About Me

I was lucky when I was young, because I had a father who really loved music, and he instilled in me that same love.

I always had "different" tastes in music from my friends. The first record that I ever purchased with my own money was the 45 of "Space Oddity/The Man Who Sold the World" by David Bowie in 1974 when I was 9. Yes it was a re-issue, but hey, I didn't know any better! All through my formative years, while the other kids were buying Boston, Kansas, and Yes albums, I was listening to Lou Reed, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Roxy Music and Peter Gabriel. Of course they made fun of me for listening to that "weird" music, but now, as time goes on, we see so-called "Progressive Rock" as the corporate-rock dinosaur that it was!

In 1977, when I was 12, the album that changed my life was released in the US--"Never Mind the Bollocks--Here's the Sex Pistols." From that point on, at least to me, music would never be the same. Believe it or not, my Dad sat down with me to listen to it! He said, "I don't like this 'punk' music, but I think that it's going to be the next big thing." How right he was...two years later, punk and new wave shoved disco aside like five people who just went off their diet going for the last Sara Lee cake in the store.

As time went on, New Wave became Modern Rock became Alternative Rock. I have always loved the sounds in rock and roll that were different from the mainstream. As I grew up, I bought records by the hundreds each year. Now I have over 6,500 LPs in my collection, and about 75% of them are Alternative Rock from 1977-1987.

I love to share this music with people, (which is what kept me coming back week after week to DJ at the Melody Bar, and now at the Court Tavern) and this web site seemed the next logical step. I hope you enjoy your stay here, and please feel free to me with any comments or questions you might have.

I started Save-The-Wave as a college radio show from 1988-1992, and again from 1993-95. The program was dedicated to the preservation of rare, obscure, and out-of-print new wave and punk from the late 70's and early 80's. The show changed radio stations (from WGLS to WRSU), but I kept it going.

Then, in 1993, the manager for the Melody Bar in New Brunswick, NJ heard the show, and asked me if I wanted to try DJing a night there. When I asked him which night, the manager said that Tuesday was the worst weeknight.

For more than 7 1/2 years, I spun people's new wave faves every Tuesday, and every Saturday for four years.

After 7 1/2 years of DJing at the glorious dive The Melody Bar, I (and everybody else) lost their jobs without notice when we came to work on Tuesday Night, March 20, 2001. You can read about it on the Home News Tribune's website THNT.com, if you want. I'm was very bummed about it.

Starting in April, the bitter realization hit me that the Mel was not going to reopen, so I tried to find another home for the Save the Wave night. I figured that if I could get into another club in the area soon enough, I could get in there, bring all the regulars over to the new place, and get the bartenders and doormen from the Melody jobs in the process.

The first place that I considered was the Court Tavern, but they were having some problems with some awful developer person trying to buy this New Brunswick landmark and turn it into a parking lot. I moved on to check out places like the Plum Street Pub, Ale -n- Wich (too small), Knight Club, Old Queens, Golden Rail (wrong atmosphere, not "alternative"), the Harvest Moon (they said they had nowhere to put us), finally settling on the "under new ownership" Polo Pub in Highland Park, the next town over from New Brunswick. My friend (and fellow Melody DJ) Lisa and I met with the owners, who told us about all of the big plans they had for the place. We swallowed this line of bull hook, line, and sinker. After a few good nights, it became obvious that there was going to be trouble at the Polo Pub. Lisa I had spent a great deal of time and effort setting up the large room so that it looked like a nightclub, fixing the sound system, and rigging up a 2 VCR setup that made it possible to "cue up" videos on one VCR while another played on a 7-foot projector. Then, at the flick of a switch, the other VCR could be switched on, showing a music video on the screen while the audio played through the sound system. Cool, huh? Well--every time I DJed at the club, I had to set up the sound system back up again, because the owners would unhook everything during the week. Anyway--long story short--the owners closed the large room that made it possible to have live bands and a dance floor, and I was relegated to DJing in a small room off to the side, sharing space with two pool tables. I did this twice, then I quit. The owners mismanaged the bar right out of business a month later. I understand that the Polo Pub is now under new management, and I wish the new team the best of luck.

Earlier that summer, Dennis, from the Court Tavern, contacted me (remember them from earlier), and told me that he had gotten it cleared to begin regular DJ nights, and that they would be ready to go soon. After some difficulties with the sound system, which caused a six-month delay in opening, the Court was ready to have its first regular DJ night there.

After a rocky start (I wasn't able to DJ there for a couple of months and had ex-Melody DJ Marcus fill in for me), I had finally returned for good on December 20th.

The owner of the Court has decided to put the Save the Wave night on hiatus for the summer. Considering the manner in which I was informed of this, I do not know if I will return.

www.courtavern.net