Anyone remember "Bowzer" from "Sha Na Na"?
For those that don't (or need a little reminder) he was the tall guy all in black with a deep voice that acted tough & opened his mouth REALLY wide!
Starting to ring a bell? Well,anyway,he left SNN in 1983 & started a group called "Bowzer & The Stingrays" in 1988 (or thereabouts) Since then he's been putting on oldies concerts all over the place! I first saw him in concert w/the Stingrays in 2003 down here in Florida. (A friend of mine had played bass guitar for the group & had given me a BUNCH of stuff for Bowzer to autograph. Unfortunately,due to family obligations,my friend had to quit the band in 1990 .)
So since then I've gone to almost ALL of Bowzer's concerts! Did you know that Bowzer studied classical piano at the Juilliard School of Music when he was 12? He plays classical piano VERY well! (Don't let that greaser exterior fool you! 
)
Last month my mom her boyfriend & I went on a cruise where a bunch of oldies groups would be performing. (Bowzer & The Stingrays included) The ship we were on was called The Oasis Of The Seas & it was HUGE!! On one floor was a miniature version of Manhattan NY's Central Park.So the 3rd morning we're on the ship,my mom,her boyfriend & I are eating breakfast& my mom looks over & says to me,"Look...there's Bowzer." I look,& sure enough,it's Mr. Bassman himself! Ungreased,no black outfit,but it's definitely HIM! So I go over & say hi. I get a hug & a "How are you?" (He knows me by name now since I've been to a lot of his concerts) So I start telling him about this song that he wrote and sang while he was with Sha Na Na. It's called "Glasses" It's BEAUTIFUL & all on piano with him singing. It's calmed headaches when nothing else has. I tell him all this. He's SO touched! I get ANOTHER hug & a "Thank you!" THEN he asks where I'm sitting. I motion to where my mom & her boyfriend are.He tells me he'll come sit with us!!! OMG Fellow Aunties!! I was SO thrilled!! So Bowzer sat & talked with us for OVER AN HOUR!! Talk about a dream come true!
I have a couple of pictures of him & me on Facebook. (Unfortunately they're not of the day where he had breakfast with us. DARN!) There's one pic of me hugging him & SO many of my friends have commented how happy I look!
I went to all of his concerts on the ship. There was a dance contest,but I have bad balance 
Which stunk because the winner got to dance w/Bowzer. Oh well. A couple of nights before the cruise ended I wrote a note to him thanking him for being so sweet to me.(I ran into him practically EVERYWHERE!) & I gave the note to him when I was taking a pic w/him posing. That night was the final dance.I went to it & danced w/one of the Stingrays(one of the members of Bowzer's group. I asked HIM.Gutsy,ain't I?LOL!) So after the dance,Bowzer thanked me for the note & KISSED me on the top of the head!! I said (joking)"I'll never wash my hair again!" So Bowzer kissed my cheek and said"Bet you'll never wash your cheek either huh?" Everyone..if I could float,do flips or do cartwheels I would have done them BACK to my room!!
Love,
Kathy (STILL Starstruck!LOL! He's old enough to be my father.But that was STILL very sweet of Bowzer!)