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MPAC Hosts ROCK OF THE 80s Today

By: Aug. 07, 2014
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MPAC goes retro with a blast of 80s rock today, August 7 at 8 pm. Rock of the 80s features The Romantics ("What I Like About You"), The Smithereens ("A Girl Like You"), Marshall Crenshaw ("Someday, Someway") and Tommy Tutone ("867-5309/Jenny"). Tickets are $39-69.

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This concert is sponsored by AAA.

The Romantics: The original members of The Romantics-Wally Palmar, Jimmy Marinos, Mike Skill and Rich Cole-formally became a band on Valentine's Day,1977. Bred on the mean streets of Detroit's east side, they were inspired by the British punk invasion and their hometown rock scene. Nearly 30 years later they are still known for having created some of the most influential and beloved rock and roll of all time. The Romantics cut their teeth on the Detroit sound characterized by the MC5, the Stooges, Bob Seger and the Last Heard, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, the Rationals, SRC, the Underdogs, and infused it with sincerity, irony, spontaneity and, of course, volume. They favored short hair, short songs and popularized red leather suits.

After signing with Nemperor Records in 1979, The Romantics released their debut LP, recorded in three weeks. Anchored by "That's What I Like About You," "When I Look In Your Eyes" and a cover of Ray Davies' "She's Got Everything," the album is an exemplary pop-rock period piece. The Romantics evoke a youthful portrait, haunting in its innocence, a direct contrast to the tough world they know in Detroit. The band reached its commercial peak in 1983-1984 with In Heat, a platinum album bearing two top ten singles: "Talking In Your Sleep" and "One In A Million."

The Smithereens: Dressed in leather, brandishing heavy guitars, and exhibiting an unabashed fetish for British Invasion pop, the Smithereens were an anomaly in the American college rock scene of the late '80s. Lead singer/songwriter/guitarist Pat DiNizio stood out not only with his strange beatnik goatee, but also because his catchy hooks were haunting, not punchy. Green Thoughts appeared early in 1988, and the first single, "Only a Memory," not only became a college and modern rock hit, but it crossed over to album rock stations as well. The Smithereens made their attempt for big-time album rock success with their third album, 11. Hiring producer Ed Stasium brought a heavier guitar sound, which made "A Girl Like You" -- a Top 40 hit, sending 11 to gold status.

Marshall Crenshaw: Born near Detroit, Michigan, Marshall Crenshaw began playing guitar at age ten and he received his first break playing John Lennon in the off-Broadway company of Beatlemania. In 1987, he played Buddy Holly in the Richie Valens biopic La Bamba. While living in NYC, he recorded the single "Something's Gonna Happen" for Alan Betrock's Shake Records, which led to a deal with Warner Bros. His debut album, Marshall Crenshaw was acclaimed as a pop masterpiece upon its release in 1982 and established him as a first-rate songwriter, singer and guitarist. The record spawned the Top 40 single "Someday, Someway," which rockabilly singer Robert Gordon covered and scored a hit with a year earlier, and other classics such as "(You're My) Favorite Waste of Time," "Whenever You're On My Mind" and "Cynical Girl." The great songs continued with the Life's Too Short album on MCA ("Fantastic Planet of Love"), three albums for Razor & Tie and the 2009 release Jaggedland ("Someone Told Me," "Passing Through," "Never Coming Down."

Along the way, Crenshaw's compositions have been successfully covered by a broad array of performers, including Bette Midler, Kelly Willis, Robert Gordon, Ronnie Spector, Marti Jones and the Gin Blossoms, with whom Crenshaw co-wrote the Top 10 single "Til I Hear It From You." He's also provided music for several film soundtracks, appeared in the films La Bamba(as Buddy Holly) and Peggy Sue Got Married, and was nominated for a Grammy and a Golden Globe award for penning the title track for the film comedy Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. Since 2011, he has hosted his own radio show, The Bottomless Pit, on New York's WFUV, Saturday nights at 10 p.m. ET.

Tommy Tutone: Tommy Tutone were an early-'80s power pop band led by vocalist Tommy Heath and guitarist Jim Keller. The group's first single, 1980's "Angel Say No," scraped the bottom of the American Top 40, yet it was 1981's "867-5309/Jenny" that sent the group to the top of the charts. Peaking in early 1982, the single hit number four and went gold. In 1994, Heath returned, using the name Tommy Tutone for a new release, Nervous Love, a collection of various post-Tommy Tutone recordings.

Mayo Performing Arts Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, presents a wide range of programs that entertain, enrich, and educate the diverse population of the region and enhance the economic vitality of Northern New Jersey. The 2014-2015 season is made possible, in part, by a grant the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as support received from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, F.M. Kirby Foundation and numerous corporations, foundations and individuals. The Mayo Performing Arts Center has been designated a Major Presenting Organization by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.



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