As the media has been flooding with fervor, today is the 50th anniversary when a plane carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper crashed killing all three. I wasn't alive then, but I can only imagine how immense it could have been for the youth. Imagine your three favorite artists that are a constant presence on your radio or MP3 player just disappearing. Pretty heavy.

Of the three, my favorite was Buddy Holly who was so far ahead of his time musically and production wise. While the Blues is credited for invented rock n' roll (namely Ike Turner's "Rocket 88"), I think Buddy Holly can take punk and modern rock and roll arrangements along with him. How many times have we heard a bridge like Peggy Sue today?



The Big Bopper was just the guy you wanted at the party and hope he left your girlfriend alone...but you couldn't invite him because the party would suck and NO girls would come. Probably one of the best descriptions of how wonderful women truly are and how they turn us guys into raving idiots.




I couldn't find a great video of Ritchie Valens, so this will have to do. While most notable for "La Bamba", he also had two other major hits "Oh Donna" and "Oooh My Head"; the later Led Zeppelin covered on Physical Graffiti and in a stunning change of events, credited the original artist - though indirectly. Listen to that snare...it's like a rifle shot. Sorry for the song cuts off :^( But note the chickies. I think that's what the Big Bopper was singing about.




And, yes, we couldn't have these three guys without this song...some guy actually put together a little sappy youtube tribute with some facts about that day and the crash and some really hokey images, but hey you can just listen...