Music lovers stream into Holmdel, NJ’s PNC Bank Arts Center this Thursday, June 5, 2025 evening for a Garden State Arts Foundation 40th anniversary concert starring legendary radio DJ Bruce “Cousin Brucie” Morrow and Tony Orlando’s salute to veterans, along with singer/songwriter Andy Kim.
Tonight’s program is the first of two free Spring 2025 GSAF evening musical events which also includes an Hispanic Culture and Heritage Celebration show featuring Los Lobos and Flor de Toloache on June 19.
As Andy Kim readies himself backstage to perform, he talks about what inspired him to be a musician. “I do not come from a musical family,” explains Kim, “I grew up in the tenements of Montreal where listening to Cousin Brucie on WABC radio changed my world. Borrowing my brother’s transistor radio, I heard him talking about artists who were coming to town and a brand-new world I never knew existed opened up for me. After that, I found a cracked guitar, learned how to play it, and started writing songs.”
The co-writer of The Archies’ 1969 #1 hit, “Sugar, Sugar,” Kim further recalls, “My mentors were Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich. I was so lucky to be with them on the ninth floor of the Brill Building in New York City where you’d see Leiber and Stoller, Phil Spector, and the rest of them working, and I had no idea what I was doing there but I soon learned. I owe all of that to Jeff Berry who encouraged me.”
After charting with the Barry/Greenwich composition, “Baby, I Love You,” Kim relates, “I was so excited to have that first million selling record, but I was still the kid who grew up in Montreal. Even today, I still can’t believe there’s an audience for me,” prior to concluding, “I’m just so happy and excited about all of it!”
Inside the PNC Bank Arts Center amphitheater, Ron Gravino, Vice President of GSAF’s Board of Trustees, welcomes tonight’s crowd. He introduces the members of the US Marine Corps Color Guard who take the stage for the playing of the national anthem.
GSAF Board of Trustees Chairman Francis K. O’Connor speaks to the audience about the Foundation’s celebration of “40 remarkable years of entertainment, culture, and community,” and President Michael R. DuPont talks about the importance of supporting the Feeding Our Heroes program for NJ veterans.
Gravino introduces Cousin Brucie who greets concertgoers and wishes the GSA Foundation a “Happy 40th anniversary.”
As a surprise to Brucie, Jay Siegel’s Tokens — Jay Siegel, Kurt “Frenchy” Yahian, and Gabe Dassa — take the stage.
Under the direction of keyboardist Dennis DeBrizzi, the members of Andy Kim’s backup band — keyboardist David Cassavitis; guitarists Kerry Cole, Tracy Cole, and Nick Sibley; bassist Captain Sibley; and drummer Tim Pope — accompany Siegel and The Tokens as they open with their 1961 hit, “Tonight I Fell in Love.” Music lovers sing along on the “Dom, doobie dom, woo-ooh, doobie, doobie” refrain before Siegels’ trademark falsetto rings out on the “Tonight, tonight I fell in love” lyric.
The crowd cheers and the musicians follow up with “Portrait of My Love.” Singing, “There could never be/A portrait of my love/For nobody can paint a dream,” Siegel and the Tokens present a top-notch live rendition of the group’s 1967 Top 40 hit which brings enthusiastic applause from the crowd.
Lastly, Siegel and Co. thrill the audience with their timeless rendition of The Tokens’ biggest hit, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” where Jay flawlessly croons, “In the jungle, the mighty jungle/The lion sleeps tonight,” in the song’s original key.
On the reprise, Siegel invites the audience to sing along and music lovers stand and cheer at the conclusion before Brucie and Jay pose for a selfie and Brucie introduces Andy Kim to the crowd.
Backed by the members of his band, Kim opens his set with “It’s Your Life,” and moves around the stage as he sings in his strong clear voice, “Hey, everybody/Everybody, do what you can,” on this funky rocker.
Kim talks about listening to Cousin Brucie on the radio as a youngster and follows up by revealing to the Jersey crowd that one of his cousins — a Marine with a wheelchair — created the Jersey Wheelers basketball team and also helped establish the National Wheelchair Basketball Association.
Announcing “This was my first hit,” Kim steps into the breezy 1968 folk rocker, “How’d We Ever Get This Way,” and follows up by performing his 1969 pop tune, “So Good Together.”
After disclosing, “I tried to copy Bo Diddley and couldn’t, but I always loved the way he played,” Kim cries, “Hey, Bo Diddley/I ain’t taking no rainbow ride,” on his rhythmic rocker, “Rainbow Ride.”
Confessing, “I was only as good as my last two minutes and 30 seconds of music so my shelf life was slowly fading until WABC played this one,” Kim launches into his 1969 hit record, “Baby, I Love You.” Music lovers sing along on the pop song’s infectious, “Baby, I love you/Baby, I love you/Come on baby, na-na na-na na-na-na” refrain.
The crowd hoots and hollers and Kim acknowledges, “I owe Cousin Brucie a debt of gratitude for that,” prior to debuting a new ballad where he wistfully sings, “I’m on the Back Porch of My Days.”
Prior to introducing the members of his backup band, Kim surprises many in the crowd when he reveals that he inherited the group from a retired musician, explaining, “This band has been handed down to me by a gentleman who has cared about and helped me. His name is Tony Orlando.”
Concertgoers cheer and Kim talks about other Canadian artists who have achieved success in the United States including Gordon Lightfoot, Burton Cummings, and Paul Anka before coming down into the audience and singing the #1 US hit he wrote with Jeff Barry, “Sugar, Sugar.” Music lovers happily sing along on the tune’s “Sugar/Oh, honey, honey” chorus.
To conclude his set, Kim performs his 1974 chart-topper, “Rock Me Gently.”
