Performers From ‘50s, ‘60s to Revive 30 Years of Rock ‘n’ Roll Golden Oldies

Sunday night will be 30 years exactly from the day Mickey Mantle was elected MVP by the National Sports Writers Assn. It will be the 30th anniversary of the day France rejected Morocco’s and Tunisia’s peace treaty offers in the French-African dispute. It will mark 30 years since Teresa Brewer hit the No. 1 spot on the Billboard charts with a remake of Sam Cooke’s “You Send Me.”

But the 30th anniversary of rock ‘n’ roll?

Elvis Presley’s first hit record was recorded in 1956. Chuck Berry’s first, a year before that. Still, when the Celebrity Theatre in Anaheim presents Otis Day and the Knights (who performed “Shout” in the movie “Animal House”), Lesley Gore (“It’s My Party and I’ll Cry if I Want to,” 1963), Dodie Stevens (“Pink Shoe Laces,” 1959) and the Coasters (“Yakety Yak” 1958; “Poison Ivy,” 1959) among others on Sunday, “The 30th Anniversary of Rock ‘n’ Roll” is what they’ll be calling the show.

You know why? Because, to quote the show’s co-promoter, singer Donnie Brooks (“Mission Bell,” 1960), Sunday is “the 30th anniversary of the first time I performed with Richie Valens, at the El Monte Stadium near San Diego.”

These days, Brooks (who will be emceeing Sunday night) and his partner, Ron Kurtz, promote oldies shows at all sorts of places, from city parks to clubs like the Celebrity. They put on shows as part of policemen’s balls and beauty contests. This weekend, in fact, they’ll be working a Miss Tall America convention for women 6-feet-2 and over. “Most weekends,” Brooks said, “I’m running about three or four shows a night.”

Supply meets demand: Brooks said there is no dearth of former pop stars from whom he can choose. He said he has worked with the Beach Boys and with obscure veterans of one-hit-wonder bands. Iron Butterfly, Steppenwolf, 3 Dog Night, the Rivingtons (“Papa Ooom Mow Mow,” 1962) Mitch Ryder (“Devil With the Blue Dress On,” 1966), Bobby Day (“Rockin’ Robin,” 1958, and star of a recent Del Taco commercial)--all are on Brooks’ roster, he said.

So is Mike Pinero, an original member of the Blues Image (“Ride Captain Ride” 1970) and former touring guitarist with Ted Nugent. Night after night, it was Pinero who “lost” staged guitar-duels with the Nuge and was carried off screaming.

“They’re all friends of mine,” Brooks said, “and I get them work. I know who’s a drunk, and who’s not. . . . I know how to talk to ‘em if they are. They look at me as just another entertainer who happens to know how to get them gigs.”

Sunday’s show, he said, will consist of a series of tributes to various types of rock music, beginning with ‘50s rock and moving on to include the California sound, the Motown sound, etc. Dodie Stevens, for example, will perform a tribute to Jackie Wilson (“It’s always good to have girls in your show,” Brooks said). Each artist will sing one or two of his or her own songs as well. Otis Day will close the show with the entire ensemble singing “Shout.”

“The show moves fast,” Brooks said. “It’s the shotgun effect. Even if you don’t like everything in it, there will be at least one act you like.”

Brooks and Kurtz want to take the show on the road in February with a few more acts. “It’s a question of budget,” Brooks said. “At the Celebrity, it’s basically low budget. We’re going to lose two grand on it, and I couldn’t be doing it if I wasn’t calling in a lot of favors from people because they’re friends of mine.”

So why do it? “It’s pretty grueling work, promoting these shows,” he admitted. “It’d be easier for me just to be an entertainer than to do all this. But as I tell my friends, I’m trying to keep us all in business. People look to me to help them earn money for Christmas presents. And they’d rather be playing Bali’s in an oldies show, and stay in a nice room, then have to play some beer bar in the Valley.

“It’s more than just the money, it’s the class of people you’re playing to, you know?”

“The 30th Anniversary of Rock and Roll” will be presented Sunday night at 7:30 at the Celebrity Theatre, 201 E. Broadway, Anaheim. Tickets: $15.75. Information: (714) 999-9536.