Who remembers their parents watching Guy Lombardo

[senior citizen]

Who remembers their parents watching Guy Lombardo??

I just received a genealogy message on ancestry.com asking if I knew of a family member of ours that he married?? Don't have a clue. No one ever told me. We did have cousins who went to Canada. I'll have to inquire....

Below is a cute song , one of his favorites..........

I'm My Own Grandpa
Guy Lombardo

Now many many years ago when I was twenty-three
I was married to a widow who was pretty as can be
This widow had a grown-up daughter who had hair of red
My father fell in love with her and soon they too were wed

Oh I'm my own grandpa
I'm my own granpa
It sounds funny I know,
But it really is so
Oh I'm my own grandpa

This made my dad my son-in-law and changed my very life
My daughter was my mother 'cause she was my father's wife
To complicate the matter even though it brought me joy
I soon became the father of a bouncing baby boy

My little baby then became a brother-in-law to Dad
And so became my uncle, though it made me very sad
For if he was my uncle, then that also made him br'ther
Of the widow's grown-up daughter who was also my stepmother

Father's wife then had a son who kept them on the run
And he became my grandchild, for he was my daughter's son
My wife is now my mother's mother and it makes me blue
Because altho' she is my wife, she's my grandmother too

Now if my wife is my grandmother, then I'm her grandchild
And every time I think of it, it nearly drives me wild
For now I have become the strangest case I ever saw
As husband of my grandmother, I am my own grandpa

[RichieB]

[QUOTE=senior citizen;489193]Who remembers their parents watching Guy Lombardo??

I not only remember my parents watching Guy Lombardo, I watched Guy Lombardo and the Royal Canadians every New Year's Eve. My mom and dad were married in 1940, and they remembered his band well.

He joked that when he died, he was going to take New Year's Eve with him.

[hockyb]

I don't remember my parents, watching Guy Lombardo. We didn't have TV when I lived at home, but I remember him on the radio, not only NY eve, but at other times. My favorite was, "Enjoy Yourself, It's Later Than You Think". I have several of his tunes on my iPod, including Red Sails in the Sunset, Bell Bottom Trousers, Auld Lang Syne, Penny Serenade, etc. His sound was in the Paul Whiteman style. By the late 40's his sound was dated, but I liked his ricky tick.

[eweissenbach]

[QUOTE=senior citizen;489193]Who remembers their parents watching Guy Lombardo??

I not only remember my parents watching Guy Lombardo, I watched Guy Lombardo and the Royal Canadians every New Year's Eve. My mom and dad were married in 1940, and they remembered his band well.

He joked that when he died, he was going to take New Year's Eve with him.

My parents went to the Frog Hop ballroom in St. Joseph, Missouri to see Guy Lombardo and the Royal Canadians in the late 50s. I also watched him and his band on TV for new years eve telecasts through the 50s and 60s.

[RichieLion]

I remember watching Guy Lombardo & the Royal Canadians with my parents on New Year's Eve. It was a really big deal to be able to stay up and ring in the New Year with my parents and my 4 siblings. At midnight we'd run out and yell and bang old pots and pans and have a grand old time. Great memories.

In his later years on the air, I think we started watching other broadcasts that were a bit more contemporary, but the old days when we were children are the better memories.

[BobKat1]

I am SO old that I remember listening to Guy Lombardo and Wayne King on the radio, before we got a TV, on Sunday after dinner. I'm sure my sister and I were doing other things rather than enjoying the music. We then watched him on TV and especially on New Years Eve.

Later on, my dad would lay claim to the TV every single Saturday night to watch Lawrence Welk. No discussion on any alternatvie shows.:)

[jimbo2012]

Opened in 1952 as the Jones Beach Marine Theater, the venue originally had 8,200 seats and hosted musicals. Moses had several boxes designated for his own use - Moses' friend Guy Lombardo performed often in the early years. The opening show was the operetta extravaganza "A Night in Venice" by Johann Strauss II, produced by film producer, Mike Todd, complete with floating gondolas and starring Enzo Stuarti, Norwood Smith and Nola Fairbanks.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bc/Nikon_at_Jones_Beach_Theater.jpg/200px-Nikon_at_Jones_Beach_Theater.jpg
Lombardo's final show was the 1977 production of Finian's Rainbow, with Christoper Hewett in the title role. After Lombardo's death in 1977, the series resumed in 1978 with Annie Get Your Gun, starring Lucie Arnaz.
The original design of the theater had a "moat" — the stage was actually on Zachs Bay and separated from the beach, and performers could be brought to the stage by boat (some scenes had floating scenery).
The moat was covered or filled in during the first renovation and seats closer to the stage were installed. The Guy Lombardo Orchestra would pass through the "moat" on a yacht during the intermissions. The band would play tunes while floating in front of the audience.

