Before Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest, by Rich Paschall
Happy New Year!
Perhaps “rockin'” is not the right word. Maybe “swaying” is better. Gaetano Alberto Lombardo was born in 1902 in Canada. He became popularly known as Guy Lombardo. In 1924 he formed a band with his three brothers and other musicians. They were known as The Royal Canadians. Soon they would hold court over New Year’s even for many decades.
In 1928 they were on the radio for New Year’s Eve. In 1929 they had the first nationwide radio broadcast on New Year’s Eve and played Auld Lang Syne as a number to ring in the New Year. From there they played it every year, making popular the song we can not seem to live without at midnight. The live broadcast moved to CBS television in 1956 and was the first of 21 consecutive New Year’s Eve TV shows for Guy. People waited up, not for the ball drop in Time’s Square, but for Guy to play Auld Lang Syne at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York. Think of Guy Lombardo and The Royal Canadians to be a band similar to Lawrence Welk, but without the bubbles.
Guy passed away in November of 1977 but the show went on for the next two years with one of the Lombardo brothers at the helm. After that, the band broke up and the tradition ended. In 1972 Dick Clark conceived a rock and roll special to bring in the New Year. It was meant to be a competition to Lombardo and draw in the younger audiences. The youngest of the midnight revelers likely do not remember Clark. They just see his name on the show’s title. They would have no idea who Guy Lombardo might be.
Not many of us remember the Lombardo broadcasts well. I remember seeing a number of them. With no parent at home, why not stay up until midnight Eastern time and watch The Royal Canadians play that famous song. Of course, we had no idea what the song was actually saying. We just knew it signaled the start of a New Year.
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Categories: Anecdote, Entertainment, Holidays, Rich Paschall
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I was watching tonight – now 2022 – and all I could talk about was Guy Lombardo New Years Eve.
I remember it well, the count down in the ball room, and Auld Lang Sine. I saw all 21 years with Guy. Bitter sweet.
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Bryon Seascrest sure isn’t Guy Lombardo. I grew up with him too. Maybe it was a generational thing and ALL of us grew up with him.
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For many years it was the thing to watch. I watched a local countdown. We love to shoot off fireworks along the Chicago River and Navy Pier at Lake Michigan. I am not sure what audiences the networks were playing to, but all three of them were a turn off, and I did.
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I did not see them all, but I saw some. It is a good memory of another era.
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Sure, I remember him! Thanks for the reminder, and happy new year to all.
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Happy New Year
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THIS BRINGS BACK A LOT OF MEMORIES FROM THE GUY LOMBARDO DAYS.
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Yes, I remember some of those broadcasts too.
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Great! Thank you for sharing, and have a happy and blessed new year arriving! 🙂 xx Michael
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Have a safe New Year too.
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Thank you! :-))
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I do remember those broadcasts. It wasn’t my kind of music — but back then, my kind of music was entirely classical. I was seriously into piano and didn’t have time to listen to much else between school and practicing. I’m surprised at how little music I remember from my kid years. If I didn’t play it or some other pianist didn’t play it, I didn’t hear it. But you know? Even though I can’t play anymore, I can still see the notes in my head when I hear the music. It stays with you.
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I remember these songs, although it was not my kind of mucis either.
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I wonder whose music it really was. I know my parents watched it, but no one took it seriously. We didn’t have a lot of channels back then, so there wasn’t a lot of choice for what to watch on New Year’s Eve. Now, of course, you’ve got a zillion choices and a lot of us also have a lot of DVDs too. No shortage of stuff to watch! Sometimes it’s really TOO much. Have a great Turning of the Year. Maybe this one will be an improvement. It’s not, after all, a very high bar to jump.
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I think they mostly played standard arrangements of old songs. In the 70’s they mixed in some newer songs that did not stand up to those big band arrangements.
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