Letters to the Editor

Farewell from Asbury Park, N.J. In 1968, a skinny teenager named Bruce Springsteen started jamming at an all-ages club on the Jersey Shore. Now, as the Upstage faces demolition, fans remember better days. By Rebecca Traister [2006-01-03]

• Farewell from Asbury Park, NJ

  Wow. This brings back memories. I graduated from Asbury Park High School in 1971, one year behind Springsteen's wife, Patti Scialfa, who lived in Deal. Wasn't much into the music scene myself and had no awareness of the Upstage; lived a few blocks from the Stone Pony. Remember the riots happening the summer before my senior year. Living in the "nice" part of Asbury Park, between Deal and Sunset Lakes, I recall the police, and National Guard parking their vehicles on the streets near where I lived. When school started that Fall we had no idea what to expect. There was no attempt to have classes at first; no impulse to sweep it all under the carpet. Everyone was allowed to attend an informal meeting in the auditorium, and in those days, long before we had a counselling industry, we somehow managed to talk things through enough to go on with school in short order. That school year, as I remember it, was uneventful for the most part. Not much got rebuilt in the areas affected by the riots. But the boardwalk didn't fall apart all at once, nor did the city and its summer trade. It's a ghost of itself now though, to be sure. I was hoping to see mention of my old friend, Billy Rush, who was in Patti's class and played guitar with Southside Johnny, a few years later, after he dropped out of college. I don't think he ever went to the Upstage but I can't think why not: Maybe he did and never remarked on it. Maybe I was in there once myself and can't remember it.

  -- Cavilia
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