[KathieI]

Jimbo.. did you google that information or did you actually go there??? I went there in the early 70's, drove all the way from Manhattan to Jones Beach just to see the shows. For the life of me, though, can't remember who I saw there? Afraid I'm suffering from CRS disease these days.

Good information, thanks for posting it.

[Carla B]

I remember my parents playing his records on the phonograph; they loved Guy Lombardo. My favorite song that he recorded was "After the Ball is Over," and now I can't get it out of my head. Thanks, Senior Citizen!

[jimbo2012]

Yes I looked it up but when I was a grasshopper my folks dragged me there, I recall he had a all wood motor boat that he made his entrance in, funny how I can remember that.

More recently we go to several concerts there every summer, a great venue.

[Barefoot]

I am SO old that I remember listening to Guy Lombardo and Wayne King on the radio, before we got a TV, on Sunday after dinner. We then watched him on TV and especially on New Years Eve.

The same thing happened at our house.

[johnfarr]

I loved his music.

He lived in the town next to us on Woodcleft Canal in Freeport, LI. He raced those sleek wooden boats in the 30s and 40s, I guess, and kept one or two tied up behind his house. His brother was named Derf, which was Fred spelled backwards. It was reported that he had a neighbor who was upset by the noise from frequent parties. When the noise became too much the neighbor would yell "Guy Lumbago" and throw things over the fence.

Using the various channels It was easy to bring a boat from his place to Zach's Bay.

[senior citizen]

I remember my parents playing his records on the phonograph; they loved Guy Lombardo. My favorite song that he recorded was "After the Ball is Over," and now I can't get it out of my head. Thanks, Senior Citizen!

You are very welcome and thanks to all the posters "above".......for their memories.

We too watched him on New Year's Eve with our parents, etc. and then as a married couple up until he was replaced with the "new" generation of music.

I recall my parents listening to the radio prior to the suppertime hour and Make Believe Ballroom (the show) often had his music.

I was born in 1945, so can remember the end of the 40's when we got our first television set and the parents watched Milton Berl and Imogene Coca?
I watched Farmer Grey and Farmer Brown (probably around age 4 ?) and of course all the World War II movies which abounded in 1950. Fighter pilots, etc. My husband's father BUILT HIS OWN T.V. and it was the first in their neighborhood. I guess that's when one could assemble a television with tubes, etc. My dad would change the tubes in the radios and t.v.'s.

THANKS TO EVERYONE who is remembering along with me...........

p.s. I do have Lombardo and Lombardi in the family tree......just can't make the connection to whom Guy Lombardo married. One branch of my father's family from Italy.....settled in Canada.

[RichieB]

Yes I looked it up but when I was a grasshopper my folks dragged me there, I recall he had a all wood motor boat that he made his entrance in, funny how I can remember that.



I had a small boat which I launched from John Burns Park in Massapequa in the early 70's. Several summer evenings, we would go over to Zach's Bay, getting as close as we could to the Marine Theater. We could see the boat pull out with Guy Lombardo on board, heading for the show.

Guy Lombardo also had a seafood restaurant in Freeport, called the East Point House.

[KennyC]

I am originally from Freeport, where Guy did indeed have a house.
It was on Grove Street, which since has become "Guy Lombardo Blvd".
You could see his famous custom wooden boat in the boathouse in his backyard while cruising down the canal.

[2BNTV]

I remember Guy Lombardo and his "Auld Lange Syne" for years when I was younger. I don't ever remember my mother and father listening to him and I don't remember him from television. But then. I too suffer from CRS.

Being a big fan of TCM movies, you will hear a lot of "Auld lange Syne" in the thirties and early forties movies. It must have been very a popular song.

I still see the Lawrence Welk show being run fiom time to time. I remember growing up and my uncle used to watch it and I thought, "this show is for squares". Now, I am a square as I enjoy it. :smiley: