The Beach Boys And Chicago To Appear At Jordan Center

9-15-97
University Park, Pa. -- The Beach Boys, and Chicago will appear at Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center on Wednesday, Oct. 29, at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets go on sale Saturday, Sept. 20, at 8 a.m. and can be purchased at the Bryce Jordan Center, Eisenhower Auditorium, selected Uni-Mart ticket outlets, Commonwealth Campus ticket outlets, or by calling (814) 865-5555 locally, or toll-free at 1-800-863-3336. Tickets are $37.75, $28.75 and $25.25 for reserved seating.

One of the most successful and important American bands of the rock music era, the Beach Boys formed in Hawthorne, Calif. in 1961, around three Wilson brothers: Brian, Dennis and Carl, joined by cousin Mike Love and Al Jardine. From the start, the focus of the group's music was Brian, who combined a fascination with vocal harmony, in the Four Freshman mode, with a love of Chuck Berry-derived rock and roll.

Add middle-class teenage life in southern California -- surfing, cars and girls -- and the result was widespread popular success with eight straight gold albums and the Beatles as their only music rivals. The resurgence of the group's popularity in the seventies, eighties and nineties is an indicator of the timelessness of their music.

Chicago was the first rock and roll band to successfully integrate a horn section, demonstrating a versatility of music that ranged from big ballads to gritty funk and psychedelic guitar. Chicago was one of the most popular American groups of the '70s, collaborating with the Beach Boys on the hit "Wishing You Were Here."

By the second half of the decade, they were best known for ballads such as "If You Leave Me Now," "Just You 'N' Me" and "Baby What A Big Surprise." Their success has continued in the eighties and nineties with hits like "Hard To Say I'm Sorry," "Hard Habit To Break" and "Will You Still Love Me."

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Contact: Bernie Punt (814) 863-5503 (phone) (814) 863-5705 (fax) http://www.bjc.psu.edu