there is obviously so much information and history
to tony marts, maybe too much for a website page
like this. while this may start out like i have it below,
i will continue to research more pics, videos and history
about south jersey's contribution to great rock n roll.
hopefully you take a minute to read it and enjoy.
thank you
chuck
for those who may not remember, Tony Marts was a rock club,
just off the circle in somers point, down the street from the
anchorage. Back in its prime, tony's hosted some of rock and roll's
biggest up and coming acts. the most prominent was the group,
The Band, discovered by Bob Dylan, who promptly
asked them to tour with him as his opening act.
i took the following exerpt from a bill kelly article i read on the
internet. i think you will understand the magnitude this place
achieved in the early years of rock n roll. thank you bill.
" Some bands that never made it outside of Somers Point, others like Levon and the Hawks, Bill Haley and the Comets, the Skyliners (“Pennies from Heaven”), Conway Twitty, the Brooklyn Bridge, Mike Pedicin, Sr. (“Shake a Hand”), Tido Mambo,…they were all there. Levon and the Hawks, who became The Band, moved to Woodstock, backed Bob Dylan and went on to mythical status, according to The Book, played Tony Marts as the house band behind headliner Conway Twitty for a few months in the summer of 1965. They were replaced for Labor Day weekend by Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels (“Devil in the Blue Dress”). "
an early photo of tony marts, undated,
but in speaking to a longtime resident,
he said it appears to be from the late
40's or early 50's
i spoke to someone who asked to be called steve. he said
that the SOP for a weekend night in somers point went as follows.
hang out at the anchorage, move to bayshores, then on to tony marts
after 10 pm, because thats what time they opened. after the music
ended at tony's, it was back to the anchorage til 3am or so, and then
on to Dunes til Dawn, until well.......dawn. then, for those who still had
some energy and were hungry, it was breakfast at the Point
Diner. some crashed in summer houses, some on the beach,
and the locals went home.
the outside of tony marts often had pictures of the current
house band or headlining acts. some of these pics were almost life sized.
later into the 70's and just before closing in 82, tony's became a
rock club for cover bands. the big acts had long since moved to either
the casinos or to the huge venues like the spectrum and
madison square garden.
my personal tony marts memories were from the late 70's and 1980.
my buddy kurt and i had an apartment in ocean city for a couple of
summers, ( 222 ocean ave. i believe ) and tony's was the closest and
still the best rock club to hang in.
i remember two bands on most nights and they would
alternate sets. the patrons who wanted to be close to the music moved
closest to the band that was playing at the time. those who
wanted to talk moved to the other side of the room, oh, and i remember
i couldnt get lucky with a girl no matter what i tried.
( see, some things still do stay the same )
what has prompted my sudden fascination with tony's. maybe its my
current re-fascination with the movie eddie and the cruisers and its
sequel. in the original, the cruisers become the headline act at tony's
in 1964. so many scenes were filmed in the club, and all around
somers point and the shore area.
the music was early rock n roll with a hint of bruce. the original is a
classic, the sequel, almost as good. below is a video from the
first movie. most of the music scenes were shot a tony marts. the
outdoor scenes were filmed on an extra large deck built for the movie,
that actually sat on top of the building, and looked out over the bay.
the inside scenes were on the stage, in the bar. some of the "pretty
and handsome" patrons were models brought in for the movie. most of
the patrons in the bar scene were longtime tony marts regular customers
and family friends who were included at the insistance of Tony and his
son, Carmen.
btw, one of the most famous lines in the movie is when the band
arrives at the bar for the first time. as the band strikes a glaring pose,
sal amato, the bass player and eddie's best friend says to an employee,
" tell Tony, the Cruisers are here ".
NOTE: its easter sunday night and the house is quiet, and i watched
the original eddie and the cruisers movie again, and i noticed a few
things about Tony's that i didn't mention before, but that i recalled from
being there 30 yrs ago.
there were small pennants hanging from the ceiling, surrounding the dance
floor and bar areas. the pennants were mostly from local colleges with a
few more prominant national schools there too.
i also noticed the one bar was practically right on top of the stage,
with some of the bar patrons almost having front row seats.
the movie is making the rounds on cable again right now. check it
out one night, enjoy the music, re-live a place from our past, and
see a bit of our hometown on the big-screen 28 yrs ago.
in the video below, the outdoor scenes were shot on that rooftop deck
and the water scenes behind the band are the bay on the north east
side of somers point, looking out towards ventnor and margate.
and check out the guy playing keyboard next to eddie. yes, thats a
young and yet to be famous tom berenger.
hopefully you enjoy the video.
>
and i actually like the sequel as much as the original. here's a series of clips from the movie, set to the big song from the soundtrack, once again down by john cafferty. and while there's nothing like On The Darkside, Running Through The Fire is pretty damn good. if you see the sequel making the rounds, its only 90 mins. enjoy it.
