New Year’s Eve, 1979

So, the fall of 1979 had been a very busy one for Susie and I, mainly because it was on the afternoon of September 29th, 1979, at the C.W. Post Interfaith Chapel that we became husband and wife. Following a great reception, attended by our WABC and WPLJ friends, it was off on a week’s honeymoon cruise to Bermuda, and then a week’s car trip honeymoon to Niagara Falls. That was followed up by our first Thanksgiving and

Susie made the hats!

Christmas as husband and wife, and then it was time for our first New Year’s Eve of our married life! We knew it had to be special, and it was!l

So, what did we do? Well, we attended a party with some of our closest friends that was held in conjunction with a nationally broadcast event. It

George Thomas Musgrave III

was held in a very private and intimate setting on the 8th floor of a Manhattan skyscraper that just

happened to have a huge ABC logo on top of it. The truth…I had to work, as did a number of my other ABC friends, and we decided to have a bang-up holiday party on the 8th Floor of the ABC building, while on WABC, Howard Hoffman counted down the top 100 hits of 1979!! Significant others attended, as did some

Jimmy McGuire on the board in 8A

of our ABC friends who weren’t even scheduled to work that night! We had a great time with great people, and didn’t leave till we saw the throng of folks who had endured the ball drop in Times’ Square go down 53rd Street and the ABC Building.

Howard Hoffman, counting em down!

There was food, booze, paper hats, noise makers, and we were having such a good time, that when Howard’s shift ended at 10PM and we weren’t at #1 yet, he wouldn’t let the next DJ take over, and we continued the countdown. The next DJ (names will be withheld to protect the guilty) sat down and partied with us, and if

WPLJ Chief Engineer Bob Deitch joined up…always good to drink on the job with your boss!

the truth be told, was rather shit faced by the time he finally got on the air. We all felt guilty about that, but luckily nothing came of his slightly inebriated air shift, and we all breathed a sigh of relief.

So sit back now, and join us in Studio 8A of the ABC

WPLJ’s Tony Pigg, George Berger and WABC Newsman Bob Capers were all part of our night!

Building at 1330 Avenue of the Americas, as 36 years ago Susie and I celebrated out first New Year’s Eve as husband and wife, while Howard Hoffman counts down the top 100 of 1979, brought to you by Casablanca Records and Filmworks!

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

PART 4