It seems that before before the start of every New York State Fair there are predictions about how that year’s edition will go down in history as the best ever.
In 1983, however, that was not quite the case.
During the runup to the 137th State Fair, there had been a sharp reduction in state funding, a two-month delay in the approval of expenditures from Albany, and, on April 19, a devastating fire which destroyed the Youth Building.
Then, that summer, two of the upcoming Fair’s biggest Grandstand performers, Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton, pulled out. Nelson scheduled a concert at the Carrier Dome and Parton was shooting the movie “Rhinestone” with Sylvester Stallone.
Neil Young and Liberace were hastily brought on board, but officials were unable to get a country-western performer, always the most popular genre at the Fair.
“The challenge has been a bit greater for a variety of reasons,” State Fair Director Thomas Young said.
“It’s more of a strain this year than any other year,” added Billy McIntyre, the event’s budget director.
Dale Lancto of Syracuse cuts metal debris for the Pelnik Wrecking Company crew cleaning up the site of the former Youth Building at the State Fairgrounds. The April 19, 1983 fire destroyed what was once known as the Farm Machinery Building, including animal cages and exhibits from the Future Farmers of America. About all that was left standing was a pair of basketball backboards. Syracuse Post-StandardSyracuse Post-Standard
Despite the initial pessimism though the State Fair set records in 1983, in attendance and revenue.
Especially at the Grandstand, where its seven concerts drew a record 66,250 fans and grossed an all-time high of $626,636.
“This exceeded my expectations,” Mclntyre said. “We had budgeted to gross the same as last year. We always like to do better than the previous year, but I personally didn’t expect to do this well.”
Here is a look back at the seven concerts which made history in 1983.
AIR SUPPLY
Maybe a bit prematurely, “Billboard” magazine in 1983 proclaimed the duo Air Supply from Melbourne, Australia the most “successful pop group of the ‘80s.”
They would get little push back by the 9,199 people at the Grandstand on Aug. 27, 1983.
Their impressive show featured clouds of smoke and lights which Tom Dial of the Herald American compared to a “Star Wars” movie.
“We don’t want to just stand on stage and play our music,” Graham Russell told the paper. “People can get that by listening to our records. We want to put on a show they’ll remember.”
After an unforgettable entrance, Air Supply launched into their hits which had accumulated since 1978.
“Lost in Love,” “Don’t Be Afraid,” and “Making Love Out of Nothing at All” were some of the hits, their “message all deal with romantic love” which made the majority female audience swoon.
JAMES TAYLOR
Herald-Journal reviewer James Mulder said that singer-songwriter James Taylor “looked more like an accountant than a pop star” when he stepped out in front 7,714 fans at the Grandstand on Aug. 28, 1983.
Dressed in baggy trousers, a white shirt and suspenders, Taylor was not much to look at. Then he began singing.
“Working with a repertoire that included soft folk ballads, hard-driving rock, blues and understated jazz,” Mulder wrote, “Taylor’s clear, unmistakable voice resonated out over the Grandstand like a soothing breeze for two-and-a-half hours.”
He sang about his native North Carolina, country roads, gangsters, truck drivers, and lost love.
His song “Steam Roller Blues” had fans dancing in the Grandstand’s aisles.
Loverboy's Mike Reno belts out a song at the New York State Fair Grandstand on Aug. 29, 1983. Female fans often rushed the stage that night to get to him. Syracuse Post-StandardSyracuse Post-Standard
LOVERBOY
The Canadian rock band Loverboy broke a record on Aug. 29, 1983.
The “delirious” crowd of 16,172 people was the largest to see a concert at the Grandstand up to that time, eclipsing the record set by Willie Nelson the year before.
Despite poor audio from the Grandstand’s sound system, the crowd was loud throughout, from the time the band’s limousine was spottled backstage while opening act Zebra was playing right through their hits like “Working for the Weekend” and “The Kid is Hot Tonight.”
“The crowd was as enthusiastic as any rock audience you’ll ever see,” wrote Herald-Journal reviewer Dale Kasler. “From the opening power chord to the last encore, they stood cheered, stomped, sang along, and literally rocked the Grandstand.”
