At least 1,500 boomers got the opportunity to stay up hours past their bedtime Saturday night. Sha Na Na’s Jon “Bowzer” Bauman’s annual Ruth Eckerd Hall-exclusive holiday party—which brings together some of the finest in bubblegum pop of the 1960s—had its largest lineup since 2018 this year, with only one, last-second catch: Bowzer had contracted a staph infection, courtesy of a potentially contaminated scalpel during a recent hernia surgery. As a result, per doctor’s orders, he couldn’t travel.
The show had to go on, though. Joey Dee (“Peppermint Twist”)—a Clearwater resident—kicked things off, and attempted to live up to his “rap is crap” comment by having Gerry “Rocky” Seader—drummer for house band Rocky and the Rollers—drop a beat meaning to imitate today’s music in a derogatory manner. As a result, the 82-year-old ended up mock-rapping about animals during a very brief segment that sounded eerily like a very early hip-hop track. And not Run-DMC or Beastie Boys early, either. I’m talking about a vibe closer to “Rapper’s Delight” by The Sugarhill Gang.
After the annual Sha Na Na “reunion” between Johnny Contardo and Henry Gross—neither of whom were ever in the band at the same time—ex-Buckinghams lead singer Dennis Tufano (“Mercy, Mercy, Mercy,” “Don’t You Care”) hit the stage in a white blazer and black tie with red horizontal stripes. He bantered less, and mainly brragged about the Buckinghams’ success 60 years ago, how Catholic school could be vicious, and how gorgeous of a venue Ruth Eckerd Hall was. “Sound is beautiful, too,” he observed.
Once Tufano left the stage after a 20-minute set, Bowzer’s three-piece backing vocal ensemble The Stingrays hit the stage, and dwelled on the fact that all three of the members’ fathers were pastors (“O Holy Night,” “Worth”). And not long after, Gary U.S. Bonds stepped onstage to the opening of “New Orleans,” clad in a red suit similar to that of Joey Dee’s an hour or so prior.
“Where’s Bowzer? Did anybody see him out there?” He asked upon his entry. Whether word had gotten to Bonds about Bowzer’s absence or not, the 83-year-old honorary Jersey boy took on a mini-medley of some of his early ‘60s hits (“Twist Señora,” “School Is Out”), soon followed by a rendition of The Drifters’ version of “White Christmas” with The Stingrays.
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“It can never be a Black Christmas, huh?” Bonds joked. “Oh well, guess I have to deal with it.”
His Springsteen-glorifying introduction to “This Little Girl” received minimal love from the crowd, but once Bonds launched into “Quarter To Three,” it was a party all over again. “I can’t do another 30 years of this,” he admitted in his tongue-in-cheek fashion. “Although, this is one of the best Black crowds I’ve ever seen. Ohh, I’m sorry, I can’t see. My mistake.”
A 15 minute-long intermission took place, and once the lights went back down, Bowzer—joining in via satellite—performed his annual piano rendition of Adam Sandler’s “Hanukkah Song,” in which he is originally mentioned. A few hymns from the Stingrays later, Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits (“I’m Henry VIII, I Am,” “Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got A Lovely Daughter”) made his grand entrance over “I’m Into Something Good” dressed in a satin navy blue blazer, and matching bowtie.
Noone, now 75, was 15 years old when he first co-founded Herman’s Hermits in 1963, and still moves like a teenaged Mick Jagger might, and makes deprecating jokes about himself, and his bandmates. Like how earlier in the day, guitarist Billy Sullivan—dressed as Santa Claus—accidentally got a haircut at PetCo. Or how during “I’m Henry VIII, I Am,” he thought that there might have been people in the apartment building in front of Ruth Eckerd Hall’s subdivision wondering what the hell was going on inside. “‘Sounds like a reunion of some sort. Probably The Monkees,’” Noone leered in an American accent.
