“Should old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to…” Oh let’s not forget, I want to remember! I want to remember some New Year’s happenings from way back. Yes, often times a New Year’s Eve night out celebration can turn out to be an overblown, overhyped, overspent popcorn fart of nothing, but sometimes they can be a lot of fun. Here’s a few of mine from days gone by…
FINALLY MADE IT TO MIDNIGHT! I was 10 years old the first time I managed to not conk out and stay up til 12 midnight and see the New Year in. Every year my parents would order in pizza and we’d watch TV and find a good movie on one of the 5 or 6 channels available in the time of B.C. (Before cable) After the TV news, we watched Dick Clark in New York and the east coast New Year’s ball drop. Sixty minutes later, the clock struck twelve in Elmhurst! As 1971 segued into 1972 I heard my neighbors outside yelling “Happy New Year” and banging pots with spoons to everyone’s enjoyment. Twenty minutes later I was out like a light but we were IN a new year and I stayed awake to see it happen.
THE FREDRISKEN HAT TRICK- Three years straight, from freshman through junior year in high school the last night in December was spent staying overnight at my longtime friend Mark Fredriksen’s house. Jim Briegel, Nick Ragona and Jon Carlson were also on hand for pizza, pop, snacks, poker and Tripoly; this all happened in Mark’s parents’ large downstairs den/lounge. The TV would be on and we’d catch the east coast and local New Year’s coverage.
Junior year we were drinking more than soda pop and partying pretty hard while skitching from the back of Paul Greenberg’s Vega. Paul had a case of Old Style beer in the back of his car with the hatch open. We took turns being dragged around the snow covered roads of the neighborhood on our bellies, with one hand hooked on the car bumper and the other on a beer. Were we daredevils or dumbasses? You take your pick.
FUN IN FORT LAUDERDALE
Earlier this year when Eddie Money died, I wrote about how his music tied into an insane New Year’s Eve I spent in Florida with four buddies. We were seventeen, liquored up in a bar and sucking face with any and every woman we happened upon that night. You can click into the month of September on this site and scroll to September 15th for that whole story. It really was nuts, loads of fun and it was a miracle that none of us came down with mononucleosis.
A.W. SHUCKS IT’S NEW YEAR’S EVE!
I spent a couple of New Year’s Eves at the former great Elmhurst rock nightclub A.W. Shucks. I was with my dear friend and mentor Lee Swanson and the onstage entertainment was Risk, the band he managed. The first of these wing-dings was as we welcomed in 1983 and to close out the night I ended up onstage singing The Clash’s “Should I Stay of Should I Go” with Risk lead singer Joey DeMarco. After that show stopper, on occasion Joey would summon me to join him for a last song of the night performance.
WE DROVE ALL THIS WAY FOR THIS?
On New Year’s Eve 1984 pals Bobbo, Marko, Dave Potter and I drove more than four hours in a ridiculous blizzard to visit college friends for an alleged party in Galesburg, Illinois. The bad news was there were no women there and hardly a party was happening. We drank a few beers and watched MTV til 2 am which proves not EVERY one of my New Year’s Eves was golden.
A BO DEANS NEW YEAR’S EVE
New Year’s Eve 1990 Marko and I were at the Park West for a BoDeans concert. That was a great way to rock out the year as Sammy Llanas and the band did a perfect countdown to midnight in the middle of the song “Don’t Be Lonely.” It was also a night for a rare blue moon and Sammy ended up singing “Blue Moon.” I remember all this because Marko rigged a set-up at home to record the concert which aired on WXRT.
HAWKS GAMES
Every once in awhile the Blackhawks, my favorite Chicago sports team, played a home game on New Year’s Eve. I remember going to one of those games at the old Chicago Stadium and at least once at the United Center. Some fans in the stands were sporting tuxedos and cocktail dresses with plans to hit some parties after the game. I was dressed casually in jeans & sweatshirt then spent my post game time hitting a White Castle drive thru before going home to bring in the New Year.
THE MILLENIUM OF 2000
Remember the whole Y2K scare as we prepared for 1999 to become 2000? I was at a neighbor’s party that night, only two doors from my house in case anything bad happened. Earlier that month and again on December 31st my former radio boss and longtime friend Larry Lujack & I talked on the phone about all the disasters that COULD go down as the new century approached. Lar and I shared how both of us were really prepared for the end of times with stored water and non-perishable food. On New Year’s Day Larry called me back, when I picked up the phone he said, “Well…(long pause) we’re still here… What a disappointment!” We had a big laugh on that.
2009
December 31st 2009 was the last time I went out for New Year’s Eve. It was to attend a brother-like friend’s wedding. Jason Vanderwoude was marrying the love of his life Lizzy Weninger in a beautiful candle light service in Geneva. The reception took place at the historic Hotel Baker in St. Charles. The food, fun and the revelry that night was incredible! After Jason & Lizzy’s party ended I hung out in another of the hotel’s ballrooms to see a great Beatles tribute band called The Cavern Beat. Like many of the wedding guests, I opted to stay overnight at the hotel to avoid trouble on the roads.
So those are a few examples of how I’ve wrung out old years and started new ones. I’ll be staying in again this year because there’s a reason they call the evening of December 31st ‘Amateur Night. ” I prefer to enter January in a state of being alive.
For those going out, please be safe, use your head, make good choices and stay alert.
Oh,.and wherever you celebrate, whoever you’re with, Happy New Year!
NOTE: I’m going to take a little time off from blogging (unless some pressing matter kicks in that merits my attention and comments) I’ll be back with you soon in 2020.