WHEN I GREW UP I WANTED TO BE A JUKE. I STILL WANT TO BE A JUKE – JON BON JOVI

Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes first achieved prominence in the mid-1970s, emerging from the same New Jersey Shore music scene as his now legendary contemporary and friend Bruce Springsteen.

Southside’s first three albums, I Don’t Want To Go Home, This Time It’s for Real, and Hearts of Stone, were produced by band co-founder Steven Van Zandt (E Street Band, The Sopranos), and largely featured songs written by Van Zandt and/or Springsteen. The Van Zandt-written “I Don’t Want To Go Home” became Southside’s signature song, an evocative mixture of horn-based melodic riffs and sentimental lyrics.

In 1982 Rolling Stone Magazine voted Hearts of Stone among the top 100 albums of the 1970s and 1980s. With their classic blend of hard-core R&B and street-level rock, molten grooves, soulful guitar licks and blistering horn section, Johnny and his Jukes continue to put their unique stamp on the Jersey Shore sound, while recalling the glory years of Otis Redding and similar Stax Records titans.