Invest in Buddy Holly!

“A long, long time ago, I can
still remember how
that music used to make me smile…”

That
is the first line in Don McLean’s classic song American Pie. It was a
wonderful tribute to 50s music, a bygone era and of course, Buddy Holly!

It also seems like it was also a long,
long time ago that I was one of the many writers who got his start here at
JoBlo.com
(Indiana Sev was my moniker for you old-schoolers out there), with a dream to
one day produce my very own movie. Well, that day has come and I have returned
to the old boss (aka my brother!) asking him to put up this piece on the site or
face the wrath of mom.

Along with producers Jim McCool and
Shawn Nagy, I am in the pre-production phase
on a documentary film that will commemorate the upcoming 50th anniversary of
the Winter Dance Party tour of 1959. This was the final tour that Buddy
Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson ever played, as
they died when the aircraft they had chartered crashed just minutes after taking
off on February 3rd, 1959.

The
synopsis of our film, articles about our film’s progress and pictures of us
with many of the surviving members from that tour can all be found at www.buddyhollyonline.com.
Once there, click on the documentary poster
for more info about the film. You can also find some news articles
about our production on that same page. Pictures from the actual
shows from 1959 can be found on the same site HERE.

Opening act of the Winter Dance Party ’59, Frankie Sardo,
with me in September 2007

What
have we got?

Among the
members from the tour that have agreed to participate in our film, are: Freddie
Milano and Carlo Mastrangelo of The Belmonts, Tommy Allsup of The Crickets,
Frankie Sardo and Bobby Vee, as well as the emcee of the February 2^nd
show at The Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa – Bob Hale. Bob has also offered
to narrate the film for us. The operator of the aircraft charter service at the
time, Jerry Dwyer, will also contribute to our film.

We are
also in talks with Dion as well as the Cricket’s drummer, Carl Bunch to join
our production. Furthermore, all the venues that the tour played have given us
their consent to shoot on their premises. Additionally, we have gathered close
to four-dozen fans so far who had attended all the shows previous and including
the final show at The Surf to share their thoughts with us for the film. Through
our research, we have also discovered 15 never-before-seen photographs from the
Winter Dance Party tour that we will feature in the film, with more to
come.

Buddy Holly on January 26th, 1959 in Eau Claire, WI

What
do we need?

We are
currently in the process of trying to secure financing and sponsorship for our
documentary as well as shopping it around for the ideal venue where it could
have its debut. We have got a very modest budget set and are ready to begin
production immediately. Do you want to know more? Do you love Buddy Holly? Do
you want to become a part of history? Have you always dreamed of
executive-producing a documentary on this legendary tour? Well, if you answered
“yes” to any of these questions, please fire off an e-mail to me and I
can answer all your questions, and hopefully give you an idea of how you may be
able to make this special tribute documentary – a reality!

As I
mentioned before, we are approaching the 50^th anniversary of the
tour, which will be in January of 2009. The eyes and ears of the world will
focus again on the birth of rock and roll and on the tour that seemed to silence
the music for good. Our film will be the perfect tribute to those fallen stars
and a fitting example of how nothing could ever stop the music that was born
during that era. Rave on!

Sevan
Garabedian (aka Indiana Sev)


[email protected]


514-931-6959