Wowzer, Bowzer. He’s back.
Jon Bauman, better known to millions of music lovers as Bowzer from Sha Na Na, is bringing his Rock ‘N’ Doo-Wop Party Volume XXII back to Mohegan Sun Arena on Sunday, Jan. 14.
A tribute to the much-loved and revered music of the ‘50s and early ‘60s, the show features more than 10 groups and individual artists who made an indelible mark on the music scene.
Showtime is 3 p.m.
The show will feature headliner Kenny Vance and the Planotones as well as Gary “U.S.” Bonds, Jay Siegel’s Tokens, La La Brooks who was the original lead singer of The Crystals, The Dubs, Joey Dee and the Starliters, Johnny Farina of Santo & Johnny, 9/11 firefighter Frank Pizarro who is the former lead singer of The Platters, Bowzer & The Stingrays with Johnny Contardo, Rocky and the Rollers, and special guest Bobby Brooks Wilson, son of famed Jackie Wilson.
Still going strong at age 76 – although tours and many solo shows are a thing of the past – Bauman said his Rock ‘N’ Doo-Wop Party is the perfect venue to showcase the talents of these much-beloved performers.
“This show has had a life of its own since I began putting it together in 2003, and we only missed one year due to Covid. It began as Bowzer’s Ultimate Doo-Wop Party and we were doing two shows a year, a doo-wop version in the winter and a rock version in the summer. The winter show was always jammed, but in the summer it was more difficult to fill the arena with so much else going on. So, about four years ago we combined the genres into what is now Bowzer’s Rock ‘N’ Doo-Wop Party,” Bauman said about their 22-year run at Mohegan Sun.
“We bring the show to Mohegan every January during Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, and we hope to do it again next year. The show is specific to this region for a crowd who really loves this kind of music. They come from all over to see the show – New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine and further. It is the biggest show of its kind in this genre that focuses on the artists and their music from the ‘50s to the early ‘60s until the British Invasion,” he added.
Bauman called Sunday’s show “the grandaddy of all of them.”
“I’m 76 years old and many who will be performing on stage are older than me. None of us want to do a big touring schedule at our age, and at Mohegan we can perform in an environment where it is always crowded and the audiences loves our music. And none of us has to shoulder the burden of performing for three hours long on stage, which is about what the show will last. Also, from the audience’s point view, the tickets are inexpensive for the tremendous number of talented performers who will be singing their hits – there is no filler in the show,” he said.
Bauman was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1947and was considered a child prodigy, playing the piano and beginning classical lessons at age seven before attending the prestigious Julliard School at age 12, then ultimately graduating Magna Cum Laude from Columbia College in New York. He gained fame in 1969 when along with several classmates from Columbia, they formed Sha Na Na – the first major revival group to honor the music and times of the ‘50s and ‘60s even before the “Grease” stage show and movie were released and the popular nostalgic sitcom “Happy Days” aired on television. For the group, Bauman created his alter ego, the loveable greaser named Bowzer. Their fame reached a high point in 1977 when they were given their own syndicated television variety show named after them. It ran from 1977 to 1981 with Bauman eventually leaving the group in 1983.
“I loved the group and having our own television show. We were a counter culture phenomenon and we began the revival a little tongue-in-cheek, but it was more about the mores of the time, not the music which we were very serious about. When I created Bowzer, it was really the first look at a 1950′s greaser from the eyes of the ‘60s and ‘70s even before Danny Zucko from ‘Grease’ and ‘The Fonz’ from ‘Happy Days.’ Some of the real icons of the late ‘60s and ‘70s really loved us and the revival, including Keith Moon from The Who, who followed us around Europe during our tour. Can you imagine, Keith Moon?” Bauman said.
When Bauman left Sha Na Na, he began to step out of his Bowzer character and serve as a game show host for the “Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour” on NBC and the nationally syndicated “Pop ‘N’ Rocker Game.” He then spent two years as one of the original “VJ’s” on the music channel “VH-1,” appeared in several episodes of the “Miami Vice” television show, and provided voice-overs for animated series like “Animaniacs” and films including “My Little Pony,” and he produced a number of television shows on the history of doo-wop and rock ‘n’ roll. He also performed with his own group, Bowzer and the Stingrays, at casinos, theatres, fairs, amusement parks, cruise ships and conventions all over the country and the world.
“What I learned during that time was that I didn’t like working for others. Sha Na Na was a partnership and we were in charge of ourselves, except for the television show. And I discovered that is was never going to be as much fun as being on stage as Bowzer, this very hi-energy, goofy, fun guy,” Bauman said.
While Bauman grew up immersed in the sounds of the ‘50s and early ‘60s, that didn’t detract him from the love of other music, particularly The Beatles and the many musical acts and other genres that have followed the doo-wop and early rock and roll days. He was, in fact, a Beatlemaniac.
He noted “one of my greatest musical memories” was performing on stage at Madison Square Garden during the One to One benefit concert for Willowbrook. The historic performance saw John Lennon with Yoko Ono and Elephant’s Memory sharing a bill with Stevie Wonder, Roberta Flack and none other than Sha-Na-Na. The finale featured all of the show’s performers sharing the stage to join Lennon in an unforgettable performance of his classic “Give Peace A Chance.”
“I was up there with Sha-Na-Na when all of a sudden Lennon motioned for me to come up and share the microphone with him. What could be better? I still have a photo of us at the microphone that a photographer took and what is unusual is that John was out of focus and I was in focus in the photo. It is the most prized photograph in my collection, my son even asked me for a copy. And I perpetually ask myself why a photographer would take a photo with an out-of-focus Lennon next to me,” Bauman said.
As for Sunday’s show, Bauman said he will do a little music with the Stingrays, but that he will mainly function as the show’s master of ceremonies introducing and telling stories about each group performing.
“It is important to me to have authentic people on stage who were authentic members of the group performing, which is true for our show at Mohegan Sun,” Bauman said.
He is chairman of the Truth in Music Committee at the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, which has succeeded in passing a law to help protect consumers from impostor groups that try to pass themselves off as the real thing in live performances.
Tickets for Sunday’s show – ranging in price from $42 to $145 – are available in person at the Mohegan Sun box office or at ticketmaster.com.
