50 years after first show at University of Delaware, George Thorogood returns
Fifty years after George Thorogood and the Destroyers played their first concert together in a dormitory lounge on the University of Delaware's campus, they will return to campus this week and make history at the same time, Delaware Online/The News Journal has learned.
The Brandywine Hundred native will become the first entertainer honored with UD's Medal of Distinction, which will be awarded to him by UD President Dennis Assanis on Friday in Newark, one day before the "Bad to the Bone" singer's sold-out concert at the Freeman Arts Pavilion near Selbyville.
"I thank the University of Delaware for the Medal of Distinction. I’m not sure how distinctive I am, but I accept it in the spirit it is given and am certainly flattered to receive the honor," Thorogood told Delaware Online/The News Journal ahead of Wednesday's announcement of the honor.
Assanis added, “Our community is thrilled that the University of Delaware is where [Thorogood] and his band played their very first concert together. The university has always had a deep commitment to the arts and to our community, so it is very fitting that we helped to honor one of Delaware’s most influential artists for his successful career that was launched right here on our campus."
Thorogood returns to campus Friday afternoon
The Medal of Distinction is UD’s highest non-academic honor, awarded by the university's Board of Trustees. It is conferred to those "who have made significant cultural, humanitarian, scientific or intellectual contributions to society or in their profession."
Thorogood will be the 133rd person to receive the honor since the designation was created in 1979, joining everyone from UD graduates President Joe Biden and former Major League Baseball pitcher and manager Dallas Green to numerous faculty, donors and more.
The ceremony will be held Friday at 3 p.m. at The Green Mansion bar at Hyatt Place (94 E. Main St.) with UD Trustee William Lafferty joining Assanis to confer the medal, open to media only.
Representatives from the Delaware General Assembly and the city of Newark also will attend, presenting tributes to Thorogood recognizing his contributions to music and culture.
Following the medal service, the ceremony will move outside to Main Street for an unveiling of a plaque by city officials at the alley next to the former Stone Balloon Tavern and Concert Hall (115 E. Main St.), where Thorogood and his band played. It will be open to the public.
"Some people get avenues named after them, streets named after them or airports named after them. I’ve got them all beat. I will now have an alley named after me!" Thorogood joked to Delaware Online/The News Journal.
Remembering the first show: Lane Hall in 1973
Before Thorogood and his band sold millions of records and toured the world with their beer-soaked brand of barroom blues, they performed together for the very first time on a small bandstand at Lane Hall next to the Perkins Student Center a half-century ago.
In a promotional video series celebrating the band's five decades, Thorogood and original Destroyer drummer Jeff Simon reminisced about their dorm debut, which paid them $150.
"At that time we weren't really a band; we just jammed a couple of times," said Thorogood, the 74-year-old Brandywine High School alumnus who already had been performing as an acoustic solo act at the time of the UD show.
Simon had a friend who lived at the dorm who had told him about Lane Hall's band nights, offering him the next slot, which was an upcoming Saturday night. When Simon told Thorogood he had booked them a gig, Thorogood told Simon he didn't even own an electric guitar.
Recalled a laughing Simon: "I said, 'You better get one.'"
The band rehearsed once before the show and Simon admitted, "I was scared to death." At first, the crowd was watching with arms folded, giving the band no reaction, Simon said.
"We were like, 'Uh-oh. What's going on here?'" Simon said. "But then it was like somebody flipped a switch and everybody just got out and started dancing."
As Thorogood remembers it, "We kicked butt all over the place. And the next day we talked and said, 'I think we can make a go of this.'"
50th anniversary tour
Thorogood and his band, anchored by original members Simon and Bill Blough (bass), are in the midst of their 50th anniversary tour, postponed last year due to an undisclosed "very serious medical condition" for Thorogood. It required emergency surgery from which he has since recovered.
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Not only is the tour bringing the rockers and their hits ( "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer," "Who Do You Love?," "I Drink Alone") to the Selbyville area this weekend, but they recently opened for John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival fame in Camden, New Jersey, earlier this month.
