the SUN by-the-Sea

by Anita Hirsch excerpted from her book"Wildwood-By-The-Sea: Nostalgia and Recipes"

WiLDWOOD by-the-sea:Nostalgia & Recipes

The Music of the 50s & 60sand the Magnatones

Thank you to Ed and Jackie Hickman andthe Wildwood Historical Society for helpwith this article.

JACKIE HICKMAN’S

Chicken Cutlets

1 lb. chicken cutlets4 tbsp. mayo, light4 tbsp. bread crumbs4 tbsp. grated parmesan cheese

Jackie Hickman whose husband Edis part of the Magnatones, says thisis an easy recipe and can be servedwith vegetables, used with pastaand sauce, on a sandwich or cutinto strips and used in a salad.

Slice each cutlet vertically, so theywill be thin. There will be about 6slices. Spray a baking sheet withnon stick spray. Lay the chickencutlets on the baking sheet. Spreada layer of mayonnaise over thechicken. Then sprinkle a layer ofbread crumbs over the top and fi-nally a layer of parmesan overthat. Bake uncovered for 1 1/2hours at 250°. They should benicely crispy on top and slightlybrowned. Check after an hour,they should be ready by then.Yield: 3-6 servings

Wildwood in the summer, especiallyin the fifties and sixties, was theplace to go to hear the best music.All the notable bands and singerscould be found in at least thirty-oneclubs located around Oak and At-lantic Avenues, each featuring adifferent headliner.When Bill Haley came to town withthe Comets in 1954, he played atthe Hofbrau Hotel, where they in-troduced “Rock Around the Clock.”That is now the site of the BeachTerrace Motor Inn where a markerhas been placed on Atlantic Avenueto note that spot.Four other favorite clubs were theMartinique, the Oak Club, the Rain-bow and the Fairview, which fea-tured Sal Masie and the Untouch-ables. The Fifth Dimension ap-peared at the Hurricane, which isnow the site of Luna on Pacific Av-enue.Ginny Wood, a Wildwood native,loved to stop at “her three favoriteclubs” in those days: Phil andEddie’s on Schellenger near Atlan-tic, the Bolero and the Rip Tide.The entertainers would perform inLas Vegas in the winter and cometo Wildwood in the summer. TheTreniers: four brothers who sang,danced, and summered in theWildwoods, recorded “Everything’sWild in Wildwood”.And there was Freddie Bell and theBellboys, Buddy Holly’s Crickets,The Drifters (“What A WonderfulWorld”, “Under The Boardwalk”,and “Take It Back!”), The Coasters(“Yackety Yack”), The Chantels, TheCadillacs, Little Anthony and theImperials, The Dovells, Johnny Mae-stro and the Brooklyn Bridge, thePlatters (remember “Only You”,“Twilight Time”, “Smoke Gets inYour Eyes”, and “The Great Pre-tender”), The Shangri-Las, Joey Deeand the Starlighters ( “PeppermintTwist”), Tommy James and theShondells, the Soul Survivors, theTurtles, the Beach Boy sound of“Help, Help Me Rhonda” and “Cali-fornia Girl”, and Frankie Avalon.“Performing in Wildwood duringthe 1960’s was a great thrill for all

of us,” says Ed Hickman of theMagnatones. “ From our start at theEmerald Room, all the way to LasVegas and back again, it was athrilling ride that could never beduplicated.”The Magnatones still play up anddown the east coast, although thereare a few new members. Theyplayed together at a Fifties Week-end reunion in Wildwood in 2006.The Magnatones originated inGloucester City, New Jersey and allwere in high school. They weretaken under the wing of an ex-Vaudevillian Tommy Tattler, whotaught them how to be profession-als which included how to enter andexit the stage, how to dress and howto dance. A future member of thegroup, Shawn Kelly, their leadsinger, also taught them some“moves”.Tommy Tattler was the one whobooked the Magnatones into theEmerald Room in Wildwood beforeany one in the group graduatedfrom high school. The EmeraldRoom, a classy spot in Wildwood,was part of the Blackstone Hotel.The Magnatones appeared everysummer, seven nights a week fromMemorial Day to Labor Day, foreight years. Ed Hickman remembersthat they celebrated the 16th birth-day of Bobby McCann, the bassplayer at the time, in Wildwood.“We were so young! We couldn’teven drink in the bars that weplayed in”, says Ed. “Even in LasVegas we had to be led by securityup to the stage.”The current Magnatones are EdHickman on sax, Ed Gibson bass,Skip McCarty guitar, Billy Zanedrums and the singer is Jimmy(Pasquarello) Anthony. Some of theold songs they like to play are:“Splish Splash”, “Bristol Stomp”,“Sixteen Candles”, and “In the Stillof the Night”.Now many of these entertainers arecoming back to Wildwoodto perform during the Fabulous Fif-ties and Sixties Weekend. Thefirst ever Wildwood Music Award,created by Paul Russo, owner of

Cool Scoops Ice Cream Parlor, wasgiven to Charlie Gracie in 2004,a Philadelphia native. Charlie pre-sented Chubby Checker withthe second annual Wildwood MusicAward in 2005. Since then therehave been many artists who havereceived recognition: Dee DeeSharp, The Comets, The Orlons, TheDovells, Ed Hurst, The Association,The Archies, The Monkees, DickClark’s Original Bandstand Dancersand many more.A walking tour map is being createdby Paul Russo which will include allof the Wildwood’s historic musicalvenues made famous by those hon-ored by the Wildwood MusicAwards.

Eddie Rossi and Phil Bonelli in front ofPhil and Eddie’s Surf Club

Charlie Gracie at the Bolero 1958Original Magnatones: rear from left:Billy Zane, Shawn Kelly, and EdHickman, front : Joe Spytek and JimPasquarello.

Magnatones playing in 2006 at a Fifties Weekend, L-R: Skip McCarty guitar, EdHickman on sax, Jimmy (Pasquarello) Anthony singer and Ed Gibson on bass

Bill Haley announcement at HofBrau1953 Appearing at the Rip Tide this week

The Hurricane, now Luna at Garfield & Pacific Aves.

“Music is the art which is most nigh to tears and memory.” ~Oscar Wilde