The Eastern New Mexico News - Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities

Wendel Sloan

During the Clovis Music Festival, I saw Bryan Hyland, 66, The Coasters (formed in the 1950s) and Bobby Vee, 67.

When younger, I wondered why aging stars kept performing after the white-hot spotlight had cooled. Why did those hitless-for-decades wonders continue taking the stage before dwindling crowds (although 2,000-plus that night was impressive)?

Hyland’s hits included “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini,” “Sealed with a Kiss,” “The Joker Went Wild” and “Gypsy Woman.”

Coasters’ hits included “Searchin’,” “Charlie Brown,” “Yakety Yak” and “Poison Ivy.”

Headliner Vee’s ton of hits included “Devil or Angel,” “Rubber Ball,” “The Night Has a Thousand Eyes” and “Come Back When You Grow Up.”

After seeing them, I have changed my tune about these phantom-like rockers chugging on.

Most of us tone-deaf, 8-to-5 hirelings can only imagine the life of an “oldies act.” What fun it must be traveling the world performing for an hour or two a few nights a week to loyal fans, with equally gray or disappearing hair, cheering from the first notes of your long-ago hits.

Not only do the memory-makers seem to be having a blast — Hyland’s wife and son played with him and two of Vee’s sons played with him — it must be lucrative.

What is my point? I am green with envy.