Published In The Aquarian Weekly
January 18, 2006
Christina Eliopoulos
Asbury Park
Filmmaker Celebrates City’s Past,
Fears For Its Future
by Ken Shane
I grew up in an
have spent a good
part of my life trying to recapture
the magic of those
summer days in the once great
shore resort. So I
know exactly how Christina Eliopoulos
feels. The towns are
different, because Christina grew
up in
on
emigrated from
on the boardwalk. Still, she
grieves for something that
has been lost, and
she fears for the future of her
shore city.
Fortunately for Eliopoulos, and for everyone who
loves
talent to express her
concerns to a wide audience. Her
medium is film, and
she has she has been recognized
with several awards
as a result of her work. For nearly
four years, she has
poured her life into a new
documentary called
Greetings From Asbury Park.
According to Eliopoulos, the film looks at “life beyond
the postcard
world,” and questions the price of progress.
In a 2005 interview with the Tri-Town News, the
filmmaker said, “
unique places on the
eastern seaboard, a place that
was world renown.
If you look at all these postcards,
people walking the
street, they were sharing something
bigger.
fulfill a fantasy, you
could be someone else. You could
just stroll proudly
with your beautiful wife, your beautiful
kids. You could
cruise and show off your beautiful
car…That is needed
in society. I want people to really
think about what can
we do to bring it back.”
The 94 minute rough cut of the film that I saw is a
loving look back at
the history of
an incisive exploration of
the issues revolving around
the current
redevelopment plans, which promise to
restore life and light
to the city, but also threaten the
homes and businesses
of some of the city’s most
steadfast residents.
Readers of The Aquarian Weekly will be interested
in a section of the film that
deals with the storied musical
history of
music scene mainstay
(referred to in the film as “Guitar
God”) Sonny Kenn, and the hottest band on the scene
right now, Days
Awake. Mr.Kenn, music historian Robert
Santelli, Upstage
Magazine publisher Gary Wein, and
concert impresario
Tony Pallagrosi consider the city’s
musical heritage, and
offer a glimpse of the future.
Ms. Eliopoulos first learned about the music scene,
as a director might, through
visual media. She immersed
herself in long
discussions with legendary music figures
like Sonny Kenn, George Theiss, and Big
Danny
Gallagher. Through them,
she was able to see
photographs, posters, and
old super 8 mm films of the
nascent rock and roll
scene, and that compelled to her
look more deeply
into the history of music in the seaside
town.
Of course the music scene in
begin with Bruce
Springsteen. It began with the city’s
founding 130 years ago
by James Bradley. He presented
marching band music on
the boardwalk because he
saw it as
restorative, a tonic that could amplify a listener’s
place in society,
and to attend the concerts in the first
place you had to
demonstrate that you were part of the
privileged class
.
While the boardwalk venues like Convention Hall
were always a part
of the music scene, Springwood
Avenue, on the city’s African-American west side, had
a vibrant music scene all
its own. There were clubs like
the Orchid Lounge,
and Big Bill’s that attracted nationally
known jazz and
rhythm and blues artists like Count
Basie and Sarah Vaughan. White musicians and music
fans would cross
the tracks to hit the clubs, record
stores, and clothing
stores on the west side. That
interaction led to the
development of what has been
called the “Sound of
Asbury Park,” as typified by artists
like Bruce
Springsteen, and Southside Johnny And
The Asbury Jukes.
It all ended when clubs and stores were either burned
to the ground in the riots
that took place on the west
side in 1970, or
were bulldozed shortly after that. Those
events did more than
destroy a way of life. They broke
the city’s heart,
and in many ways it has never recovered.
What’s less well known is that there had been another
riot some years
earlier.
In the 1950s, Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers
were one of the
most popular acts in the country. They
crossed over from the
race music ghetto to attract a
substantial white audience.
One summer they came
to perform at Convention
Hall. Following the show,
black teenagers and
white teenagers mingled on the
boardwalk. The police
didn’t like that idea very much.
The riot that ensued when the police tried to disperse
the crowd was
known as the “Convention Hall Riot.”
When asked why she chose Days Awake to represent
the current crop
of
that when she heard
the band, she heard a sound that
“captured the soul of a whole city,” and
she added, “I
saw them one night
at The Wonder Bar, and I was blown
away by the
performance. After that performance, I
swear, their sound
rolled out the door and followed me
down the boardwalk.
Everywhere I went for the next
few weeks, people
seemed to be talking about Days
Awake.
can literally hear
the buzz on the street.” The multiple
Asbury Music Award winning band was filmed performing
their signature song
“Day After Day” at one of Asbury
Park’s storied clubs, The Saint.
“The band is honored to be featured in Christina’s
documentary,” said Days
Awake keyboard player Eric
Safka. “We are proud that our
music is helping to tell
the real story of
I asked Christina Eliopoulos what role she feels that
music can play as
the city moves forward. She sees
it as nothing less than an
economic engine that can
help to make the
city whole again. She points out studies
that indicate when
a city has more activities, people
tend to stay
longer, and spend more money. She believes
that a vibrant
music scene is an important element in
bringing people to
there.
music can be the
driving force in bringing tourists back.
Greetings From Asbury Park has been
submitted
to several prominent film
festivals, including
and South by
Southwest. Eliopoulos is under the gun
to produce a final cut of the
film to screen at the festivals.
She estimates that she needs about $200,000 to finish
the film. The major
expenses include creating a 35 mm
print (the film was
shot in 16 mm), and to clear the
various film clips and
songs that are used in the film.
The film is underwritten, in part, by Women Make
Movies, a non-profit group devoted to expanding the
role of women in
the filmmaking process, and Eliopoulos
is accepting tax deductible
contributions through the
“Support Our Sponsored Projects” area of the group’s
website, wmm.com. In
addition to individual donations,
a series of benefit
screenings and other fund raising
events are being
planned.