The tour continues through the end of the summer with shows in the United States and Canada, wrapping up Sept. 4 in Indio, California, two hours from Thorogood's home in Los Angeles.
Who else has received a University of Delaware Medal of Distinction?
1970s
Cairns, Theodore Le Sueur, research chemist, 1979
Parks, Charles, sculptor, 1979
1980s
Woodhouse, John C., retired researcher, 1980
Munroe, John A., professor emeritus, 1980
Leach, John Gilbert, civic leader, 1981
Shirley, John W., provost emeritus, 1982
Gore, Genevieve W., corporate executive, 1983
Gore, Wilbert L., corporate executive, 1983
Fulmer, Clarence A., educator, 1983
McDade, Joseph E., research icrobiologist, 1984
Alexander, Edward P., historian, 1984
McPherson, Mary Patterson, educator, 1984
Gordy, J. Franklin, educator and poultry specialist, 1984
De Armond, Anna Janney, educator, 1985
Duffy, William M., former Delaware Supreme Court justice, 1986
van den Berg, Lodewijk, astronaut, 1986
Amos, William H., educator, 1986
Lank, Herbert H., business executive, 1986
Buxbaum, Edwin C., educator, 1987
Davis, Hilda A., educator, 1987
Weslager, Clinton Alfred, educator, 1988
Rosenberry, Edward G., professor emeritus, 1988
Somers, G. Fred, professor emeritus, 1988
Arsht, Roxana Cannon, judge, 1989
Collins, Morton, corporate executive, 1989
Kiddoo, Richard C., corporate executive, 1989
Van Ravenswaay, Charles, retired executive, 1989
Catts, Ann B., physician, 1989
1990s
Kearns, James F., corporate executive, 1990
Sinness, Lester Snowdon, retired executive, 1990
Gunzenhauser, Stephen Charles, conductor, 1990
McKusick, Blaine Chase, corporate executive, 1992
Green, George Dallas, professional baseball player and executive, 1992
Tyler, Chaplin, retired corporate executive, 1993
Emmert, Richard Eugene, retired corporate executive, 1993
King, J. Robert, professor emeritus, 1994
Quill, Leonard W., business executive, 1995
Watson, Bernard C., educator, 1995
Turner, Andrew J., Jr., former police officer, human relations specialist, 1995
Carpenter, Mary Kaye, philanthropist, 1996
Kakavas, James C., professor, 1996
Soles, Ada Leigh, educator and politician, 1996
Fairman, Endsley P., business executive, 1996
Adams, Thurman, farmer and politician, 1996
Stiles, Alvin B., chemical engineer, 1996
Allen, William B., architectural historian, 1996
Jastak-Burgess, Sarah, philanthropist, 1997
Esterly, Katherine, pediatrician, 1997
Puglisi, Donald, educator, 1997
Sloan, Helen Farr, benefactor, 1997
Boer, Karl W., professor, 1998
Joanedis, Charles S., businessman, 1998
Thoms, Lloyd L., benefactor, 1998
Bunnell, Claude A., businessman, 1998
Carter, Mae Riedy, advocate for women, 1998
Hoffecker, Carol E., professor, 1998
Chaiken, Yetta, benefactor, 1999
Reynolds, Nancy Bradford du Pont, sculptor, 1999
Wick, Ann Dugdale, volunteer, 1999
Bolling, Robert H. Jr., businessman, 1999
2000s
Garrett, M. Jane Nuckols, editor and clergywoman, 2000
Gouldner, Helen, educator, 2000
Battaglia, Victor, attorney, 2000
Stone, Chuck, journalist and educator, 2000
Eliason, Helen B., garden enthusiast, 2001
Craven, Sidney, community activist, 2001
Crossan, Donald F., former dean, College of Agriculture, 2001
Flickinger, Catherine B., former educator and trustee emerita, 2001
Perkins, Margaret, former first lady of UD, 2001
