By Tiffany Razzano
Presenter Bob Buchman, program director at radio station Q104.3, introduced Jett as ³the original punk rocker,² before inviting her to the stage to accept her award so she could get on her way to the show she was scheduled to play at Irving Plaza in Manhattan.
As the crowd gave Jett a standing ovation, she said, ³Oh my god. This is overwhelming. I¹m nervous and quite out of my element.² In her acceptance speech, she recalled her move to Long Beach with her band, the Blackhearts, in 1979, after her first band, the Runaways, broke up.
She recalled her band¹s first rehearsal studio in Baldwin and the old venues they used to play, which no longer exist, including Malibu and My Father¹s Place, as well as recording her hit, ³I Love Rock Œn¹ Roll² at Kingdom Sound in Syosset. She also thanked local radio stations such as WBAB and WLIR for supporting her music despite not being picked up by any major labels. ³Long Island has been so good to us,² she said. ³It accepted us with open arms... I¹m truly honored and humbled by this award.²
Later on, Jett told the press that Long Beach is a great beach town and she feels at home there. ³I¹m a real townie,² she said. ³I ride around on my bike in my shorts and I yell at the kids who light fires in the dunes.²
Long Island¹s music scene has often been overshadowed by the scene in New York City, often not garnering the respect and praise it deserves. The LIMHF is hoping to change all this. This first induction ceremony honored a variety of artists from Long Island, spanning from Brooklyn to Suffolk, including Billy Joel, Peter Criss from KISS, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Sam Taylor, Johnny Maestro and the Brooklyn Bridge and Twisted Sister, whose frontman, Dee Snider, is a Baldwin native. Next year¹s inductees include Barbara Streisand, Arlo Guthrie, Simon and Garfunkle, Louis Armstrong and Pat Benatar.
³Everyone uses the word eclectic, but when you can honor Peter Criss and Kiss, to Vanilla Fudge and John Coltrane, that is the word to use,² said Paul Shaffer, David Letterman¹s musical director and sidekick for over 21 years and presenter at the induction. ³This is a great night. It¹s about time we had our own Long Island Hall of Fame.²
Peter Tork, formerly of the Monkees, shares the sentiment. ³I¹m delighted you guys are doing this,² he said, ³because the tendency in America is everyone wants to be the single best in the country and everyone else is a loser. That¹s desperately dangerous for the arts and every one. If there were no local bands, there wouldn¹t be a star of any kind. I say the more local you o, the better. This is a great step in that direction.²
Like many of the inductees, Johnny Maestro was amazed at the wide range of musicians being inducted on Oct. 15. ³I didn¹t realize there were so many talented artists from Long Island,² he said. ³It¹s great to be part of the first [induction]. It¹s important to remember where your roots come from.²
The chairman of the organization¹s Board of Directors, Richard L¹Hommedieu, said this is just the beginning of what they have planned. They¹re currently looking for the right location to build a museum, resource and education center. ³Long Island has been a wealth spring of music for 100 years,² he said. ³We all have this dream of the grandiose event like this. I¹m blessed to have the right people around to make this happen.²
He added, ³Three years ago, on Sept. 24, we had our first meeting. Three years later, we¹re here finding this caliber of musician... We need to support the music industry and venues of Long Island in order to make it a viable tourist attraction.
