In Their Lives 11-6-77: Guy Lombardo
By Four Walls
@FourWalls (86778)
United States
November 6, 2020 9:30am CST
Today is a double-whammy birthday (as so many days in November are for me): my uncle David and best friend Jerry celebrate their birthdays today. And for today's peek at what happened in November in the birth years of my family....I'm not using either of their birth years. 
Instead, here's something from 1977 (my niece's birth year) that made the newspapers.
11/6/77: Guy Lombardo Dies
If you're wondering how I'm doing this, I pick the date in those various years (1930, 1952, 1953, 1963, and 1977) and see what's on the front page of the papers. And yes, this was front page news in 1977, even though the youngsters are probably going, "who?????"
On December 31, 1956, the CBS network featured Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians playing "Auld Lang Syne" to ring out the old and ring in the new. It began a tradition that made Lombardo and New Year's Eve synonymous in the U.S. for the next two decades. In fact, a common joke after Lombardo's death on November 5, 1977 (reported in the papers the next day....in case you're wondering, I'm using the paper's date, not the actual news event's date) was if New Year's Eve was going to be canceled.
If you're wondering, Lombardo did a whole lot more than just play that one song on TV every December 31 at midnight. During the "big band" era of the 30s and 40s, Lombardo was quite popular, selling (per Picky Wedia) between 100,000,000 and 300,000,000 records.
A little trivia: his early recording career was at Gennett, in Richmond, Indiana. There's a walkway commemorating the people who recorded there at the site, and Lombardo is one of the many who are featured.
Lombardo died of a heart attack, precipitated by lung disease, at the age of 75. That closed a memorable time for people my age and older. New Year's Eve would never be the same.
To prove there was more to Lombardo than "Auld Lang Syne," here's his orchestra with a #1 hit from 1937:
Instead, here's something from 1977 (my niece's birth year) that made the newspapers.
11/6/77: Guy Lombardo Dies
If you're wondering how I'm doing this, I pick the date in those various years (1930, 1952, 1953, 1963, and 1977) and see what's on the front page of the papers. And yes, this was front page news in 1977, even though the youngsters are probably going, "who?????"
On December 31, 1956, the CBS network featured Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians playing "Auld Lang Syne" to ring out the old and ring in the new. It began a tradition that made Lombardo and New Year's Eve synonymous in the U.S. for the next two decades. In fact, a common joke after Lombardo's death on November 5, 1977 (reported in the papers the next day....in case you're wondering, I'm using the paper's date, not the actual news event's date) was if New Year's Eve was going to be canceled.
If you're wondering, Lombardo did a whole lot more than just play that one song on TV every December 31 at midnight. During the "big band" era of the 30s and 40s, Lombardo was quite popular, selling (per Picky Wedia) between 100,000,000 and 300,000,000 records.
A little trivia: his early recording career was at Gennett, in Richmond, Indiana. There's a walkway commemorating the people who recorded there at the site, and Lombardo is one of the many who are featured.
Lombardo died of a heart attack, precipitated by lung disease, at the age of 75. That closed a memorable time for people my age and older. New Year's Eve would never be the same.
To prove there was more to Lombardo than "Auld Lang Syne," here's his orchestra with a #1 hit from 1937:
5 people like this
5 responses
@LindaOHio (222623)
• United States
6 Nov 20
I remember Guy Lombardo; but, then again, I am OLD. Happy Birthday to your uncle and friend.
2 people like this
@RebeccasFarm (91297)
• United States
7 Nov 20
I remember my Dad dancing with me on his shoe to these.
1 person likes this
