Rick DeBanks鈥� video of a wild Surrey-area house party he attended almost 30 years ago has been viewed more than 12,000 times since he posted it to Youtube just one week ago.
The 33-minute clip shows a house full of rocking teens and young adults ringing in the new year at a residence in Newton, near 144th Street and Highway 10.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a time capsule, for sure,鈥� said DeBanks, who added the video to his on July 3.
鈥淚 have a whole bunch of videos that I鈥檓 in the process of converting to MP4s, and I remember that video in particular 鈥� and I hadn鈥檛 watched it in 20 years or more,鈥� DeBanks said when reached on Wednesday.
鈥淚 knew it would be an interesting video for people to see, because it鈥檚 shot POV style 鈥� point of view 鈥� and if you watch it, it鈥檚 almost like you鈥檙e there, with all the people everywhere. There are some bad spots in the video but it鈥檚 not too shaky or anything. It just gives the viewer a sense of being at the party.鈥�
DeBanks says he used a camcorder to shoot the video with the help of a friend 鈥� in an era before cellphone cameras were commonplace, of course.
The clip starts with eerie music for the first minute, then settles in a haze of smoke and booze as party-goers hoot and holler for the camera, to a soundtrack of Led Zeppelin, Tone Loc, AC/DC, Madonna, Poison and, in a group sing-along, John Mellencamp鈥檚 鈥淛ack and Diane.鈥�
The video is posted with the description of 鈥渁 house party on the last day of the 80鈥檚 in the Blue Collar town of Newton in Surrey, British Columbia,鈥� but DeBanks now acknowledges it was actually filmed on the final night of 1990, not 1989. One clue is that Warrant鈥檚 鈥淐herry Pie鈥� can be heard in the video, and the song wasn鈥檛 released until the fall of 1990.
Another clue: the lines of cocaine cut into a 鈥�91鈥� shape on a table.
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DeBanks said the video features a lot of Princess Margaret high school students and grads.
鈥淎 guy named Wayne lived in the house,鈥� DeBanks noted. 鈥淗is parents were obviously gone for the weekend or something,鈥� he added with a laugh.
鈥淚t was just a real fun night. I almost got into a fight before I even got in, out in the driveway, and it kind of boiled over, but it was OK.鈥�
DeBanks, who lives in South Surrey, now runs and makes videos about the company鈥檚 sports-nutrition products. In the mid-1990s, after broadcasting school, he co-hosted an 鈥淚nside Surrey鈥� news program on community TV, and has posted one of those episodes 鈥� focusing on the Melanie Carpenter homicide in 1995 鈥� on his Rick Richards account.
鈥淚 was a wrestler for awhile, as Rick Richards,鈥� explained DeBanks, who said he was known as Rick Brown in high school.
On Youtube, he鈥檚 also planning to post video of his days as a football player with the Surrey Rams.
As for the Surrey party video, DeBanks said he鈥檚 not entirely surprised by the reaction to it on social media.
鈥淚 knew it鈥檇 be fairly popular as a retro throwback for those who lived in that era, in that area,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hat I have been surprised by is the amount of people watching it who didn鈥檛 grow up in that era. There鈥檚 a fascination factor, a curiosity about it.
鈥淚t鈥檚 funny because the video now has more views than any I鈥檝e ever posted for my company.鈥�
tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
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