Introduction: History of the Surf Ballroom and 1959 Winter Dance Party Tour

Built in 1948, the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake (Iowa, United States) was a premiere national venue during the height of the swing era. Designed in the Streamline Moderne style with a South Seas-inspired interior, it featured a cloud machine that simulated a starry night sky above the stage and dance floor. It had a beach club atmosphere purpose-built for the dance culture of the time, and regularly featured big-band greats such as Count Basie, Duke Ellington, the Dorsey Brothers, Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman and Lawrence Welk. The Surf Ballroom's architecture represented a nationwide trend among ballrooms constructed in the 1930s and 1940s: ‘The stainless steel, glass and curving lines of the Moderne reflected the prevailing music culture of “the swing” and was a stylistic reaction against the more intimate cabarets and nightclubs of the 1920s’ (McDowell 2011).

It has been claimed that during the 1950s there were over 200 ballrooms operating in Iowa, more per capita than any other state in the nation (Iowa Rock ‘n’ Roll Music Association n.d.). The Surf Ballroom was one of the first to feature rock and roll acts, with appearances by Little Richard, the Everly Brothers, Roy Orbison and Ricky Nelson. On 2 February 1959, the Surf Ballroom hosted General Artist Corporation's Winter Dance Party tour, featuring some of rock and roll's brightest stars: headliners Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, J. P. Richardson (‘The Big Bopper’) and Dion and the Belmonts. Though their tour bus arrived an hour-and-a-half late, it did not deter the reported 1,100 teenagers who filled the ballroom. Following two successful sold-out shows, Holly, Valens and Richardson tragically lost their lives in a plane crash (along with pilot Roger Petersen) shortly after takeoff from nearby Mason City Municipal Airport.

In commemoration, the Surf Ballroom holds the annual Winter Dance Party. The event was born of an on-air jest in 1979 by Darryl Hensley, a Clear Lake radio personality known as ‘The Mad Hatter’. Hensley announced to his listeners that Buddy Holly had walked into the studio through a time warp, and Hensley then pretended to have a conversation with the late rock and roll pioneer.