On a night when Johnny Wild and the Delights were howling, growling and rocking – Abraham Lincoln and The Breakfast Club nearly stole the show.
That’s how it was Wednesday before a raucous and costumed Savannah Center crowd at “Johnny Wild’s Halloween Sock Hop.”
It was cool enough to make the ghost of Wolfman Jack howl with the Delights.
“Let’s all howl at the moon,” lead singer Andy Matchett, aka Johnny Wild, yelled to the crowd at one point.
“Halloween is my favorite holiday and Johnny Wild is my favorite band,” said Villager Janis Cormier. “I like the scary Halloween, not the cute one.”
Maybe that’s why Lou Cormier, Janis’ husband, built a coffin for the couple’s front door.
“I got my wife a coffin for Halloween,” said Lou, beaming with pride. “And we both like rock and roll.”
Johnny Wild was the big treat for this party. Matchett and his creepy Wild Bunch all wore costumes that matched a set-list of hard-rocking, spooky tunes.
The songs included “Love Potion No. 9,” “Bad Moon Rising,” “Great Balls of Fire,” “I Want Candy,” and that old hit by the Zombies, “Time of the Season.”
Matchett and Amanda Warren made an ideal couple as Mr. and Mrs. Frankenstein. Simon Palombi resembled a Werewolf of London on keyboards/guitar. Randy Coole was a cool zombie on drums; while Abraham Couch look mummified on bass. Singer Whitney Abell-Couch as Cleopatra was dressed to kill, and the Invisible Man was blowing a mean sax all night long.
But this night was about more than music – and the suspense boiled down to a costume contest between sets.
Dozens of Villagers dressed in outfits that included bumble bees, lovebugs, Pink Ladies, devils, vampires and even a ghoulish pizza delivery man were romping on the dance floor in front of the Savannah Center Stage.
“We never expected to see so many costumes; this is awesome,” Matchett said.
“I like Johnny Wild’s music. I like to dance and I like to dress up for Halloween,” said Pam Francis, who came as the “victim” to husband Virgil’s ghostly spook.
“This is a lot of fun and the music is great,” he added.
But the big winners were Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln, played by Vic and Mary Cote.
“My beard is white; I dyed it for this contest,” said Vic, a huge Johnny Wild fan. “People say I look like Abraham Lincoln and tonight it paid off.”
Mary Cote collects antiques and searched for the right dress and costume.
“I saw pictures of Mary Todd Lincoln and I wanted it to be authentic,” she said. “It was hard work getting the dress, but it was worth it.”
The runner-up was the family of Villagers Duane and Sherry Ellerbach. They were joined by family members Brad McGrath, Justine McGrath, 5-year-old Evie McGrath and Lisa Higareda – all combined in a family costume called “The Breakfast Club.”
Sherry and Duane were fried eggs, Lisa was French toast and Justine, Brad and little Evie were the cereal known as “snap, crackle, pop.”
“Man, you guys are something else,” Johnny Wild told the family crew.
“We all wanted to do something together,” said Duane Ellerbach, who recently moved to The Villages from Iowa.
“This was fun,” said Evie, who turns 6 this week. “I like Halloween.”
So did everybody else at Savannah Center on this spooky-but-fun night.
Tony Violanti is a veteran journalist and writes for Villages-News.com.
