Talk about “Love on the Wrong Side of Town”…. that’s how I refer to my tour of duty with Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes! My first show was in December of 1975 at Georgetown University in D.C. It truly was love at first sight! Horns, horns, horns…. I was crazy about those horns! We made our first trip to NJ (1979) to go to the New Year’s Show at the Capitol Theater in Passaic, NJ & the New Year’s gig became a tradition for many years. I had a front row seat at the Capitol Theater in 1980 and also front row for New Year’s show at the Warner Theater in DC. I remember going to Asbury Park for the record release for “Jukes” at Seaview Square Mall & later going to the show at the Paramount Theater. We didn’t have much money back then, so we slept in the van in front of the theater in AP. I just remember that it was really hot & no bathrooms or anything… kinda “homeless in AP”… all for the Jukes!

I’ve taken countless pix and gotten countless crazy autographs from Southside. I’ve been at shows in VA, DC, MD, DE, NJ, & NYC… a couple hundred of them! I have several favorite Jukes tales… one, I was at the Bayou show in DC & there was a comedian on before the Jukes. He was really bad. Someone (in the back of the club) didn’t like him and threw a glass ashtray towards the stage and hit me in the back on the head. I got a huge knot on my head and refused to go to the hospital ‘cause I would miss the Jukes Show. I can also remember making a large bumper sticker that said “VIRGINIA IS FOR LOVERS & SOUTHSIDE JOHNNY & THE JUKES” and taking it to University of Richmond and giving it to Southside on the stage. The band proudly displayed it in front of the drums during the show. Oh yeah, and then there was the time when I wore an evening gown to see the Jukes play at the Dewey Beach Bartender’s Ball…. One of my finest moments was when I sat in the front seat of the bus and chatted with Johnny in the parking lot of my old dorm at Mary Washington College, in my hometown of Fredericksburg, VA. Last but not least, I sat with Johnny at Great Adventure in NJ and watched Michael Pare (Eddie & The Cruisers) learn to lip ‘sync “On the Dark Side” at a Beaver Brown Show.

I’m 55 now and can proudly say that I’ve seen at least one Jukes show every year since 1975… The New Year’s shows cured me from ever going to a boring New Year’s Eve Party & it’s just not the 4th of July without seeing the Jukes at the Stone Pony!