Joe also helped give them a
place to play when he brought
rock bands to the Middle East
Restaurant - a venue in Cam-
bridge that is still going strong
today. When he moved to Asbury
Park, he did so long before the
city’s revitalization took place. He
was there when music was still
the only thing bringing people to
the town. I first met Joe when he
worked the sound at The Saint. It
seems like he wound up working
the sound at nearly every club in
Asbury Park at one time or an-
other, but I’ll always remember
those days at The Saint. As a mu-
sic writer, I was often in the club
on weeknights to catch a touring
band coming to town that nobody
knew. More times than not, you
could count the number of people
in the audience on one or two
hands. It was during those nights
that I got the chance to talk to Joe
and get to know him a bit.
Later on, I ran a monthly music
series called “Twisted Covers” that
featured artists covering a pair of
songs by a particular artist each