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OPPrairie.com life & arts
the orland park prairie | May 9, 2019 | 23
The Dancing Noodles celebrate 35th anniversary
Orland Parker is
one of the key
band members
who kept it going
Amanda Del Buono
Freelance Reporter
Not many area musicians
can say they have
played with former Eagles
guitarist Joe Walsh or
were complemented by
the members of The Mamas
and the Papas.
They also probably
cannot say that they have
been playing together for
the past 35 years. But the
members of the Chicago
area’s The Dancing Noodles
can.
The self-described party
band is celebrating its
35th anniversary this year.
The band — which plays
timeless R&B, Motown
and soul music — was
formed in 1984 by a group
of area musicians looking
for a fun project that
would get people off their
feet and dancing.
“We actually played
our first job, specifically,
35 years ago last Saturday,
[April 27],” Dancing
Noodles keyboardist
and Tinley Park resident
Ed Kammerer said. “Everybody
in the band was
a veteran musician from
the Chicago music scene
[or] the Champaign music
scene.”
The Dancing Noodles
eventually came together
via the members’ previous
bands and connections
with area musicians,
as well as local DJs, such
as WLUP’s Roman Sawczak,
who was a founding
member of The Dancing
Noodles.
“At that point, [all] we
wanted to do was to play
music that was danceable,
that was positive,” Kammerer
said. “We didn’t
want to do stuff that was
like broken heart-type
songs or anything like
that. So ... 90 percent of
the music was Motown.
We played Temptations,
Four Tops and Jackson
5, and it caught hold, because
the band was good,
the music was good. People
started coming out a
lot.
“So then, the DJs on
WLUP, who all knew
Roman because Roman
worked on Steve Dahl’s
radio show ... the radio
DJs started talking about
The Dancing Noodles and
coming to see us, and all
of a sudden we’re setting
attendance records at bars
and festivals, even all
around the Southland.”
Through these connections,
Kammerer was
joined by Lemont’s Terry
Canning and Orland
Park’s Brian Sarna, who
remain members of the
band to this day, along
with Kammerer.
“When The Noodles
came along, the idea was
just to have fun with it and
play rock and soul music,
and it took off,” Canning
said.
When Sarna was recruited,
he was excited
to play the songs from
the 1960s, with their own
rock-inspired edge, he
said. It was something no
one else was doing and
a project with which he
could have fun.
“How could I not do
it?” he said. “It was an
easy choice for me.”
Throughout the years,
life sometimes got in the
way, but that didn’t keep
The Dancing Noodles
from playing when they
could, despite holding
full-time jobs and raising
families. The band
has gone through several
iterations, with various
individuals playing in the
wind section and stepping
in to take the place of
those who had to leave for
a time, Kammerer said.
“The longevity came
because, well, life interferes
with everything, and
some of us at some points
would leave the band and
then come back,” Kammerer
said. “Our drummer,
Terry Canning, and
bassist, Brian Sarna,
they’re the ones who kept
it together.”
Canning said the band
went through an evolution,
with more members
at some points, but it always
stayed true to its
R&B, Motown and soul
roots.
Despite the time that
has passed, the music has
remained the same. And
those who see The Dancing
Noodles play still love
it, Sarna said.
“It’s just so much fun,”
Sarna said. “The songs
we do are timeless. It’s
such a fun party band. We
were all trying to be rock
stars back in the day, and
when that failed, it was
like, ‘Hey man, we’ve got
this talent, and let’s just
have some fun.’ That’s really
what the whole thing
was about, and then, all
of a sudden, it’s 35 years,
and I’m like, ‘I probably
wanted to quit 20 years
ago, but the guys are so
good and it’s just so much
fun.’”
He added that the bond
that the musicians formed
on stage also has been key
Please see noodles, 24
Orland Park’s Brian Sarna performs Saturday, May 4, at the Beverly Arts Center with
The Dancing Noodles, who are celebrating their 35th anniversary.
Laurie Fanelli/22nd Century Media