Inside Lakewood, NJ's Strand Theater this November 16, 2024 evening, music fans live for today as they ready themselves for a Golden Oldies Extravaganza starring The Grass Roots, The Cyrkle, The Brooklyn Bridge, The Vogues, The Chiclettes, The Coda Band, and Vinnie Medugno.
Backstage, members of The Grass Roots talk about returning to New Jersey to perform. Says guitarist Dusty Hanvey, “We love being back in the Garden State — it’s beautiful here. We have lots of fans up and down the East Coast, and especially here in New Jersey,” to which lead vocalist/bassist Mark Dawson adds, “It’s so good to see so many friends again. We’re glad the folks are still coming out after the pandemic — they’re coming out in full force and we’re really happy about that.” Keyboardist Larry Nelson jokes, “People want to come hear The Grass Roots — because we’re in town. They know we’re here for a good time, not a long time!”
Inside the historic Strand auditorium, concert promoter Jim D’Amico welcomes the crowd and introduces tonight’s opening act, comedian Laura High, who jokes about two distinct things closely associated with New Jersey — “Princeton University” and “Snooki.”
Suggesting that although a DNA test showed she is of Jewish descent, High reveals she was raised Catholic so she gets to experience “two kinds of guilt.” During her set, she discusses a range of life topics including weddings, marriage, fertility challenges, divorce, and, finally, finding a man who isn’t afraid to “see how the sausage is made” watching her put on her Spanx.
The crowd cheers as tonight’s emcee, 77-WABC radio DJ and entertainer Vinnie Medugno, takes the stage. Accompanied by The Chiclettes vocal trio and The Coda Band featuring Mary Beth Ryan-Mastropaolo on saxophone, Dennis DiBrizzi on keyboards, Joe DeAngelis on guitar, Paul Page on bass, and Pete Mastropaulo on drums, Medugno opens the show singing Johnny Tillotson’s “Poetry in Motion.”
Crooning with ease and personality, Medugno follows up with his rendition of Gene Pitney’s “Town Without Pity,” which he performed nationally on TJ Lubinsky’s PBS television show, Doo Wop, Pop, and Soul Generations.
Stating, “This is my tribute to ‘The Voice,’ Mr. Jay Black,” Medugno performs his signature song, “Cara Mia,” a number which was originally recorded by Jay and the Americans. Using his full voice along with his falsetto, his powerful performance provokes a standing ovation from the crowd.
Joking, “I think the audience has woken up!” Medugno concludes his set with an up-tempo version of Sam Cooke’s “Twistin’ the Night Away,” which has the audience cheering and applauding as he sings and dances with The Chiclettes.
After thanking the crowd, Medugno leaves the stage to The Chiclettes and vocalists Gracie, Kailyn, and Jennie energetically dance and sing in three-part harmony to Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard it Through the Grapevine.”
The Chiclettes introduce one another before Kailyn’s pointed voice is featured on Honey Cone’s “Want Ads” and Gracie’s warm tone connects with the crowd as she sings lead on Lulu’s “To Sir With Love.”
Jennie’s soulful voice is spotlighted on Dusty Springfield’s “Son of a Preacher Man.” Then, after starting off slowly, the trio picks up the tempo on the Ike and Tina Turner version of “Proud Mary” where the women take turns singing lead to avid cheers and applause.
Medugno introduces The Vogues — Elliot McCoy, Troy Elich, and Royce Taylor — who open their set with their 1966 hit, “Five O’Clock World.” The trio gets the audience singing along on the song’s “A-da-lay-ee-ee” refrain of this number which was used as the opening theme for TV’s The Drew Carey Show.
Following two lesser known tunes — the rock ballad, “Magic Town,” and the upbeat ’60s rocker, “The Land of Milk and Honey” — The Vogues move on to their 1968 million seller, “My Special Angel,” where the audience enjoys the smooth sound that lead singer Troy Elich and his colleagues create on this classic ballad.
The group follows up with a dynamic rendition of The Vogues’ 1968 Top Ten hit, “Turn Around, Look at Me,” where the trio’s close harmonies bring concertgoers to their feet.
Ending their set with their upbeat 1965 hit, “You’re the One,” the crowd claps along with Elich and Co. on this happy-go-lucky tune which inspires cheers, applause, and another standing ovation.
Announcing, “This group needs no introduction,” Medugno welcomes to the stage The Brooklyn Bridge, comprised of vocalists Joe “Bean” Esposito, Joe Ruvio, and John Williams, keyboardist Marty D’Amico, guitarist Mike Ernst, bassist Jimmy Rosica, and drummer Lou Agiesta.
Deftly backed by the velvety voices of his bandmates, Joe “Bean” handles the dynamic lead vocal on a cover version of Jackie Wilson’s “Lonely Teardrops.”
The crowd cheers and bassist Jimmy Rosica announces, “Sit back and enjoy yourselves,” as Esposito sings lead and Ruvio, Williams, and Rosica step together on the feel-good tune, “Welcome Me Love.” Rich, full vocal harmonies characterize the group’s 1969 ballad, “Blessed is the Rain,” before the septet shifts into The Brooklyn Bridge’s soft-rocker, “Your Husband, My Wife.”
