Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Rock Tragedy: Music Superstars, Small Suburb Forever Linked
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 years ago on
December 3, 2019

Share

FINNEYTOWN, Ohio — The concrete bench in a small northern Cincinnati suburb depicts a guitar, with the message “My Generation” just below it.

“Everyone’s connected to it, everywhere you go around here. Either they went to the concert, or they had a friend or a family member who was there.” — Fred Wittenbaum, who was a freshman at Finneytown High School then but did not attend the concert
In the background are plaques with the faces of three teenagers, Jackie Eckerle, Karen Morrison and Stephan Preston, frozen in time 40 years ago. Bricks in the plaza around the bench carry eight other names.
All 11 were killed in a frantic stampede of people trying to get into the British rock band The Who’s concert on Dec. 3, 1979, at Cincinnati’s Riverfront Coliseum. The city of Finneytown suffered disproportionately, and its three losses included the two youngest victims, 15-year-olds Eckerle and Morrison. Their schoolmates say well over 100 other people from Finneytown were there.
“Everyone’s connected to it, everywhere you go around here,” said Fred Wittenbaum, who was a freshman at Finneytown High School then but did not attend the concert. “Either they went to the concert, or they had a friend or a family member who was there.”
Since then, the community of around 12,000 people, many living in ranch-style homes built years before the concert, has been inextricably linked with The Who, which was already well on the way to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with such hits as “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” “Can’t Explain,” and “My Generation,” an anthem of rebellious youth.
Most of the blame afterward focused on the first-come, first-served arrangement for seating that saw thousands of fans line up for hours ready to charge toward the coveted floor spots, and on confusion over and lack of preparation for when the doors were opening. Besides those trampled in the stampede, some two dozen other fans were injured.
Photo of a security guard and an unidentified man look at an area where several people were killed
FILE – In this Dec. 3, 1979 file photo, a security guard and an unidentified man look at an area where several people were killed as they were caught in a surging crowd entering Cincinnati’s riverfront coliseum for a concert by the British rock band The Who. (AP Photo/Brian Horton, File)

Traumatic Memories Among Finneytown Alums Evolved Three Decades Later

Frontman Roger Daltrey and guitarist Pete Townshend, the last survivors of the original band, say they have struggled emotionally over the years with the concert carnage, which they didn’t know about until their show was ending.
“Because there’s always a certain amount, ‘If I hadn’t been doing this, it wouldn’t have happened,’ you know,” Daltrey said during an unpublicized visit last year to the Finneytown memorial site. “That’s just human nature. That’s what we carry with us.”
“It took a long time for us to get a sense that this was not just about the 11 kids, it was about the community,” Townshend told The Associated Press in a recent interview in New York.
The sad stories and traumatic memories among Finneytown alums evolved three decades later into a plan to memorialize their friends.
John Hutchins was playing an acoustic set at a nearby venue in December 2009 and dedicated songs such as The Who’s “Love Ain’t For Keeping” to those who died at the concert. Hutchins was at The Who concert; he skipped school that day, got to the coliseum nearly seven hours early to be among the first in line, and got close enough to the stage to see The Who’s song list.

Photo of pictures of the three Finneytown students killed in a stampede at The Who's Dec. 3, 1979 concert
In this Thursday, Nov. 21, 2019 photo, pictures of the three Finneytown students killed in a stampede at The Who’s Dec. 3, 1979 concert, are displayed in a memorial cabinet along with other mementoes at the Finneytown High School secondary campus in Finneytown, Ohio. Tragedy four decades ago linked the British rock band to the small suburban city in Ohio. In recent years, members of the community and the band have bonded through a project to memorialize the teens. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Launched in 2010, Scholarships Reward Three Finneytown Students With $5,000

Fellow Finneytown High alum Steve Bentz, who wasn’t at the concert, approached Hutchins after his performance with a thought, that “we should do something.” The thought soon grew into the memorial bench.
They joined with Wittenbaum and Walt Medlock — who remembers being pressed tightly against Preston before making the possibly life-saving decision to work his way out of the crowd — to create the P.E.M. scholarship fund, using the last-name initials of their three schoolmates.
“We wanted to take what was a terrible tragedy and try and turn it into something that could be looked at as good,” Wittenbaum explained. “We wanted to pay it forward.”
Launched in 2010, the scholarships reward three Finneytown students with $5,000 each for the study of music or any other arts. There have awarded 27 so far.
Auctions and raffles at an annual December show featuring music by alumni at the school’s performing arts center help pay for the scholarships. The Who became involved in the third year, making an exclusive DVD for showing at that year’s benefit with comments from the band about the tragedy and new concert footage.

Photo of the faces of the three Finneytown students killed in a stampede at The Who's Dec. 3, 1979 concert
In this Thursday, Nov. 21, 2019 photo, the faces of the three Finneytown students killed in a stampede at The Who’s Dec. 3, 1979 concert, are displayed as part of a memorial at the Finneytown High School secondary campus in Finneytown, Ohio. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

An Announcement Is Expected Tuesday Night

More aid from the band followed. Last year, Wittenbaum drove Daltrey from a private airstrip near Dayton to view the Finneytown memorials that include artwork, personal items and photos of the three in a Who-donated display case. Daltrey also met with relatives of those killed and with fans who attended the concert.

