatre 1957 'Show of Stars' concert in Erie, PA

The ad on the left is for the 'Show of Stars' Nov. 13, 1957 show at the Warner Theatre in Erie. The ticket stub
on the right is from the 'Show of Stars' at the Warner on April 23, 1958. Courtesy of Nancy Schaffner Coake.

I was amazed the see the line-up for this show at the Warner Theatre in Erie, Pennsylvania on Nov. 13, 1957. DJ Alan Freed put together this package, which toured the U.S. and Canada. The performers only had one day off during the first 24 days of November! The tour hit Detroit on the Nov. 10th, Pittsburgh on Nov. 12th, Boston on Nov. 15th, Toronto on the 18th, Buffalo on the 19th and Philadelphia on the 20th.

This tour featured some of the hottest acts of the day, some of them at the start of their careers. Fats Domino was blazing hot. He had nine Top 100 hits during the first eleven months of 1957, including "I'm Walkin'" which peaked at #4, and "Blue Monday," which reached #5. Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers' "Goody Goody" debuted in July of 1957 and peaked at #20. You can watch a clip of it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kld4z6ZgyHc. The Everly Brothers first hit, "Bye Bye Love" debuted in May of '57 and spent 27 weeks on the Billboard chart, peaking at #2. Watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFoIdxLBm_A (Phil Everly died on January 3, 2014.)

This line-up is mind-blowing! Buddy Holly and the Crickets, Eddie Cochran, LaVern Baker, Buddy Knox, the Drifters. Man, I was born too late. The next time I watch the Buddy Holly Story, Why Do Fools Fall In Love (about Frankie Lymon), I'll think about them performing at the Warner in Erie, PA. Here's a clip of Eddie Cochran singing his first hit, "Sittin' In The Balcony," which debuted on the chart in March of 1957: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fbqp6ryEsbw

On a side note, here's a link to the Canadian documentary about Paul Anka, which we had to watch in Mrs. Burgoyne's English class at Academy High School in Erie, PA.  http://www.nfb.ca/film/lonely_boy 

The "Show of Stars" came back to the Warner on April 23, 1958. We'll discuss that in another post. 

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