POP/ROCK - Dec. 31, 1987

No need to roust yourself if you want to catch this year’s edition of the Grateful Dead’s annual New Year’s Eve bash. If you’ve got cable TV, you might be able to kick back and watch it on the tube. The pay-per-view network Viewer’s Choice (which is not available on all Southern California cable systems) is making the Dead’s Oakland Coliseum concert available to 6 million cable subscribers at a cost of $19.95. “This is the 19th time the Dead have done this New Year’s Eve celebration,” said Viewer’s Choice president Scott Kurnit. “They always sell out, so we’re expanding the arena by 10 to 15 times its size.”