AprilEdition

Buddy, Bopper & Richie
By: Sam Wagmeister / People & Places
Three high energy singers realized every
performer’s fears when they burst onto the
South Point stage to a nearly empty showroom
the last days of 2020’s winter. Fortunately for
Ray Anthony, John Mueller and Linwood Sasser,
the blinding stage lights prevented them from
spotting the sparsely populated room.
The hollow sound of barely 50% capacity
reverberated with an echoing applause. The
first sign of COVID fear had begun sweeping the
country.
Just hours later, staff ushered guests from the
popular local’s casino, locking the doors to the public for the next three
months. “We had gigs coming up,” Sasser recalled, “but they started
getting cancelled.”
The expected hiccup in their performance schedule lasted 18
grueling months.
Anthony reflected on that closing night. “Rumblings were going on.
Are we going on stage or not? If I’m not working, I’m not paying the
bills.”
For Anthony, Mueller and Sasser who perform as Ritchie Valens,
(L-R) Ray Anthony, John Mueller, Linwood
Sasser. Photo credit: Tom Apathy Photography.
Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper respectively, their first concerns were
getting home. Fortunately, state lines had not been closed. With venues
forced to shutter, Anthony retreated to Missouri; Mueller and Sasser
headed to California to await their return to their home on the stage.
The trio triumphantly returned to South
Point last October and any memory of COVID
mandated ambient music was blown out of the
water when Sasser’s Big Bopper exploded onto
the stage and rocked the house with the 1959
hit “White Lightning.” Their tribute to the three
legends who perished together in a 1959 plane
crash returns to the South Point April 22-24.
Sasser, who had weathered the threat of
several California wildfires and recurring power
shutdowns, packed up and headed back home, relocating to Florida
where he had appeared as Oliver Hardy, “Joliet” Jake Blues and WC
Fields at local theme parks and events. Sasser originally auditioned for
the Dance Party in 2013.
“You show up with a crewcut and a leopard jacket and you pretty
much had it made.” He replaced Jay Richardson in the show, the son
of the Big Bopper.
Anthony, a Las Vegas veteran of 15 years in Legends in Concert,
credits the group’s fans for helping him keep his spirits upbeat. One fan
drove over 1,000 miles to deliver a $1,000 check as a birthday gift. “It
really touched me to know that people cared,” Anthony shared.
The group’s founder, Mueller, who performs as Buddy Holly, headed
back to his studio and his musical roots. “I always go back to 50s and
60s music. That’s what’s in my soul.”
The audiences have returned in the poodle skirts, Marlboros rolled
up in the t-shirt sleeves and they’re ready to rock to Chantilly Lace, Oh
Donna, and Peggy Sue.
“We see people smile when they leave. We know we’ve done our job,”
said Sasser. Reflecting on the downtime, he said, “We got a taste of
retirement, and we didn’t like it.
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April 2022