The Blog entry has become too large
and so I had to section things off!
Scroll to the bottom of this entry
for the links.
Seems that as of Jan 2019...
the Blogger server's have deleted ALL of the
comments left over the years by you guys from ALL
of the posts... how fucked up is that!!!
Scroll to the bottom of this entry
for the links.
Seems that as of Jan 2019...
the Blogger server's have deleted ALL of the
comments left over the years by you guys from ALL
of the posts... how fucked up is that!!!
The recent passing of legendary Doors keyboard player... Ray Manzarek, certainly
bummed me out for the day.
 |
| As you can tell... I was a big doors fan! My first car, 1981... the doorsmobile. |
But then it got me to thinking about all those incredible nights at the local rock clubs back in the 70's and 80's here in the New York, New Jersey area. And suddenly, I was less bummed!
This really wasn't what I had in mind for my blog, it's really going to be more story telling than anything. But I just wanted to see if I could stir up a few awesome memories within you guys with these names and places.
And I'm betting that you recognize
at least some of them... cheers!
at least some of them... cheers!
And play it loud mutha!!
First off though... I wanna tip my hat to Ray. What an unmistakable sound he made
with those fucking keyboards!
with those fucking keyboards!
We miss you already muthafucka!!
Say hello to Jim for us!
That's Ray and the new Doors in the photo's below. And also the tickets from when 2
of the 3 remaining Doors,
Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger,
joined forces with Ian Astbury, front man for The Cult, when they toured back in 2003. John Densmore was unable to tour as he was suffering with severe tinnitus at the time. Stewart Copeland (The Police)and others took over the drumming during the tour. I made the PNC show but never made it to Jones Beach.
of the 3 remaining Doors,
Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger,
joined forces with Ian Astbury, front man for The Cult, when they toured back in 2003. John Densmore was unable to tour as he was suffering with severe tinnitus at the time. Stewart Copeland (The Police)and others took over the drumming during the tour. I made the PNC show but never made it to Jones Beach.
Thanx to Billy for the tix. You'll be hearing more about him, and the time we made it to Paris France to party on Jim Morrison's grave a little later on into the blog.
 |
| That's me Tommy Mondello at age 11. It was March of 1972 in Staten Island, New York just 2 blocks away from what would become The Rock Palace! A Ray Manzarek clone?? Not quit... ... but I could play a mean "Silent Night"... LoL There would be no "Light My Fire" in my future. |
Now... lets see if any of these names and faces jog a memory or two outta you...
... you half dead drunken muthafucka's!
... you half dead drunken muthafucka's!
Great times... great fuckin' times... LoL
After you've had a fun trip down memory lane, check out another post entitled
Rock 'n Roll Bookmarks
and see if anything clicks with you!
When in doubt...
just put your favorite album on
and kick fucking ass!!
After you've had a fun trip down memory lane, check out another post entitled
Rock 'n Roll Bookmarks
and see if anything clicks with you!
When in doubt...
just put your favorite album on
and kick fucking ass!!
Local Tri-State area
rock clubs & shitholes
And... right off the bat...
I want to thank EVERYONE in advance if any of the photo's here came from your site, post or where ever! Thank you so much for helping to make this blog entry simply a fucking awesome
walk down memory lane for so many of us!
Most of these photo's here were posted
by other's all over the Internet...
I just wanted to put them all in one place
for us to enjoy!
Thank you again for sharing!!
But if you do see something of yours here and want it gone... just contact me
and I will delete it right away okay!
tommyrawblog@gmail.com
******** Update for ********
THIS YEAR
2014
Before we get to the old stuff...
Here is something that is going to happen...
this year...
and twice no less!!
Fuck yeah!
So wake up you Tri-State rock club
hounds of the past...
and check this out!
Rick Bandazien
former owner of the legendary
Circus-Circus rock club
is having 2 book release parties for the
upcoming sure to be best seller...
Rock and Roll Meltdown
Three of our favorite club bands from
that amazing snapshot in time...
which was our fucking youth...
will be appearing at both parties...
Yasgur's Farm
Condor
The Badlands Band
How many fucking memories just ran thru your thick skulls just now huh!!! LoL
Pretty neat right!
First one will be
Friday October 17, 2014
at Tommy Fox's in Bergenfield, New Jersey.
And the second one will be
Saturday October 18, 2014
at Jenkinson's in Pt. Pleasant, New Jersey.
Had a great time at Jenkinson's!
You just couldn't help but have a smile
on your face the... entire time!
Snapped a few photo's of Condor
during their fun & energetic set.
It was just like being at
the Rock Palace on a Sunday night
all over again!!
