Happy Birthday Southside!

Unfortunately, Southisde Johnny is probably forever doomed to live and perform in the shadow of his friend and fellow Jerseyite, Bruce Springsteen. Which is kind of a shame, Southside is a wonderful avatar of blue eyed soul. Peter Wolf and the J. Geils Band were probably his only contemporaries of comparable worth. His recordings, particularly the first three albums, are superb and should be in any serious pop collection. One problem - Linda and I've had the pleasure of seeing Southside a few times now, and he isn't the most consistent performer. One time at the Warner he gave a performance that was perfunctory and sloppy. But the night we saw him at Merriweather was magical. He started the show with an EXPLOSIVE version of Stop! In The Name Of Love, the memory of which still send shivers down my spine. Every song that night was performed with energy, grit and soul. It was perfect. We didn't want to go home....

http://www.southsidejohnny.org/