Those of you who are baby boomers will remember New Year's Eves with Guy Lombardo and his orchestra, televised live from the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. You may also remember festivities that included holiday cheese balls
and onion dip made with a 16 ounce container of sour cream and a package of Lipton's Onion Soup mix. In those days, this combination of dairy, salt, and MSG was about as good as it got.
Guy Lombardo, who became known as "Mr. New Year's Eve performed his final live broadcast in 1976. Though he died on November 5, 1977, his band continued to ring in the New Year for two more years without him. After reading about his family members, attempting to preserve his memory, I've just added Lombardo's autobiography, The Sweetest Music This Side of Heaven, to my reading list.
"Auld Lang Syne", roughly translated, means for "old times sake" --a time for fond remembrances of friendship and good times. The poet, Robert Burns, is generally credited for the song, though it is generally believed to have existed in various iterations before him. Burns, however, was the first to put record the words on paper and send the ancient song to the Scot's Musical Museum.
As we bid 2016 farewell, we remember the great poets, troubadours, and artists who passed this year--a toast to some of my favorite musical icons who shall never be forgotten. . .
PRINCE, thank you for the purple rain
Bowie, thank you for Young Americans
George Michael thank you for Faith
Glenn Frey, thank you for that peaceful, easy feeling