“It’s heartbreaking to know that I’m the same age as many of them. I get to do the things that I want to be doing, but all that was taken away from them.” — Alleson Arnold, 18, among the latest scholarship winners
“It’s been a really cathartic process for everybody,” Wittenbaum said.
Daltrey-autographed books, albums, guitars and other items have been sold online, including on the band’s official site, to add to the fund. The P.E.M. leaders’ next goal is to see Daltrey and Townshend perform in Cincinnati for the first time since the deadly concert. In the AP interview, Townshend said the band plans to return to Cincinnati.
An announcement is expected Tuesday night, after a 40th anniversary documentary featuring interviews with Daltrey and Townshend airs on WCPO-TV in Cincinnati.
Alleson Arnold, 18, among the latest scholarship winners, moved to Finneytown several years ago and soon learned about the pain the community has felt. She said she is “very grateful” for the fund that will help her study fashion and design.
“It’s heartbreaking to know that I’m the same age as many of them,” she said. “I get to do the things that I want to be doing, but all that was taken away from them.”
[activecampaign form=29]

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Tulare County Man Convicted of Child Molestation During Burglary Faces Life Without Parole

DON'T MISS

What Local Politicians, LGBT Community Say About Trans Track Star

DON'T MISS

Fresno Man Arrested After Stolen City Vehicle Pursuit, Fires in Madera County

DON'T MISS

Former MLB All-Star Breaks Ground on BMW/Porsche/Audi Dealership in Clovis

DON'T MISS

Fresno, Clovis to Open Cooling Centers as Temperatures Expected to Soar

DON'T MISS

Costco Misses Quarterly Revenue Expectations Amid Reduced Consumer Spending

DON'T MISS

Tulare County Authorities Respond to Double Shooting in Goshen

DON'T MISS

US Appeals Court Reinstates Trump Tariffs, Sowing Market Confusion

DON'T MISS

A Program Paying CA Jurors $100 a Day Would End Due to Newsom’s Budget Cuts

DON'T MISS

Some Glaciers Will Vanish No Matter What, Study Finds

UP NEXT

Harvard Agrees to Relinquish Early Photos of Slaves, Ending a Long Legal Battle

UP NEXT

Silence on E. Coli Outbreak Highlights How Trump Team’s Changes Undermine Food Safety

UP NEXT

Trump Pardons Tax Cheat After Mother Attends $1 Million Dinner

UP NEXT

NPR Sues Trump Administration Over Executive Order to Cut Funding

UP NEXT

Justice Department Reaches Deal to Allow Boeing to Avoid Prosecution Over 737 Max Crashes

UP NEXT

Low-Income Compton Students Get $225M State-of-the-Art High School Campus

UP NEXT

Everyone Now Has an Opinion on Jake Tapper

UP NEXT

Braves Star Ronald Acuña Jr. to Return Friday From Left Knee Injury

UP NEXT

Dave Shapiro, Groundbreaking Music Executive, Dies in San Diego Plane Crash at 42

UP NEXT

CA State Senator Cited for Suspicion of Impaired Driving, Says She Wasn’t Intoxicated

Former MLB All-Star Breaks Ground on BMW/Porsche/Audi Dealership in Clovis

10 hours ago

Fresno, Clovis to Open Cooling Centers as Temperatures Expected to Soar

10 hours ago

Costco Misses Quarterly Revenue Expectations Amid Reduced Consumer Spending

10 hours ago

Tulare County Authorities Respond to Double Shooting in Goshen

11 hours ago

US Appeals Court Reinstates Trump Tariffs, Sowing Market Confusion

11 hours ago

A Program Paying CA Jurors $100 a Day Would End Due to Newsom’s Budget Cuts

11 hours ago

Some Glaciers Will Vanish No Matter What, Study Finds

11 hours ago

Dealmaker or Duped? Trump’s Embrace of Putin Shows Few Results

12 hours ago

Fresno Will Build New Firehouse, Replacing ‘Temporary’ Station After 50 Years

12 hours ago

Canada Wants to Kill 400 Ostriches. RFK Jr. and Dr. Oz Want to Save Them.

12 hours ago

Tulare County Man Convicted of Child Molestation During Burglary Faces Life Without Parole

A Tulare County jury has convicted a Porterville man of molesting a 4-year-old girl during a home burglary in 2020, prosecutors said Thursda...

8 hours ago

Serafin Narcisco, 44, of Porterville, was convicted on Wednesday, May 28, 2025, of molesting a 4-year-old girl during a 2020 home burglary. (Tulare County SO)
8 hours ago

Tulare County Man Convicted of Child Molestation During Burglary Faces Life Without Parole

9 hours ago

What Local Politicians, LGBT Community Say About Trans Track Star

A man accused of stealing a City of Fresno vehicle was arrested Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Madera County after a pursuit that sparked small fires and ended with a crash. (Madera County SO)
9 hours ago

Fresno Man Arrested After Stolen City Vehicle Pursuit, Fires in Madera County

10 hours ago

Former MLB All-Star Breaks Ground on BMW/Porsche/Audi Dealership in Clovis

10 hours ago

Fresno, Clovis to Open Cooling Centers as Temperatures Expected to Soar

10 hours ago

Costco Misses Quarterly Revenue Expectations Amid Reduced Consumer Spending

Tulare County sheriff’s detectives are investigating a double shooting in Goshen after two people were found wounded Thursday, May 29, 2025. (Tulare County SO)
11 hours ago

Tulare County Authorities Respond to Double Shooting in Goshen

11 hours ago

US Appeals Court Reinstates Trump Tariffs, Sowing Market Confusion

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend