performed on street corners, in clubs, in
private homes and in pool rooms,” as
described by the Hoboken Historical
Museum in an article printed on its website, titled, “Frank Sinatra, The Voice.”
Before long, Sinatra became a prominent figure in the town’s music scene,
landing gigs at his father’s bar, Marty
O’Brien’s, as well as the Crystal
Ballroom, Tutty’s Bar, The Cat’s Meow
and Union Club. A breakthrough came in
1935 when he joined up with a Hoboken
trio, the Three Flashes, to form the
Hoboken Four. The group sang on a
nationally broadcast radio show called
Major Bowes and His Original Amateur
Hour – described by the Hoboken
Historical Museum as “the American Idol
of its day” – and was voted its most
popular act.
Sinatra briefly toured with the group,
then landed a solo gig at the Rustic Cabin
in Englewood Cliffs, and was later hired
as a vocalist in the Tommy Dorsey band.
He left the band in 1943 to pursue a solo
career that would change music history.
By the mid-1940s, more than a decade
removed from those Hoboken street
corners, Sinatra was a pop culture icon
with the world on a string, sittin’ on a
rainbow.
New York City skyline.
Sinatra unveiled a new musical style
that featured smaller bands and smaller
sounds, a change that proved successful
as capacity crowds filled with celebrities
packed the 1,000-seat venue night after
night.
“It was a real turning point in Sinatra’s
career,” says Meyers. The message to the
music industry was clear: “Ol’ Blue Eyes”
was back.
Fly Me to the Moon
STEVENS: AP PHOTO/RICHARD DREW; CHILDHOOD: AP PHOTO; LOEW’S: AP PHOTO/DAVID BOE
That’s Life
One of the few low points of his career
came in the early 1950s, when Sinatra’s
days as a teen heartthrob had ended, and
failing relationships with MGM and
Columbia Records stalled his success as
an actor and musician – matters that
were complicated further by a vocal cord
hemorrhage suffered in 1953 that
temporarily cost him his singing voice.
The stage was set for a dramatic
comeback, and the 1953 release of the
film From Here to Eternity – featuring
Sinatra’s Academy Award-winning portrayal of Pvt. Angelo Maggio – proved to
be the catalyst. Buoyed by a resurgence
in popularity due to the film’s success,
Sinatra launched a musical comeback,
returning to his Gold Coast roots with a
two-week run at Bill Miller’s Riviera in
Fort Lee, a club that Meyers describes as
“head and shoulders above other nightclubs in America” at that time due to its
outdoor patio that featured views of the
HOMETOWN HERO (Top to bottom)
Sinatra and his wife, Barbara, greet the
crowd at the Stevens Institute of
Technology commencement on Thursday,
May 24, 1985, in Hoboken. Sinatra
received an honorary engineering degree
from the college; A photo, from the
collection of Joseph Decesare, of
Hollywood, Fla., who was a childhood
friend of Frank Sinatra, shows Sinatra
(left), at age 9, when he was the May
Walk King of Hoboken; Two Gold Coast
landmarks proved pivotal in Frank
Sinatra’s career: Bill Miller’s Riviera in Fort
Lee, where he re-energized his singing
career with a run of shows in 1953, and
Loew’s Jersey Theatre in Jersey City
(pictured), where a young Sinatra found
his musical inspiration during a 1934
Bing Crosby concert.
Sinatra toured internationally, cofounded the famed “Rat Pack” and
scored hits like “My Way” and “Strangers
in the Night” during the second half of
his career. He passed away in 1998 with
accomplishments that were the stuff of
legend, including more than 150 million
records sold and 11 Grammy Awards,
as well as the Presidential Medal of
Freedom and the Congressional Gold
Medal to his name.
Doing justice to such a legacy is an
unenviable task, but the Hoboken
Historical Museum has proven equal to
it, opening the first Sinatra exhibit in its
history in honor of the 100th anniversary
of his birth. “We never wanted to be
pegged as a ‘Frank Sinatra Museum,’”
director Robert Foster says, “but about
five years ago we decided to do a fullfledged exhibit for his anniversary.”
The exhibit, which opened in August
and runs through July 2016, presents
Sinatra’s life through a vast collection of
movie posters, photographs and fan letters, with an emphasis on his years in
Hoboken. The museum welcomes Sinatra
tribute singers/bands for performances
on the first Sunday of each month, and
screens Sinatra films on the second
Tuesday of each month. A birthday
celebration on Dec. 12 will in clude a
concert at Stevens Institute of Technology
in Hoboken.
“People of any age who are true fans
of Sinatra were likely introduced to his
music through their parents and grandparents,” Foster says. “The music is
important, but the people who introduced them to the music are more
important. Fans listen to Frank and think
of them. The music and the memories
are connected.” ◆
(201) GOLD COAST FALL 2015
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