Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

New Year’s Eve was the biggest payday of the year for bands and musicians back in the day. Maybe now still. My bandmates and I brushed off our tuxedos and brushed up on Auld Lang Syne.

My favorite gigs were at The Embassy Lounge formerly on Somerville Ave. I also remember a New Year’s Eve probably around 1988 or so at the Dilboy Post in Davis Square. We got to take home a ton of leftover Chinese food. I recall lugging a gallon jug of duck sauce! This year I performed but it was scaled back a bit.

In the … olden days, us Somerville revelers had quite a choice of bars, lounges, restaurants and clubs to choose from. Many places offered package deals that included food and noisemakers. We would also “Bar-Hop” and pop in on as many local joints as possible, knowing people at every place. Some of the places we enjoyed on New Year’s Eve’s past in Somerville and vicinity were:

Post 388, Stephen James House, The Dockside, O’Henry’s, Virgies, Anthony’s, Faces, The Channel, The Embassy Lounge, Katy’s, Johnny D’s, Jumbo’s, Good Times, Cabot Farms, Khoury’s, The Railside, Medford Sons of Italy, Club 3, BoBo’s, The Greek Church on Central St, Sherlock Holmes Pub, The Logan Post, The Surrey Room, The Woodbridge Inn, The Blarney Stone, The Bull Pen, The Continental On Somerville Ave, Frascati’s, Studleys, The Pine Tree, Pal Joey’s, Pat Connollys, The Highland Cafe, The Venice, The Cadillac, The Willow, The Coronet, Barnaby’s, Sammy’s Patio, Choices, Jaspers, The Somerville City Club, The Moose Club, Dapper Dan’s, The Elks, Deco’s, The Palace, Aku-Aku, The Dante Club, and The Pointer Post. I’m sure there were lots more too. Yikes! Somerville sure had a lot of gin mills back then. Green Cab sure was busy!

And then there were the New Year’s Eve’s with the steady girlfriend or the wife and kids. We partied a bit tamer than in our crazy years. We calmed down and usually stayed inside or had a safe party at someone’s house.

I went to Boston’s First Night festivities once, and that was enough. I froze my butt off. If you’ve seen one ice sculpture you’ve seen them all. I don’t like inebriated crowds either. Same reason I hate going to a game at Gillette. TMD. Too Many Drunks. My first First Night was my last First Night. I’d much rather welcome the New Year in the warmth and comfort of home, in front of my big TV watching a Three Stooges marathon, and the Dick Clark show. Sometimes we would rent a hotel room on New Year’s Eve. The bathtub served as the cooler!

I spent this past New Year’s Eve with the wonderful staff and guests at The Little Sisters of the Poor. The ball dropped at 7:00 p.m. and I was in my jammies by 8:00 p.m. safe and sound and eating Peking Raviolis. Yes, I’m quite the party animal.

The fun we had at those old clubs on New Year’s Eve, with our big hair, wide collars and disco balls makes us smile. Seems like a hundred years ago.

The closest I got to one of those fun filled zany New Year’s Eves at my beloved Embassy Lounge was ordering from China Delight on Somerville Ave. Why? Because China Delight is in the same exact spot that The Embassy Lounge was at.

Here’s hoping 2019 brings us good health and peace of mind. New Year’s resolution? I’m going to evict all the people from my head who are renting free space up there.