These fucker's made me late for work
every damn Monday morning... LoL
All 3 bands were really great!
 |
| Thanx to Rick Bandazian for putting together a fun event! And also all the hard work you put into the book. Can't wait to begin reading! It was great to meet you at the show and thanx for signing my copy! YOU... and the other club owners... gave us all... the chance TO ROCK my friend!! |
Also talked with 3 members of
the amazing White Tiger band who were
in the crowd watching the show
And they told me that
WHITE TIGER
will be reuniting on
Saturday
December 13, 2014
and playing at
The Stone Pony
How fuckin' awesome is that going to be!!
I was unable to get to the show
but here are some pix of the
boyz on stage.
From the comments I read on fb
it was a packed Stone Pony
and White Tiger picked up
right where they left off
some 40 years ago...
which was of course...
kicking fucking ass!!
(thx to Joe Decker from fb for the pix!)
Go to White Tiger's facebook page
for many more photo's and video's
from that night!
https://www.facebook.com/whitetigerrocks
Also...
for an even longer trip down memory lane
and tons of great photo's
from the rock club days...
check out the facebook page of
Bruce Fishon
Local 70's Bands That Rocked The Tri-State Area
(NY,NJ,CT)
Just one more thing before we take that stroll down memory lane.
Just wanted to mention that one of the all-time great Rock-n-Roll photographers...
Mark Weiss
... was nice enough to check out this blog entry and take the time to leave a comment down below! Now how fuckin' cool is that!!
Mark has been the driving force behind so many of the incredible photo's we've been viewing over the years of our favorite rock hero's.
From Circus Magazine to Iconic album covers
and so much more!
He's now working on a book with
Daniel Siwek
do out April 5, 2016 entitled...
The Decade That Rocked
There's Mark with one of my all-time favorite local rock hero's...
Dee Snider
... shooting the cover for the Stay Hungry album then at a more recent meeting.
Too fuckin' cool right!!
After hitting Mark's facebook page
(link up above)
Go check out...
weissguygallery.com
And now, finally, to the old stuff...
The stuff that filled our memory banks
with nothing but amazing nights
of Rock 'n Roll...
and tons of whatever beer
we could afford!!
The Rock Club Daze...
Part 1
The Clubs
The Rock Palace... (my old stomping ground)
later became Billy O's and then October's
 |
| Van Pelt Ave & Walker Street on Staten Island right around the block from my house.
We lived in this fucking place!
|
The Birch Hill Nightclub
 |
| That's me underneath the big sign out on Route 9 in Old Bridge/Marlboro, NJ just weeks before they tore the joint down and began new home construction. The sign and poles are still there but of course say something different.  |
The Colonel's Garter
 |
 of the old stomping grounds. April 6, 2014. The Colonels Garter building Route 35 North South Amboy, NJ April 6, 2014 |
It was a strip joint for a long time. Now it's just vacant. Remember the
parking lot?? The one that dropped to the depths of hell!! How many
nights did you stumble down that muthafucka in a drunken stupor
trying to get to your car... so you could DRIVE home!!! LoLoLoL
How the fuck did we ever get thru those daze???? Awesome!!
New update for the Garter...
September 8, 2017
Was driving on Route 35 on my way to staten Island
to play some golf when I saw this happening... :(
New update for the Garter...
September 8, 2017
Was driving on Route 35 on my way to staten Island
to play some golf when I saw this happening... :(
Playpen Lounge NJ / South Fla
 |
| The old Playpen Lounge is now yet another strip joint... LoL So many great nights here with TT Quick & Edgar Cayce... Remember how you were right on top of the fucking stage! |
Club 35 / Brother's 3 / Mingles
 |
| This is the old Club 35/Brother's 3 & Mingles. That's Route 35 there. This place was called many things over the years. Remember another big disco club just south of here? Was called club Abyss and way back when it was called Close Encounters. So many places on this stupid road huh!! |
 |
| The old Club Bene'... with the big parking lot over to the right. That's Route 35 right before the brand new Laurence Harbor draw bridge. April 6, 2014 |
 |
    I took the pix below on Christmas morning Dec 25, 2014 just a few weeks after the Club Bene was torn down by bulldozers. The first one was from across Rt35 and the others were while I was standing right in front of where it was then turned around and took a few of the parking lot as well. |
The Factory...
and later became Snoopy's
 |
| The old SS White factory on Staten Island where this club was born. Great place... they had 2 stages. Saw the Joe Perry Project here. It was so cool, all the amps and stuff had the Aerosmith logo on them! |
 |
| This was taken in The Factory parking lot. We were there to see Crystal Ship play. |
 |
| The Fountain Casino is now a high end wedding/catering hall. Remember the big huge parking lot? That's still there as well. That first pic was taken with my back towards the parking lot and that second pic, my back was to RT 35. |
The Warehouse / Hotel California /
The Fast Lane / Fastlane 2
Carnegie Hall Entertainment Lounge
Jimmy Byrne's
Baby O
Close Encounters
The Ritz Theatre... Staten Island
The Mad Hatter / Turtle Bay
The Chatterbox
Speaks / The Rock Pile / The Action House
Emmett's Inn...
and now Garvey's Family Restaurant & Pub
The Great Gildersleeves
Zappa's
Joint In The Woods
before that it was The Rainbow Ranch
Headliner
TJ Mcturtles
Rising Sun
Beggar's Opera
Mary's Husband's Pub
Mary's Husband's Pub
taken from inside the pub.