The singers step in time as they perform The Crests’ “Step By Step” prior to segueing into Johnny Maestro’s 1959 classic hit with The Crests, “Sixteen Candles,” which has music lovers singing along with Esposito as he croons, “Sixteen candles make a lovely light.”
Rosica recalls, “We had the pleasure of performing this song on The Ed Sullivan Show,” as he and The Brooklyn Bridge launch into their 1969 smash, “Worst That Could Happen.” On this classic Jimmy Webb composition, the arrangement builds as it crescendos into the famous “Wedding March” coda which leaves audience members cheering and applauding on their feet.
Following a short intermission, Medugno returns to introduce The Cyrkle. Band members Pat McLoughlin, Don Dannemann, Mike Losekamp, Don White, Scott Langley, and Dean Kastran take the stage and open their set with a bright and bouncy rendition of their 1966 Top 20 hit, “Turn-Down Day.”
Founding member Don Danneman welcomes the crowd, declaring, “I’m 81 years old and I get still get to rock out on stage!” prior to introducing original member Mike Losecamp whose soulful voice is featured on the 1970 Ides of March hit, “Vehicle.”
Segueing into a song that kept The Cyrkle’s biggest hit out of the #1 spot on the Billboard charts back in 1966, the musicians perform a rockin’ rendition of The Beatles’ “Paperback Writer.” Then, presenting a number that Paul Simon offered to The Cyrkle but they declined to record, the band performs “The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy),” lending an easy Cyrkle groove to this breezy tune.
Danneman announces, “We hope you like our new single called ‘Dance With Me Tonight,’” as the group slides into this snappy upbeat rocker which gets the crowd clapping along with its happy beat. Lastly, music lovers cheer for the band’s biggest hit — 1966’s “Red Rubber Ball” — and join in singing the tune’s inspiring “And I think it’s gonna be all right/Yeah, the worst is over now/The mornin’ sun is shinin’ like a red rubber ball” refrain.
The crowd stands and cheers and Medugno exclaims, “That’s music that makes you feel good!” before introducing tonight’s final act, The Grass Roots. Guitarist Dusty Hanvey, keyboardist Larry Nelson, drummer Joe Dougherty, and lead vocalist/bassist Mark Dawson take the stage and open with their 1969 hit, “I’d Wait A Million Years,” where Dawson’s smooth vocal rings out over the auditorium as he sings, “I’d wait a million years/Walk a million miles, cry a million tears.”
After a rollicking rendition of the uptempo “Heaven Knows,” The Grass Roots segue into their 1971 Top 10 single, “Sooner or Later,” where the crowd energetically joins in singing on the song’s infectious “Sooner or later/Love is gonna get ya” refrain.
Hanvey takes over the microphone and introduces The Grass Roots’ 1967 gold record, “Let’s Live For Today.” He dedicates the song to veterans in the audience — notably those who served in Vietnam, explaining, “They were the only veterans to return home without a hero’s welcome.” Hanvey and Dawson trade lead vocals and the audience joins in on the song’s powerful “Sha-la la-la-la-la live for today” chorus before Hanvey impresses with a blistering guitar solo which has audience members hooting, hollering, and cheering for more.
Dawson introduces his bandmates and the group continues with 1971’s “Two Divided by Love” where music lovers sing along on the tune’s catchy “Two divided by love/Can only be one” refrain. They follow up with a rockin’ version of their 1970 hit, “Temptation Eyes,” which features Hanvey picking with precision and skill as his fingers fly across his guitar’s fingerboard.
To conclude tonight’s show, The Grass Roots present an electrifying rendition of their 1968 Top 5 hit, “Midnight Confessions,” where concertgoers sing along on the “In my midnight confessions/When I tell all the world that I love you” chorus, dance at their seats, and enthusiastically take over the lead on the dynamic “I love you!” exclamation.
Music lovers stand and cheer and Hanvey exclaims, “Lakewood is the only place to party, in case you didn’t know it!” and Dawson announces, “Thank you so much, everybody — we hope to see you again soon!” at which point Medugno concludes tonight’s Golden Oldies Extravaganza by declaring, “Now that’s how you end a show!”
Afterwards, Medugno reflects on the night’s performance acknowledging, “For me, it was a such a blast to work for the first time with The Grass Roots and The Cyrkle. They’re all such great guys, it’s an honor to spin their records on WABC!” Observing, “Each time we come together for these shows it becomes more and more evident that this music is alive and well and isn’t going anywhere anytime soon,” Mudugno promises, “As long as people keep coming out, we’ll do our due diligence and keep it going!”
To learn more about upcoming concerts at Lakewood’s Strand Theater — including The Machine Performs Pink Floyd on December 7, Almost Queen on January 11, Credence Revived on February 8, The Stranger: A Tribute to Billy Joel on March 1, The Ultimate Doors on March 29, and Daybreak: The Music and Passion of Barry Manilow on June 28 — please go to strand.org.
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