The Walk of Fame

[ContessaAnisha]

Some may have seen the black and gray tiles on the west side of Pacific Ave down by Rio Grande...Bobby Rydell, Fabian, etc...but now there are tiles on the east side..Micky Dolenz, Peter Noone and the Duprees and some other group I can't remember...have to go look again.

Also going north on Pacific, there are cut outs in the sidewalk where more tiles will be put. A guy working said they were going as far as Burk Ave.

Now I think this is kinda cool...but why put the tiles that far south? Why not have them in the center of town where the clubs are? This is where the performers(those that actually did shows in Wildwood way back in the day) appeared.

[JerseyDigger29]

contessaanisha said:

Some may have seen the black and gray tiles on the west side of Pacific Ave down by Rio Grande...Bobby Rydell, Fabian, etc...but now there are tiles on the east side..Micky Dolenz, Peter Noone and the Duprees and some other group I can't remember...have to go look again.

Also going north on Pacific, there are cut outs in the sidewalk where more tiles will be put. A guy working said they were going as far as Burk Ave.

Now I think this is kinda cool...but why put the tiles that far south? Why not have them in the center of town where the clubs are? This is where the performers(those that actually did shows in Wildwood way back in the day) appeared.

I think the intent is to eventually go the length of pacific Avenue but they started down that end because the owner of la Piazza Cucina is partly responsible for the Walk of Fame. Give it time, each one of those plaques cost money and there are a LOT of entertainment greats still to come.

Personally, I always thought the main area should have encompassed East Oak from the Riptide to the Martiniue and along Atlantic from Oak at the Hofbrau to Schellenger where the Surf Club was.

But then there was also the Pacific Avenue clubs like the Rainbow, the Fairview, and the Shamrock, as well as some great clubs in the 200 block of east schellenger. SO the issue always ends up being, where do you start. Just where IS our historic music district?

Personally, I'm not done with my research yet, but I'm beginning to believe the true birthplace of rock and roll may have been either the "original" Surf Club before Phil and Eddie bought it or the famed Esquire Club, the legendary black nightclub at Spicer Avenue and Park Boulevard.

I think this because these two locations were where the majority of the black founding fathers performed from about 48 to 50.

Louis Jordan ("Choo Choo, Ch'boogie," "Caldonia," etc) was a headliner at the Surf Club as well as other clubs. ALthough he wasn't into Rock yet, he is ALWAYS mentioned as a prime influence on everyone who came after him. And the Surf Club also featured Nellie Lutcher, another founder.

Fats Domino came into prominance in ROck around 1950 in Wildwood. I think he played at the Shamrock, I'm not sure.

But I strongly suspect we will find that the true birthplace might turn out to be the Esquire, the current site of Island Ice Cream. I have been given a lead on someone who has a lot of information on the early years in Wildwood and I am determined to find out the truth. How can we do otherwise?

So, with all these major areas of importance, where should the alk of fame begin?

We'll see.

Thom