In 1987, we saw the movie La Bamba on the big screen and spent the next week in tears. We even missed days of school. It was just so sad, even the Bob subplot—poor misunderstood drunk Bob! Anyway, it was traumatizing, and as you all know the movie ended when Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, as well as pilot Roger Peterson, die in a plane crash in 1959. That day famously became known as the Day The Music Died, and it happened 53 years ago today, on February 3rd. Why not visit P.J. Clarke's to pay homage tonight?

The crash took place in Iowa, and there's some somewhat disturbing footage of the scene that day on YouTube. But we recommend watching this rare footage of Buddy Holly playing American Bandstand in New York City, in 1958 (Holly was living in New York for the years before his death, and the WSJ recently had a story about his optometrist here):

That same year, a year prior to the crash, Valens played at Brooklyn's Paramount Theater, and you can take a look back at those early concert days in NYC right here.

And here's the Big Bopper, and some footage of Valens, as well: