Jon "Bowzer" Bauman (born September 14, 1947) is an American singer, best known as a member of the band

Sha Na Na Sha Na Na was an American rock and roll and doo-wop revival group formed in 1969. The group performed a song-and-dance repertoire based on 1950s hit songs that both revived and parodied the music and the New York City street culture of the 1 ...

, and

game show host A game show host is an individual who manages a game show, introduces contestants, and asks quiz questions to test the knowledge of said contestants. They may also have other duties pertinent to production. History In 1938, Freddie Grisewood w ...

. Bauman's Sha Na Na character Bowzer was a greaser in a muscle shirt.

Biography and career

Bauman was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York, to Polish-German Jewish immigrants. His father was a dentist and a singer in the Hollis Hills Jewish Center choir. Bauman started attending

The Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

at age 12 with an expertise in piano playing, and he is a 1964 graduate of Martin Van Buren High School. He graduated from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in 1968. Bauman was a member of the band Sha Na Na from 1970 to 1983. He was featured in the television comedy/variety show ''

'' from 1977 to 1981. In his Bowzer persona, Bauman became instantly recognizable for his "greaser" clothes and hair, his muscular pose with his arm, and his catchphrase "Grease for Peace!" In the late 1970s, Bauman appeared as Bowzer (loosely in-character) on many game shows, including ''

Match Game ''Match Game'' is an American television panel game show that premiered on NBC in 1962 and has been revived several times over the course of the last six decades. The game features contestants trying to match answers given by celebrity paneli ...

'' and ''

Password Plus ''Password Plus'' and ''Super Password'' are American TV game shows that aired separately between 1979 and 1989. Both shows were revivals of ''Password'', which originally ran from 1961 to 1975 in various incarnations. With only subtle differen ...

''. He also appeared with Sha Na Na in the 1978 movie Grease. After his heyday with

, Bauman was a VJ on the music channel VH-1 during its first two years. He has appeared on many television series, such as ''

Miami Vice ''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo Tubbs, Ricardo "Rico" Tub ...

'', and he has done voiceovers for animated series, such as ''

Animaniacs ''Animaniacs'' is an American Animated series, animated Comedy television, comedy Musical film, musical television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Warner Bros. Television Animation. It originally aired on Fox Broadcasting Company ...

'', and animated feature films, including '' My Little Pony: The Movie'' and '' The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones''. He also hosted the ''Hollywood Squares'' half of the ''

Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour ''Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour'' is an American television panel game show that combined two panel games of the 1960s and 1970s – ''Match Game'' and ''Hollywood Squares'' – into an hour-long format. The series ran from October 31, 19 ...

''. Bauman also hosted '' The Pop 'N Rocker Game'', a weekly, syndicated rock 'n' roll

game show A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a game show host, host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating a ...

, which launched a few weeks before the ''Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour'' premiered. Jon Bauman Productions produced ''The Golden Age of Rock 'n' Roll'', a 10-hour series for the A&E Network. Bauman toured extensively with his Bowzer and the Stingrays group at fairs, amusement parks, cruise ships, malt shoppes and conventions. They headline "Bowzer's Ultimate Milkshake Party". On October 28, 2024, Bauman announced his intent to retire following a series of winter shows.

Personal life

Bauman lives in Los Angeles with his wife Mary and their two children, Nora and Eli. His nephew is Eric C. Bauman, former chairman of the

California Democratic Party The California Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in Sacramento, the state capital. With 46.59% of the state's registered voters as of February 2024, the Democratic ...

. Bauman has spoken on behalf of musicians who are upset about contemporary groups who use classic groups' names even though none of the members performed on any of the albums. Before their deaths, Charlie Thomas of

the Drifters The Drifters are an American pop and R&B/soul vocal group. They were originally formed as a backing group for Clyde McPhatter, formerly the lead tenor of Billy Ward and his Dominoes in 1953. The second group of Drifters, formed in 1959 and ...

, Mary Wilson of

the Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959 as the Primettes. A premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful Amer ...

, Carl Gardner of

the Coasters The Coasters are an American rhythm and blues/rock and roll vocal group who had a string of hits in the late 1950s. With hits including "Searchin'", "Young Blood (The Coasters song), Young Blood", "Charlie Brown (The Coasters song), Charlie Bro ...

and original Drifter

Bill Pinkney Willie "Bill" Pinkney (August 15, 1925 – July 4, 2007) was an American performer and singer. Pinkney was the last surviving original member of The Drifters, who achieved international fame with numerous hit records. He was chiefly responsib ...

were supporters. Bauman has helped pass legislation that compels any group using the name of a classic group to have at least one of the original members. The measure is known as the Truth in Music Act. Bauman regularly campaigns for Democrats in special elections, including Mark Critz in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Kathy Hochul Kathleen Hochul ( ; ; born August 27, 1958) is an American politician and lawyer who has served since 2021 as the 57th governor of New York. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she is New York's List of female ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, David Weprin in

and Elizabeth Colbert Busch in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

. He endorsed

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

for president in 2008. He has also worked as a spokesman for the

National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare (NCPSSM) is a United States liberal advocacy group whose goal is to protect Social Security (United States), Social Security and Medicare (United States), Medicare. NCPSSM works to pr ...

and recorded wake-up calls for employees of the

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is the Democratic Hill committee for the United States House of Representatives, working to elect Democrats to that body. The DCCC recruits candidates, raises funds and organizes races in ...

. He is also a co-founder of the group Senior Votes Count, which is a

political action committee In the United States, a political action committee (PAC) is a tax-exempt 527 organization that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaigns for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation. The l ...

designed to elect leaders to protect and advance the rights of elderly Americans. In the 2016 presidential election, Bauman endorsed

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

, campaigning for her across the country, including in Iowa and Ohio. He is currently president of Social Security Works PAC, a national organization working to elect candidates who support protecting and expanding Social Security benefits.

In popular media

Bauman is referenced in " The Chanukah Song" by

Adam Sandler Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. Primarily a comedic leading actor in films, List of awards and nominations received by Adam Sandler, his accolades include an Independent Sp ...

, "

Parents Just Don't Understand "Parents Just Don't Understand" is the second single from American duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince's second studio album, '' He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper'' (1988). In the song, the Fresh Prince details his problems with his parents, whom he f ...

" by

DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince were an American hip hop duo from West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, consisting of the rapper and actor Will Smith (the Fresh Prince) and the turntablist Jeff Townes (DJ Jazzy Jeff). Active from 1986 to 1994 an ...

, the ''

NewsRadio ''NewsRadio'' is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from March 21, 1995, to May 4, 1999, focusing on the work lives of the staff of a New York City AM news radio station. It had an ensemble cast featuring Dave Foley, Stephen R ...

'' episode "Chock", and in " D'oh-in' in the Wind—the sixth episode of the tenth season of ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

''. He can be seen as his Bowzer character on a limousine television (with passengers Peter Sellers and Shirley MacLaine) in the Hal Ashby film ''

Being There ''Being There'' is a 1979 American satirical comedy-drama film starring Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, and Melvyn Douglas. Directed by Hal Ashby, it is based on the 1971 novel '' Being There'' by Jerzy Kosiński, and adapted for the scr ...

''.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bauman, Jon 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews Jewish American rock musicians American people of Polish-Jewish descent Jewish American singers 1947 births Living people American game show hosts Columbia College (New York) alumni Martin Van Buren High School alumni Singers from Brooklyn Sha Na Na members VH1 people