well, not the LAST last Blue Note, the last Blue Note of 2009, the last Blue Note as an employee of the University of Northern Iowa, the last Blue Note as a bachelor and probably the last Blue Note that I'll be making a comment about the sign outside of Vickie's Place (Victoria's Secret). OK, I'm not givin' up Vickie's Place, but all the rest of those "lasts" are true! This one could really start to ramble, so let's get to the good stuff first...
Ticket sales for the BIG New Year's Eve/Wedding party have really started to pick up (we're over the 225 mark now) and as of Monday, there were only 7 rooms left in the Hilton and 40 rooms still available in the Extended Stay hotel across the parking lot. We've still got a chance at a sell out (400) which would be just about the best wedding present we could get. A spectacular party, with music from all over the state, great food buffet open for hours, champagne toast at midnight, followed by a marriage ceremony in front of 400 of our best friends, The Blue Band playing our first dance, and (the best of all) wedding CAKE after the ceremony! This is gonna be the party of a lifetime! And get this, there will be TWO Mr. & Mrs. Bob Dorr there! My friend from Colorado Springs, Bob Dorr, (we met when he did a Google search of "Bob Dorr" and saw an entry for "Bob Dorr & The Blue Band" playing in Denver and Keystone on our annual trip to the high country, so he drove to the club and walked up to me and said, "Hi, I'm Bob Dorr!") Anyway, Bob Dorr and his wife Carol (not to be confused with my soon to be wife Carolyn!) (this is starting to get weird, isn't it?) are making the trip all the way from Colorado Springs so that Bob Dorr can witness Bob Dorr getting married! But wait, this gets weirder. It's a Blue Moon (2nd full moon in a month) and we're getting married at 10 minutes and 10 seconds after midnight on the first day of 2010, which in Greenwich Time, is 00:10:10, 01/01/10. You've gotta be there for that numerology synchronicity! The only ticket outlet is the Hilton Garden Hotel, come on out tonight (Wednesday, 12/30, the Eve of New Year's Eve) and catch our annual pre-party with 2 Bobs and (this year) A Bunky. That's a free show, 9-midnight in the ballroom that will host the Blue Year party. Our funny friend Pink Stuff says she's got some "roast" material to try out before she does her comedy on NYE, so stop out, get a couple tickets to the Blue Year show, have a few laughs and catch some cool tunes. As always, the drummer is playing for tips! More info on this two day extravaganza, a complete schedule of the 3 stages, and a link to hotel info: www.theblueband.com/newyear.htm
I have figured out a way to DJ my own wedding reception! Well, kind of. This week's Backtracks show on Iowa Public Radio (my first as an "independent radio producer") is a collection of Love, Romance, Marriage, and Wedding songs. It took me a long time to come up with enough songs to cover the whole 3 hours, but it turned out great (not near as wimpy as I had feared) (except for Dinah Shore and that insidious melody "Love & Marriage, Love & Marriage, Go together like a horse and carriage") (hey, it's more campy than wimpy) It airs this Saturday (1/2), 7-10pm, find the frequency in your area or listen anywhere on the planet at www.iowapublicradio.org
In my last two days before my "retirement" from UNI, here's a quick public acknowledgment of how wonderful the University of Northern Iowa has been to me and how it has had a major hand in any successes that I have experienced in the last 40 years of my life. As a student, starting in 1970, I got a great education for a very reasonable price. As a sophomore, UNI allowed me to be part of the management team at the student radio station (KYTC) As a junior, UNI hired me to be an announcer on their public radio station (KHKE/KUNI). Before I graduated, I was working full-time at that radio station, becoming the Music Director after I graduated. For some reason, I thought I needed to play in a road band, so I left the University, only to come back begging for a job after starving as a road musician for 19 months. UNI took me back. And for the last 30 years has allowed me the freedom of artistic expression on their radio station that very few human beings EVER get to experience. And now UNI is giving me the opportunity to be worry free of health care coverage for the next 5 years! (no matter where you stand on Health Care changes, you have to admit that Health Care is the indentured servitude of the 21st century) I cannot thank UNI enough for the lifetime of opportunities I have gotten from that institution. It's scary leaving the security of knowing that I work for such a fabulous place. Thank you UNI students, faculty, staff, and management for such an exhilarating and encouraging ride...
After 57 very independent years (let's face it, my entire LIFE has been one very long bachelor party!) it's also a little scary getting married. Probably more scary for my bride! I am fortunate to be starting this new phase of my life with someone who has loved me thru the thick and thin of 22 years of "courtship" and STILL wants to marry me! As I become more and more like the Ozzie Osbourne of local blues players, I'm lucky to have someone like Carolyn voluntarily help look after me! If the marriage lasts as long as the courtship, I'm sure it will be "til death do us part"!...
Which finally brings me to Vickie's Place. The weather has been so challenging the last few weeks that the nightly walk has been four fast paced laps around College Square Mall. That's four times past Victoria's Secret. This week it's "buy one bra, get one half off" (well, it says 50% off , but that's half, isn't it?) So I was wondering if a half off bra is two breasts almost uncovered or one breast totally uncovered and the other in the bra cup? My bride kind of harrumphed when I posed that question, but rumor has it that her wedding gown reveals some cleavage and I've got know this stuff! Which brings me to an age old Blue Band rule: FOLLOW THE CLEAVAGE!!...
Next week, (1/8) our honeymoon will consist of a tour of greater downtown Sparkle City USA when the Blue Band does our monthly Friday night "geezer gig", 6-9p at The Hub (4th and Main, Cedar Falls) and a Saturday night (1/9) dinner in the original Capitol City of Iowa, Iowa City, when The Blue Band plays The Mill. Hopefully we can make this into a triumphant celebration of the Hawkeyes winning the Orange Bowl 4 days prior to our show!...
It's 4:45 in the morning the day before I'm supposed to produce a 7 act, 3 stage, New Year's Eve extravaganza, retire from a job I've been doing 30+ years and get married. What, me worry? All I've got to do now is FOLLOW THE CLEAVAGE! (one cup or two?) See yas on the New Blue Highway, rub yer washboard to the tune of I Knew The Bride When She Used To Rock 'n' Roll, get a ticket to the big show before they sell out, as we'd love to have you witness our wedding (will the REAL Bob Dorr please stand up?!) and always remember we love you. Happy BLUE Year! Bob Dorr & The Blue Band
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