More than once lead singer was hugged, tackled, and kissed by female fans who ran on stage only to be hustled away by the band’s road crew.
NEIL YOUNG
Neil Young was hardly a last-minute fill-in.
Performing in front just under 9,600 fans on August 30, Young’s elaborate stage setup included a white grand piano, chandelier, cathedral windows, and a fake news show on a video board hosted by a Dan Rather look-a-like named Dan Clear, which introduced the audience to the star, his crew, and his tour.
Rain began to fall just as Young took the stage at 8:15 p.m. It did not matter.
“The man is a hero,” Post-Standard reporter Russ Donahue wrote in his review. “There is no way around it. People revere Young and his songs as if they had been carved in stone and handed down from on high.”
The largely acoustic set was dominated by his hits of the early 1970s. The audience was surprised that he did his “sappy” 1972 number one song “Heart of Gold” which he rarely played live.
Later, with rain falling heavier, he played his newer work which featured synthesized drums and keyboards.
He left driving a pink Cadillac.
SANTANA
For Post-Standard reviewer Russ Donahue, the choice was easy.
Of all the 1983 Grandstand performances of 1983, Santana on the evening of Aug. 31 was hands-down the best.
“The weather was fine, the sound comfortable and the audience civil,” he wrote. “But best of all, the music was diverse and superb.”
Donahue noted that there were 7,006 people sitting in the Grandstand when the show started but once the music started “not a body remained still.”
The “soul” of Santana, he thought, was the band’s percussion section, “eight hands on four bodies that are as instrumental in defining the group’s sound.” Its “soul,” though, was Carlos Santana’s himself.
“He is a master guitar player and technician, with the ability to express through his instrument an amazing range of emotions.”
Starting at 8 p.m., the concert featured ballads and slow numbers, interspersed with more up-tempo songs.
“Batuka,” “Incident at Neshabur,” “Soul Sacrifice,” and “Black Magic Woman” were some of the highlights.
Liberace was a late addition to the 1983 New York State Fair Grandstand lineup. He received a standing ovation when he was done and told his audience that the Fair was "one of the friendliest places I’ve played." Syracuse Post-StandardSyracuse Post-Standard
LIBERACE
Flamboyant pianist Liberace was in his 39th year in show business in 1983 but the maestro still knew how entertain.
He brought a taste of Las Vegas to the New York State Fair on September 1.
His audience of 3,739 was the smallest of the Fair but his fans were just as passionate as ever.
“To see teenage girls run to the edge of the stage to touch the hand of a rock star is not at all unusual these days,” wrote The Herald-Journal’s Tom Dial. “But senior women, well into their 60s, were clamoring for a brush with Liberace.”
He arrived on stage dressed in white, the same outfit he had worn in London for a performance in front of the Royals and walked towards his candelabra-bedecked grand piano.
His opening numbers ranged from Liszt to Chopin and included music from Rachmaninoff and Beethoven.
He required five costume changes which gave a chance for a juggler, ballroom dancers, and guest singers to perform.
Liberace received a standing ovation when he was finished, thanks for a “glittering, dazzling, memorable evening,” The Post-Standard’s
“You folks make this one of the friendliest places I’ve played,” he told his fans.
THE BEACH BOYS
“The crowd comes for the dancing, the singalongs and the nostalgia, and the Beach Boys provide plenty of that,” The Post-Standard’s Russ Donahue wrote the day after the legendary rock group’s concert at the Grandstand on Sept. 2, 1983.
Some 40 years later, the group, singing about “little deuce coupes,” surfboards, and “two girls for every boy” are still regular State Fair participants.
On this night, after a couple of classic songs which left fans on their feet, Mike Love jokingly told the audience to “sit down ‘cause you aren’t getting any younger.”
To Donahue, the night was “long on imagination, full of rock ‘n’ roll but lacking the vocal spark that once made such a difference on the radio.”
The 12,839 fans did not seem to mind that sometimes they had to “fill in the notes” that the band could not reach anymore.
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This feature is a part of CNY Nostalgia, a section on syracuse.com. Send your ideas and curiosities to Johnathan Croyle: Email | 315-416-3882.