Those of us possessed of mature years can remember the "greasers" of our high school days, with their surly attitude, black leather jacket and longish, greasy hair. That persona brought a measure of celebrity to Jon Bauman, who himself was a high school boy in the Queens section of New York City. Bauman went on to earn a degree with honors from Columbia University.
His celebrity-producing role was as the character Bowser with the retro rock and roll vocal group Sha Na Na.
Bauman was a terrific bass with that group, although he was not one of its original members. The entire group dressed and acted like 1950s greasers or as gold lame-clad 1050s rockers, and Bowzer was its standout member.
He would affix the viewer with an attitude-dripping look, run a comb through his oily hair, and flex a skinny bicep as he sang. His mouth could open wide enough to accommodate an entire chocolate cake at one bite, and his outfit varied but was invariably as tacky as can be imagined. The group had its own TV show from 1977 to 1981 and also made appearances on other programs. Their usual closing number was "Goodnight Sweetheart, Goodnight," a song that had ended many a high school dance in the '50s.
Bauman has continued to make appearances as Bowzer and the Stingrays and has done some producing of early rock and roll music.
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