Loving Live Music, from Central Park to Today

The first year that Dr. Pepper sponsored the Central Park music series was 1977.

My first live “pop music” concert was the Manhattan Transfer in 1977. Not exactly Van Halen with Journey as an opening act, but it unlocked the door to attend thousands of subsequent shows featuring all genres.

In my defense, the event fell at the end of a day trip as part of a “teen tour” from New Jersey into New York City. Balcony seats were $2, so I can’t blame the organizers for grafting it onto that Wednesday’s outing.

After two not-so-thrilling sleepaway camp experiences, I vetoed going back to either location. Not wanting me to rot on the couch watching television, my mother handed me a brochure for summer programs at New Jersey’s Highland Park YMHA (sadly, defunct). I selected a two-week series of bus adventures with other blasé suburban Jewish teens, followed by a one-week trek into Montreal, where the group stayed at a youth hostel.

Starting in 1967, Schaefer Beer hosted a concert series in Central Park’s Wollman Rink, a venue that fit 6,000–7,000 audience members. Dr. Pepper took over sponsorship from 1977–1980, before moving shows to a pier on the West Side.

The concert, held in Wollman Rink, left such an indelible impression that I have no other memory of the rest of that day, nor any of the surrounding two-week period of travel. I have no idea why the show didn’t completely…