Sha Na Na was a nostalgia act that, from 1977-1982, also had a very entertaining syndicated TV variety show.Recently, I happened to catch "Bowzer" (real name Jon Bauman, above) on a Time-Life infomercial currently airing on cable. He's a little stockier now - and looks kind of like a fat version of Angelo Cataldi. It reminded me of how much I enjoyed the band back in it's TV heyday.
I was always blown away by Sha Na Na's version of "Summertime", which you can see here. The performance is marred only by late seventies syndication's insistence on inserting fake applause after each and every guitar solo, and the undeniable fact that it's lip-synched.
Other than that, it's pretty great, no?
