Nine prominent and influential members of Asbury Park’s music scene have been selected by the Asbury Angels Project to be honored with plaques on the city’s “Boardwalk of Fame,” intended to memorialize those who have made important contributions to the city’s musical legacy.
The plaque installation ceremony, honoring the 2016 and 2017 “Asbury Angels,” inductees, will be held at 1 p.m. Sat, Sept. 16. It is free and open to the public. Attendees are asked to enter the boardwalk at Second Avenue.
Those being recognized this year include Jules Aerts, Bob Dylan’s longtime sound engineer; big band leader Tommy Tucker; Margaret Hogan, owner of groundbreaking lesbian nightclub Chez-Elle; Faye Gade, owner of influential modern rock station WHTG-FM; Herbert “Tony” Maples, of West Side groups the Ray Dots, and the V-Eights; Convention Hall organist G. Howard Scott; Asbury’s first African-American vaudeville star, Wilhelminia “Baby” Mac; Sam Siciliano, a Doo Wop singer, songwriter, arrange and producer, and Tim Hauser, founder of The Manhattan Transfer.
The mission of the Asbury Angels is to honor and memorialize the lives and history of members of the Asbury Park musical community, including but not limited to, musicians, tech support persons, DJs, journalists, club owners, record company personnel, managers and promoters.
The latest inductees were selected by a blue-ribbon panel of music industry professionals and historians. Criteria used included significant contribution to the creative music community and impact on that community; the length of time spent on the Asbury Park music scene. Those eligible for induction this year and in future years include musicians, songwriters, disc jockeys, writers, technical support staff and club and venue owners. They must have been deceased at least one year.
More information on the Asbury Angels is available at asburyangels.org.
For more information on the Asbury Angels, contact Tony Pallagrosi at (732) 539-2632, tonyp@concertseast.com, or Jean Mikle at (732) 859-5149, jmikle@aol.com.
