Best Albums of 2021: Two Views Pt. 1 - Dr. J

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Category: Dr. J's Blog

Published: Wednesday, 29 December 2021 07:20

Written by Gary Johnson

Dr. J’s Top Albums of 2021

2021 was a challenging year for music with the Covid pandemic continuing to take center stage. I found myself going back to the sounds from the past much more than in previous years, and my choices for the best albums of the year reflect that to a certain extent. Many of my purchases involved buying digital copies of music that already owned on vinyl so that I could make playlists of favorites for my phone – the device that is now my main source for listening to music. My 2021 list includes some classic reissues, albums of covers, releases from favorite artists, and some exciting new stuff as well. The Top 15 is presented in alphabetical order by artist.

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Frankie Lymon's Tombstone Blues 9: The Museum

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Category: Dr. J's Blog

Published: Monday, 05 July 2021 06:38

Written by Gary Johnson

Sometimes the best things in life are enjoyable accidents. My long and loving relationship with my wife Lynn started with an accidental meeting, an invitation to attend her high school graduation party, and a kiss that started us on a road that we’re still traveling today. I often wonder if our lives would have turned out differently if we had not had that chance meeting back in 1965.

Serendipity is the word we use to describe the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way. I experienced it again when I purchased the Weird N.J. book. I went into the store to purchase a magazine, and I found the book by accident as I was walking among the aisles. It, in turn, led me to discover the story of Frankie Lymon’s tombstone.

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Frankie Lymon's Tombstone Blues 8: The Endgame

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Category: Dr. J's Blog

Published: Thursday, 17 June 2021 21:50

Written by Gary Johnson

Ronnie Italiano, one of the true champions of vocal group harmony music, died of liver cancer at the age of 67 on March 4, 2008. The family received visitors at the Macagna Diffily Funeral Home in Rutherford, NJ on Friday, March 7th. The next morning there was a funeral mass at St Josephs R.C. Church in East Rutherford. It was followed by Ronnie’s internment at St. Joseph's Cemetery in Lyndhurst. It was a very difficult time for his family, his friends, the membership of the UGHA, and the many vocal groups he supported over the years.

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Frankie Lymon's Tombstone Blues 7: The U.G.H.A.

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Category: Dr. J's Blog

Published: Friday, 28 May 2021 06:54

Written by Gary Johnson

By 1993, Ronnie I’s Clifton Music store had become a New Jersey institution, known around the world by aficionados of the vocal group harmony sound. Ronnie had come a long way in the two decades since he quit a steady job driving truck for PepsiCo to purchase a music store with a pregnant wife and two young daughters to support.

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Frankie Lymon's Tombstone Blues 6: The Decisions

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Category: Dr. J's Blog

Published: Thursday, 22 April 2021 10:37

Written by Gary Johnson

On October 31, 1988, the judge in the hearing to determine which of Frankie Lymon’s three marriages was legally binding reached a decision. It came nearly seven months after final briefs were filed in the case and a little over eight months after Ronnie Italiano and the UGHA had dedicated their Frankie Lymon memorial tombstone.

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Frankie Lymon's Tombstone Blues 5: The Wives

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Category: Dr. J's Blog

Published: Thursday, 15 April 2021 07:38

Written by Gary Johnson

When Frankie Lymon died from a heroin overdose in 1968, he was broke and trying again for a comeback that he never achieved. He left no fortune, but his name was listed as one of the songwriters of “Why Do Fools Fall In Love”. It was the hit that made him and the Teenagers famous back in 1956, and the one song that he recorded that remained both popular and valuable over the years. 

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