ZUMBROTA — Justin Ploofowes a debt to Bobby Vee, and he's going to pay it back Saturday.
That's when Ploof will present his rockumentary show, "Come Back When You Grow Up,"at the State Theatre in Zumbrota. It's the latest of the rockumentaries Ploof has developed and produced at the State, including previous shows about the Beatles, the Monkees, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Eric Clapton.
Ploof, of Minneapolis, got to know Vee a decade or so ago when both lived in St. Cloud. "I briefly toured with Bob's band," Ploof said. "I always enjoyed his music, even before I played with him." Ploof also co-wrote a song for Vee's 2003 Christmas album.
But, in Ploof's eyes, Vee was more than just another pop star.
"He showed up at my birthday party one year," Ploof said. "It was a trip for my mother. She used to buy his 45s, and here he is standing in her kitchen."
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Vee, 72, announced in 2012 that he is suffering from early stages of Alzheimer's Disease and would retire from music.
So Ploof is keeping Vee's music alive, by performing hits such as "Take Good Care of My Baby," "Rubber Ball," "Devil or Angel," "Run to Him"and "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes."
Vee, of course, came to national attention in 1959 when he stepped into Buddy Holly'splace on stage in Moorhead the day after Holly was killed in a plane crash in Iowa. He went on to have 38 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and 10 Top 20 hits.
Besides performing Vee's songs, Ploof will show four video segments about the era in which Vee's music was popular.
"In some ways, this transports people back," he said. "You give people that moment to go back to this more innocent time in their lives."
