Cornell Gunter’s Coasters star New Year’s Eve at Telluride’s Opera House

31 Dec Cornell Gunter’s Coasters star New Year’s Eve at Telluride’s Opera House

[click “Play” to hear Susan’s interview with Donald Pinkney]

Cornell Gunter’s Coasters co-star with Marvelettes at Telluride’s Opera House on New Year’s Eve. The evening is a dance party that also includes light fare, a champagne toast at midnight, and party favors. Along the way, expect a few yucks.

Following the British invasion, interest in 1950s music went the way of the Pet Rock. But Cornell Gunter wasn’t going to take it lying down. Why should flower children and their children be deprived of the sounds of groups like the Coasters, all those great story songs, just because of a few guys from across the pond and a poet from Minneapolis named Zimmerman (aka Dylan) shook things up a bit? Cornell Gunter waved his banner high, leading the way to what was soon to become known as “The Rock Revival.” Thanks to the unique approach to 1950s music he pioneered, in short order, Cornell’s Coasters were spending six months of the year headlining in Las Vegas. (The Platters and other 1950s groups followed his lead.)

A thumbnail sketch of the group today: the music of The Coasters seen through the eyes of Salvador Dali. Definitely not your mother’s – or grandmother’s – music.