My 5 Favorite Stories From Nick Corasaniti’s Stone Pony Book

The Stone Pony has long been one of my favorite New Jersey clubs, with an aura that at times can take on a nearly spiritual quality.

Whether performing on stage (that's my band Dead Äire performing at the Pony last November in the photo above), or being in the audience to watch a show, there's a sense of being part of something far bigger than just another Jersey Shore club.

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Chatham NJ native Nick Corasaniti about his brand-new book I Don't Want To Go Home - the Oral History of the Stone Pony (if you missed that interview you can find it here).

Full of first-person stories from musicians, bartenders, owners, politicians, and more, the book takes you on a journey through the history of both Asbury Park and the club.

Nick will be in his hometown of Chatham Tuesday evening June 11 at the Library of the Chathams from 7-8 PM to talk about the book.

Of all the wonderful anecdotes in the book, here are my 5 favorite stories from Nick's book.

Everyone in New Jersey knows about former Governor Chris Christie's love of Bruce Springsteen's music (even if they are both at completely different ends of the political spectrum).

What you probably didn't know is that as a 16-year old, he snuck into the Pony with a fake ID.

Erick W. Hendricks was one of the long-time bouncers at the Stone Pony. Standing well over 6 feet tall, he was not someone you wanted to mess with. He probably had close to a foot in height and probably 100 pounds over a teenage John Bongiovi (as he was then known) who would often show up at both the Fastlane and the Stone Pony.

New Jersey punk legend Patti Smith may be most-associated with CBGB's and the New York scene, but she said on more than one occasion that the Stone Pony was her mom's favorite place for her daughter Patricia (as she called her) to play.

As a member of Pearl Jam, guitarist Mike McCready has played all over the world, But nothing he experienced was like that first time at the Pony.

I have had the thrilling pleasure to play onstage with Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes countless times over the years.

The first time was at the beloved Capitol Theater in Passaic NJ on New Year's Eve 1981.

The idea was that I was going to join the band and play acoustic guitar on "Little Girl So Fine" from their second album.

So I show up, we run through the song a couple of times during soundcheck, and I think I'm good to go.

Five songs into the Jukes' set, Johnny introduces me and away we go.

We get one verse into the song and the next thing I know, Johnny is singing the lyrics to an old Arthur Alexander song, "You Better Move On." As you can see from this setlist, a couple of Ben E. King songs followed before Johnny says to the band "BRIDGE IN FIVE!"

Luckily, I knew what he meant and we finished the song we started.

At the end of the night, Johnny said to me, "Did you have a good time?" "I had a GREAT time, but I have one question - why did we only do about a third of the one song we actually rehearsed?"

"It's New Year's Eve, kid," Johnny replied. "Anything goes."

Every subsequent time I've had the opportunity to play on stage with that Jukes, I've kept that "anything goes" line in mind.

Jeff Kazee is the keyboardist and longtime musical director for the Asbury Jukes. In the book, he tells a great story about Johnny and Bruce Springsteen backstage.

What ultimately happened is that both Bruce and Johnny couldn't remember the lyrics, turning the entire song into yet another memorable Stone Pony story.

I feel your pain, Bruce. I feel your pain.

Sonic Universe has arrived! WHAT A DAY! With rocks newest SUPER GROUP- Sonic Universe, who kicked off the WDHA Parking Lot Party series, live, first time EVER playing for the fans, and they blew our doors off!

Sonic Universe IS Vocalist -Corey Glover- (Living Colour and MORE) Guitar God -Mike Orlando (Adrenaline Mob and MORE), Bassist- Booker King (Santana, Paul Simon and MORE) and "Sworn Enemy" Metal Drumming master Taykwuan Jackson - and their debut "It Is What It Is" is out Friday 5/10.

Corey and Mike met on the "Shiprocked Cruise" in 2019 and vowed to work together. Covid delayed them a bit, but bam! It happened, with the help of the amazing rhythm section that Corey knew.

Their debut record is simply incredible, with off the charts vocals, mind blowing virtuoso guitar work and one of the most talented rhythm teams keeping the groove and heavy sound.

We were honored to have Sonic Universe grace "The Rock Of New Jersey" with their FIRST ever LIVE fan performance, their extended hang with the lucky contest winning fans and a fantastic afternoon of music, family, friends and fun! This is what WDHA Parking Lot Parties are all about.

The band rocked us with the first two singles from their debut- "I Am" and "Higher" and more, and had a blast meeting their fans. https://sonicuniverseofficial.com - Check Out their website -

AND a story I wrote about the band- https://wdhafm.com/listicle/sonic-universe-meet-the-band/ on our website-

You can listen live anywhere- https://wdhafm.com/mobileapp/ on the WDHA APP for details on our next Parking Lot Party experience and of course for the BEST new and classic rock!

Special thanks to Larry Mazer, Gary and Rob from Landshark Promotion, our engineer "Billy Goat" Clanton and all of the listeners who entered to win! Full performance videos coming!

Until next time! Rock On!

TC