Concertgoers sing along with Kim on the tune’s appealing “Rock me gently, rock me slowly” chorus prior to standing and applauding as Kim blows kisses to the crowd.
After chatting with Kim, Cousin Brucie introduces the audience to another special guest in the house — Vito Piccone, lead singer of The Elegants — who scored a #1 hit in 1958 with “Little Star.”
Following a brief intermission, Brucie welcomes Tony Orlando to the stage where Orlando and the band get the crowd clapping along to the beat of Neil Diamond’s “America.” Dedicating the song to all the veterans in the house, Orlando’s strong, full voice carries the melody as he sings with pride before the audience joins him in singing the tune’s patriotic “Today!/Today!” refrain.
Insisting, “You put your life on the line for America!” Orlando invites veterans from World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War to stand and thanks them for a job well done. He also recognizes veterans from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and shakes hands with several vets seated near the stage.
Orlando recalls that in 1973, Bob Hope called to invite him to welcome home POWs by performing his song, “Tie a Yellow Ribbon.” Here, he introduces concertgoers to Bob Hope’s nephew who is present in the crowd. As Orlando makes his way through the audience, music lovers sing along on the song’s “Tie a yellow ribbon ‘round the ole oak tree” refrain before responding at the conclusion with animated cheers and applause.
Orlando talks about working with Jay Seigel who, years ago, produced and sang on two of his momentous hits. On the first, 1970’s “Candida,” Orlando handles the lead, Siegel sings backup, and the crowd happily joins in singing on the song’s “Candida/We can make it together” refrain. On the second, 1971’s “Knock Three Times,” the audience sings along on the “Knock three times on the ceiling if you want me” chorus.
Before Siegel leaves the stage, Orlando asks him to join in on a reprise of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” where Tony sings the verse, Siegel sings the high part, and the audience sings the “Wimoweh” refrain.
Orlando follows up by performing his 1973 recording, “Say Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose.” After talking about his admiration for singer Jerry Butler, he presents a soulful rendition of Butler’s “He Will Break Your Heart” which Orlando recorded in 1975 as “He Don’t Love You Like I Love You” and which rose to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Orlando acknowledges that it was Cousin Brucie who introduced him at his first performance at NJ’s Palisades Amusement Park when he was only 16 years old and he invites Brucie to join him on stage to sing Morrow’s favorite Tony Orlando song, “Who’s in the Strawberry Patch with Sally.”
The audience cheers for the duet and Orlando introduces singer Johnny Petillo, formerly of The Duprees and Danny and the Juniors, who sings lead on The Five Satins’ “In the Still of the Night” prior to segueing into Ronnie Milsap’s “Lost in the ’50s Tonight.”
The crowd joins in singing “See the pyramids along the Nile” on The Duprees’ “You Belong to Me” before Petillo shows his vocal range and versatility on an upbeat version of The Marcels’ “Blue Moon” which has Tony and music lovers reacting with enthusiasm.
Orlando goes on to invite Petillo and Andy Kim to join him for a mash up of classic tunes including Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode,” The Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” and The Isley Brothers’ “Shout.”
He also invites GSAF VP Ron Gravino to join him on Los Lobos’ “La Bamba.”
Brucie returns to the stage to present Tony Orlando with the Francis Albert Sinatra Tribute to the Performing Arts Award — a GSAF honor established in 1993 which recognizes individuals, corporations, and philanthropic organizations dedicated to enriching New Jersey’s cultural life through their support of the Garden State Arts Foundation.
Orlando is touched by the award and concludes tonight’s program by leading the audience in singing an impromptu rendition of “God Bless America,” after which the crowd cheers as Orlando exclaims, “God bless America, and thank you, everybody!”
As music lovers make their way out of the PNC Bank amphitheater, several comment on tonight’s performance. Declares Brenda from Aberdeen, “It was a spectacular show! Tony Orlando and Cousin Brucie are both legends, I really enjoyed Jay Seigel and The Tokens, and I was very impressed with Andy Kim.”
Exclaims Anna from West Orange, “Oh my God, this show was spectacular! I’m from the younger generation — I’m 31 years old — and this is literally the first-ever concert I’ve ever seen by Tony Orlando. He’s incredible — the amount of energy he has — and I really loved the doo-wop music and music of the ’60s and ’70s the artists performed tonight,” prior to adding, “I think my parents really raised me well!”
Bob from Floral Park, NY, explains, “I’m an entertainer and I thought this show was great! All of the singers were great, and Tony Orlando was fantastic — I especially love the way Tony’s shows flow because he just ‘lets it go’ and has a great time performing on stage.”
Bruce from Parsippany insists, “This was an iconic night of music by legends from my childhood. It’s about the 100th show I’ve seen this year and it was different from all the rest because it had a little bit of everything which made for a special and fabulous evening.”
Lisa from Brooklyn contends, “I loved this show! It had a great combination of artists. With Tony Orlando you can never go wrong. Andy Kim doesn’t come around that often— I last saw him about two decades ago in Manhattan and he’s still got that same swagger — and seeing Jay Seigel and the Tokens was a great surprise, as well. All of the singers have such great voices and they all look so good, too.”
Lastly, Paul from Monroe Township asserts, “Tonight’s show was fantastic! Tony Orlando was great — he sang so well and his energy and patriotism were off the charts. Johnny Petillo was fantastic and Jay Seigel was spot-on and when you add in Andy Kim, it made for a great, great night,” prior to concluding, “I really loved this show — The Garden State Arts Foundation always does such a super job!”
For info on upcoming free Spring 2025 Garden State Arts Foundation concerts — including the Hispanic Culture and Heritage Celebration starring Los Lobos and Flor de Toloache on June 19 at 7:30 pm — please click on gsafoundation.org.
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