It's pretty cool, as I remember
many a time walking into the bar
from the beach straight as an arrow
with the sun blazing down and then hours
later, after many, many... many
Long Island Ice Tea's...
walking out of the bar completely hammered, back out into that very same sun still blazing down upon us.
Wasn't it such a great time!!
My Father's Place
The TradewindsMy Father's Place
Circus Circus (and then changed to The Circus)
(Rick Bandazian has great memories on this facebook page!)
The Gangplank / Club Spanky
The Final Exam
and later Obsessions / Jordan's
Park Place
Rum Bottoms
Union Jack
The Royal Manor South / North
The Dunes 'Til Dawn
Dirty Nelly's
Cuss From Hoe
El Greco
Bar Casablanca
Guilio's
Paradox / Shout / The Club House
The Lighthouse
Red Baron / Sgt. Pepper's
Big Man's West
Ruins Cafe
The Wreck Room / Rock The House
A's Cafe
The Caves / Demyan's
Governors Inn
Malibu Night Club
The Dublin Pub
Sundance
Kenny's Castaway's
Salt 'n Pepper / Gulliver's
Creation (Was Faces before that)
The Green Parrot
Zaffy's
The Meadowbrook
Dodd's
Kimberly's Inn
The Rock Quarry
Kandy Bar Rock Cafe
Sparks
(formally The Hunka Bunka Ballroom dance club...
Modern Times and Willy's)
Rock Away
The Hole In The Wall / Pebbles
The Turtle Brook Inn
Aldo's
Glen Island Casino
Fore 'n Aft North & South
Westport Conn. / Brewster NY
White Plains NY
Video of the last night at the Aft... Jan 27, 1996
Westport Conn. / Brewster NY
White Plains NY
Video of the last night at the Aft... Jan 27, 1996
Gasoline Alley
Cheers
The Rip Tide
The Goose 'n Gander
The Arrow Lounge
Dolly Dimples / Silver Saddle Inn
The Orbit Inn / The Third Set
Joe Pops'
The Penalty Box
Bonnie's Roxx
Motionz
The Great Escape
The Red Rail
Marshmallow's / Maximus
Reggie's
Orphan Annie's
The Cricket Club
The Nook
The Parker House
Nobody's Inn
Butterfield's
The Cave rock club at Scandia Spa Hotel
The Jetty
Dick Lee's
Foxes
The Galaxy
The Century Inn and now Killmeyers
(29 seconds into the footage... it's quick, but still cool
and some nice pic's of the inside and out from the website.
It still looks the same... awesome!)
It still looks the same... awesome!)
Go to The Rock Club Daze...
Part 1
The Clubs... continued
Go to The Rock Club Daze...
Go to The Rock Club Daze...
Band list without photo's
Go to The Rock Club Daze...
Part 3
The Ad's & Promotions
Thanx for the memories muthafucka's!!
later... tommy
How about the malibu inn in sayreville or south amboy nj
ReplyDeleteGood catch! I have heard of that one. Just added them to the list and will post a photo if I come across any! Thanx for the head's up!!
DeleteMurphy's law in Long Branch -- my band opened for more than few groups there.
ReplyDeleteAnother good catch! Thanx for the update... just added it to the list. If I come up with any photo's I'll add them as well!! Thanx again for the head's up!
DeleteGreat page. It would be cool to add a section on the rock clubs that used to line Pacific Avenue in Wildwood back in the day...
ReplyDeletewe printed the dodds monday t-shirt.. we did work for good rats, molly cribb ,holme, the watch... satin jackets for mothers, fm studio, lighthouse, doc callahans and im sure many more... my dad ran the shop than still in business since 1947 national sportswear one bellevile nj oh yeah lotta stuff for capt lou too.... lou pucci watch guitarist worked here back in the late 70s
ReplyDeleteSo great to see all these places and the names of all the bands we followed around Jersey. Best times of my life, God how I miss those days
ReplyDeleteme and the ol'lady probably had run into you more than a few times back in the day as we were always at the clubs,especially the ones in N.J.and really who can forget your olds.this blog is musical treasure,thanks for all the time you put in it to share with everyone. take care.
ReplyDeleteHello mate grreat blog
ReplyDelete