New Year’s Eve should be fun.

Over-the-top, campy fun. Maybe even the kind of fun that is so fun, it’s embarrassing.

So really, Bayside Bowl has picked the perfect way to usher in the new year: It’s hosting a “Love Boat”-themed New Year’s Eve party, “Yacht Rock in the New Year,” with the ’80s cover band The Awesome. People are encouraged to come dressed in their finest cruise ship attire, maybe even as one of the lovable characters on the hit TV show “The Love Boat.”

Who wouldn’t want to command partygoers’ respect as the honorable Capt. Merrill Stubing, or stroll the dance floor dressed as notorious ladies man and ship’s doctor Adam Bricker? And there’s got to be some gals out there who have the take-charge attitude and perky charm of cruise director Julie McCoy.

“The Love Boat” ran on ABC from 1977 to 1986, and was a marshmallow puff of entertainment with a creamy chocolate center — at least, compared to most of the trash-talking reality shows that clutter the airwaves today. So it’s no wonder that a generation or two of people associate “The Love Boat” with frivolous fun.

The same goes for much of the pop music of the 1980s. And The Awesome is the right band to deliver it. They take it very seriously, too.

“That’s all we do: Strictly ’80s music, trying to get as close to the originals as possible, in terms of the original synthesizer sound, the bass tone, all of it,” said Stu Mahan, bass player and singer for the Portland-based band. “It’s just danceable, fun music. It’s party music, really.”

The Awesome’s song list includes hits by Duran Duran, Talking Heads, Tears for Fears — even Madonna and Whitney Houston. (They’ve got both female and male singers.)

Bayside Bowl is a bowling alley — and a restaurant, and a music venue with a sizable stage area and dance floor. So like the Love Boat itself, there will be enough diverse activities to make any would-be cruise director happy. It promises something for everyone, you might say.

Charlie Mitchell, co-owner and general manager of Bayside Bowl, says the place decided to host a “Love Boat” party even before The Awesome was booked to play. There’s a long ramp entrance to the place, and Mitchell figured it would make people feel like they’re coming up the gangplank of a ship.

There will be seafood specials from Bayside Bowl’s restaurant, a costume contest, and bowling for $20.11 an hour. (Get it? 20/11?) The regular price is $30 an hour.

At midnight, there will be a complimentary Champagne toast and a bowling-ball drop to ring in the new year.

So set a course for adventure, your mind on a new romance. Let it flow, and it will flow back to you.

Staff Writer Ray Routhier can be contacted at 791-6454 or at:

rrouthier@pressherald.com

 

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