Mayer, Vincent, UD football great, 2001
Friess, Foster and Lynette, philanthropists, 2001
Munson, Burnaby, educator, 2002
Wisner, Elbert C., businessman and UD alumnus, 2002
Szupper, Michael, UD Catholic chaplain, 2003
Friend, William L., UD graduate and engineer, 2004
Fine, Paul and Gloria, philanthropists, 2005
Paradee, Eleanor C., philanthropist, 2005
Carpenter, R.R.M. III, UD trustee/philanthropist, 2005
Smith, Charles M., M.D., MPH medical professional, 2006
Carter, William A., educator, 2007
Edelsohn, Lanny and Michelle (Micki), philanthropists, 2007
Harra, Robert V.A. & Linda Brinton, philanthropists, 2007
Soles, James R., UD alumni distinguished professor, retired, 2007
Putterman, Lawrence, executive director of Guttman Foundation, 2007
Hollowell, David E., UD executive vice president and university treasurer, retired, 2007
Lasher, Hiram Scientist, educator, philanthropist, 2008
Rich, Dan Former, UD provost, 2009
Johnson, Edgar, UD director of athletics, retired, 2009
2010s
Hayward, Pierre DuPont, UD VP and university secretary, retired, 2012
Hackerman, Willard F., philanthropist, 2013
Fischer, Robert A. Jr., UD trustee emeritus, 2014
Brynteson, Susan, UD May Morris librarian emerita, retired, 2016
Hirsh, Louis L., UD director of admission, retired, 2017
Hayes, Evelyn, UD Trustees Distinguished Professor Emerita, 2017
Martin, Cynthia Primo, diversity activist, 2017
Martin, Joshua W., former judge and attorney, 2017
McBride, David, Delaware state senator, 2017
Townsend, Sherman L., UD trustee/philanthropist, 2018
Lyons Sr., Davis F., UD trustee/businessman, 2018
Willis, Mary Jane, UD trustee/philanthropist, 2019
Willis, William H., Jr., businessman/Philanthropist, 2019
2020s
Coker, Beatrice “Bebe”, activist and community leader, 2021
Whitney, Ken and Elizabeth, UD trustee/philanthropist, 2021
Gelb, Jack, UD faculty, retired, 2021
Burmeister, John, UD faculty, retired, 2021
Dowling, Tim, UD director of student health, 2021
Loessner, Arno “Skip”, UD faculty, retired, 2021
Ogunnaike, Babatunde, UD faculty, 2021
Buccini, Bernadette and Robert, 2022
Burton, I.G., UD trustee, 2022
Giannone, Brother Ronald, community leader, 2022
Hayward, Tina, alumna/philanthropist, 2022
Morgan, Robin, UD faculty/provost, retired, 2022
Riordan, Charles, UD faculty/VP, retired, 2022
Cook, Pamela, UD faculty, 2022
Biden, Joseph R., alumnus/president of the United States of America, 2022
Horn, Charles, businessman/philanthropist, 2022
Matt, Kathy, UD faculty/dean, retired, 2022
Brennan, John, UD staff, 2022
Avery, Raye Jones, community leader, 2023
Lasner, Mark Samuels, philanthropist/historian, 2023
Pelesko, John, UD dean, 2023
Aristigueta, Maria, UD dean, 2023
Weber, Bruce, UD dean, 2023
Plastino, David, philanthropist, 2023
Lopez, Lolita, community leader, 2023
Fox, Nicola "Nicky", NASA science chief, 2024
Fauci, Anthony, physician/scientist, 2024
Stevens, Scott, UD ELI director, 2024
Thompson, Levi, UD dean, 2024
Keeler, Calvin, UD dean, 2024
Kiick, Kristi, UD faculty, 2024
Sarver, Heidi, UD Faculty, 2024
Carper, Thomas, U.S. senator, 2023
Thorogood, George, entertainer, 2024
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This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: George Thorogood coming to Newark to accept UD's Medal of Distinction
