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Lots of attention has been paid this week to the 40-year-anniversary of the plane crash that took the lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens; and the Big Bopper, Jape Richardson. The three last performed at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa; the plane went down in a snowstorm en route to Moorhead, where the next show was scheduled. Tomorrow the Surf will host a tribute concert to Holly, Valens, and Richardson. Among the performers: Bobby Vee, who as a teenager helped fill in at the Moorhead concert, and who found his career that night.

It's such fantasy for so many, it's hard to believe it can happen. But it did. Bob Velline was 15 when he stepped into the lights that night in Moorhead; a schoolboy who'd gone home for lunch and heard about the plane crash on the radio.

Vee: You'd think the show would've been canceled but, you know, there was the tradition of, the show must go on; and the radio station said, "We're looking for some local talent to help us fill in the evening." And one of the guys called the station. No audition, no "what's the name of your band?". He said, "come on down.""

We were the second act on. Waylon Jennings, who was one of the Crickets then, went out and did a little tribute to the fallen stars; and then Charlie Boone turned around to me and said, "What's the name of the band?" We were dumbfounded, we didn't have a name. And I said, "The Shadows". And he turned round and said "Ladies and Gentlemen, here they are, the Shadows."

Blue days, black nights, blue tears that keep falling for you, dear now you're gone.
Blue days, black nights, my heart keeps on calling for you dear you alone.
Memories of you make me sorry I gave you reason to doubt me,
and now you're gone and I'm left here all alone, with blue memories, I think of you.

Vee: I remember very clearly listening to the Lem Hawkins show on the radio in Fargo. And one day he played a song by Elvis Presley called "That's all right Mama". They didn't call it rock-and-roll, I just thought it was really good country music

Vee: My brother would go and he'd come back all pumped about this music: "aw, man, it was great", "well, what'd you do Bill? " "Aw, we did some Elvis songs and some Buddy Holly. " "Bill, you gotta bring me along! " And I was five years younger. "Yeah, okay, just be quiet! " And I got there and what I realized, listening to them play, was that nobody sang. They just played the music. So they'd be playing some Gene Vincent song or something, and nobody sang, so they'd get lost in the music. And I would say, "Bill, it's the bridge, it's (sings): well I wanna wanna lotta lotta lovin', "oh, yeah, thanks! ", and little by little I started singin the songs.

Vee: Because we'd never seen anything like that in the midwest. To have a tour like that, with that many stars in it, traveling through playing rock and roll! In my 15 year-old life that was one of the big events.

Boone: When we heard the news, about the plane crash in Iowa, we were all shocked. We couldn't believe it. And we thought "what about the concert tonight? " And I went on in the afternoon, and I could tell from listener calls that people wanted the concert to go on. So we said "okay, lets put the show on, but we need talent to fill in".

Vee: It was an emotional evening. A knee-jerk, headjerk event. And suddenly the spirit of coming together to get through this thing came down to me. It was our turn, and we had to play.

MPR: What did you play? Vee: You know, I don't remember. I talked to Bill about it years later, and neither of us could remember. We knew we did some Everly Brothers songs, probably Bye Bye Love. Some Little Richard, some Elvis. We only did about a 20 minute set, but there was a fellow in the audience who came up afterward and said: "Good job, guys, you sounded great. If you're ever looking for a job, give me a call. "

Suzie baby, don't you know
that I love you and want you so?
Come back baby, come back home,
Say you love me and never again roam