December 31, 1929: Guy Lombardo Becomes "Mr. New Year's Eve"

December 31, 1929: Guy Lombardo, conducts his orchestra, the Royal Canadians, in performing Robert Burns' "Auld Lang Syne" on New Year's Eve for the 1st time, at the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown Manhattan.

He would do so 48 times, first on radio, then from 1956 onward on television, on CBS; first at the Roosevelt, and then from 1960 onward 4 blocks away, at the Waldorf Astoria.

Born on Gaetano Alberto Lombardo on June 19, 1902 in London, Ontario, Canada, he became a violin virtuoso, and formed the Royal Canadians in 1924, with his brothers Carmen, Lebert and Victor, and other musicians from London. They billed themselves as creating "the sweetest music this side of Heaven." The Lombardos are believed to have sold over 100 million records during their lifetimes, many featuring the band's lead singer from 1940 onward, Kenny Gardner, who married the Lombardo brothers' sister, Elaine. Lilibeth Glenn, whom Guy married in 1926, also sang with the band.

The band specialized in music that would already have been considered "oldies" at the time, late 19th Century and early 20th Century popular songs. While they did eventually embrace what they called "sweet jazz," and "show tunes" of the 1930s and '40s, they never adapted rock and roll songs to their style and added them to their repertoire.

Guy died on November 5, 1977, in Houston, on the road with his band. By this point, Dick Clark had already been doing his New Year's Rockin' Eve on ABC for 6 years, and he took over the role of "Mr. New Year's Eve" – not that my grandmother, who loved the kind of music that was already old hat to both her and Lombardo, would ever hear of anyone but Lombardo having that role. Like many others in her generation, she said, "It's just not New Year's Eve without Guy Lombardo."

Carmen Lombardo had already died in 1971. Lilibeth died in 1982, Lebert in 1993, Victor in 1994, Elaine in 1999, and Kenny Gardner in 2002.

Still, when the ball drops in Times Square, it’s the Royal Canadians' version of "Auld Lang Syne" that plays – followed by Frank Sinatra's version of "Theme from New York, New York," Louis Armstrong's version of "What a Wonderful World," Ray Charles' version of "America the Beautiful," and Israel Kamakawiwoʻole's version of "Over the Rainbow."

The Roosevelt Hotel is at 45 East 45th Street, between Madison and Park Avenues. The Waldorf is at 301 Park Avenue, between 49th and 50th Streets.

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December 31, 1929 was a Tuesday. Baseball was out of season. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. Football season was over, except for 2 games the next day, New Year's Day, January 1, 1930. The University of Southern California beat the University of Pittsburgh, in the Rose Bowl, in the stadium of the same name, in the Los Angeles suburb of Pasadena, California: USC 47, Pitt 14. And, in a game that wasn't officially called a bowl game, Washington State beat Hawaii, 28-7 at Honolulu Stadium.

One game was played in the NHL: The New York Rangers and the Ottawa Senators played to a 1-1 tie at the building that would eventually be known as "the old Madison Square Garden," though it was then just 4 years old.