My SSJ story comes full circle back to the beginning. well, okay. that's a bit of literary kitsch but. just let me tell the story, okay?

I first came across the Jukes in the summer of 1978, between high school graduation and heading off for college. A buddy and I decided to road trip across the state of Iowa to go see his former next door neighbor and friend, and we stopped at his family's lakeside cottage in Clear Lake, IA to stay the night. There we found "I Don't Want to Go Home", threw it on the turntable, and I was hooked. It was like nothing I had ever heard before.

Later, that fall at the University of Iowa you could find me repeatedly heading up the stairs to BJ Records in Iowa City (yes, wow. a record store! vinyl. albums. those were the days.) and buying every Jukes album I could find. Not all at once of course. I'd scrape up the $5.99 or so that I needed and got them one at a time. but very quickly I had snatched up "This Time it's For Real", "Live at the Bottom Line", "Hearts of Stone" and my very own copy of "I Don't Want to Go Home". I probably didn't know crap about music, but I loved that voice and I loved that horn-based wall of sound. I read and re-read the back cover of that debut album, the long list of crazy thank you's, Springsteen's note, and who the hell is this Miami Steve dude? Remember, this is back in prehistoric days, there was no www.anything. I was just a kid in Iowa with no way to find out any more than what was in front of my face. So anyways, it's still the fall of 1978 and there in MacLean Hall was the poster (man, I wish I had stolen it off the wall now). Live at Hancher Auditorium in Iowa City - opening for the J Geils Band was Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes!!!! It still brings goosebumps when I think about it. Seriously, right now I got goosebumps. I mean it.

I wish now that I knew more about them at the time.... but I didn't.... and so now I wonder just who was there and who wasn't. I clearly remember John with a bandaged hand, and then a stage full of musicians with a full horn section. What a show! What a sound! I had no knowledge of "miami horns" or any awareness of an emerging "jersey shore sound" - all I knew was that I loved it. Looking back now all I can say is that it was sheer genius Steven, sheer genius.

And then that was it. Huh?. whaddya mean that was it? I mean, this was Iowa. nobody had heard of these guys. at least that's how it felt to me. I remember only once did I ever hear a Jukes song on the radio. Only once! In Mankato, Minnesota I heard 'New Romeo'. Now I'm not saying they never got airplay here in the Midwest. I'm just saying I never heard anything. And I always (always!) would get from anyone else "Who? Ashbury Dukes? .oh, Jukes! nah! never heard of 'em". I know now that you guys were out there. Jersey, Philly, New York, Boston, Cleveland, big followings in the UK & Germany. But for me the Jukes and Southside were my own little private affair that I didn't and couldn't share with anyone else.
I kept listening, kept looking for new releases when I could. But life comes hard and fast. Graduation, marriage, jobs, kids, mortgages. and it wasn't like I was some hardcore music scene fan. I just didn't keep up.

So here we are - roll ahead to 2005. The albums have been replaced with an even larger collection of SSJ CD's. And I now have the website www.southsidejohnny.com to keep me informed and updated. So how great was it to see a gig show up here in Iowa again? Yah - it was great! Even better, it was at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa. Yes, yes. the Surf Ballroom. Remember? The day the music died. The last show for Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper & Ritchie Valens. Yeah. that place. This was a place I had to go and a show I had to see! The Surf Ballroom. And in Clear Lake where I first discovered the Jukes!

It was a great night and a great show. It was a warm summer night and the crowd was pretty small. I'd love to say something like the crowd was small but made up for it with its incredible energy and enthusiasm. But, the reality was the crowd was small and it was the guys on stage that made up for it with their incredible energy and enthusiasm! I parked myself right up against the stage and loved every second of it. I think what I love most about your voice and your sound John is the sense that you love what you do and that you never just go through the motions. My most heartfelt thanks to you and the guys who gave me their all that night. I'm so sorry that I probably cannot name each and everyone, but I will try anyway. John & Bobby, Joey Stann & Chris Anderson. That must have been Jeff Kazee on the keyboards that night, wasn't it? I know I am missing someone but thank you one and all for a fabulous night!

There've been a lot of changes for us all since 1978 - lots of water under the bridge. God knows we're all a lot older and maybe a bit grayer. As I stood there at the stage that night in 2005, back in Clear Lake again after some 27 years, singing along with every song, I realized that one thing that hadn't changed a bit. It's really a pretty simple thing. The music doesn't make me aware of some deeper meaning to life, it doesn't trigger some spiritual awakening, it doesn't magically transport me to some idea of a better world. That night at the Surf Ballroom made me feel the same way as it did way back those 27 years ago when an 18 year old kid in Iowa first listened to that album on a turntable. It made me feel good.
It's a true story, baby. Every word is gospel.