I went to alot of doowop shows on Long island,I became friends with people like "The Chaperones"Tony Amato,God Bless him, he had a voice and could belt out "Criuse To The Moon or Rock N Roll with a tune"that got you moving. On any given weekend,The guys would be playing"The Inn" in Commack and i'd go see them,I was friends with these people,they didn't care I was adopted,so for me,this was a good outlet.
I met Nicky by chance, he knew people I knew.I was working and wanted to go see an oldies show in Nassue but didn't have tickets.Well I had read about Joey dee's Foundation for the Love of Rock N Roll,which was to help old singers who had nothing, Joey made an effort to form a safety net for these icons and history makers,he was going to build a retirment community for them.Joey and Lois{I miss her} were going to do a radio thon at WGLI In babylon,Ny and I was hoping Tommy be there or lou christie so I could get my album signed.
I called the station and volenteered my time so I could meet these people,Thats how my friendship started with Joey,Lois, Dave and Eddie Brigatti,Nick Salvato and so many more.
I told my father"you have to drop me off at the station at 3pm,I'll get off early,then pick me up later",He was all for it.
I went down ,walked in, Lois set me up and thats how I also met Arlene ,she was a nice lady,I had seen her so many times at Westbury Music fair when I'd go see Fabian, Bobby Rydell and Frankie Avalon,so we talked some.Once I got comfy in the setting,I asked"is Tommy Sands here as well"?Lois said"no ,jo, he isn't this time",Then I went to meet Joey and all the guys,I had one picture taken of me, joey, hank ballard,Tony Amato and someone else,I was surrounded by the greats.
Joey would come in and ask"are you ok, is there anything you'd like"?I said"no,I'm fine".He was just as nice as could be,Dave and Eddie sat by me,Those two jokesters and asked"so whats this album"?I showed it to them and dave said"i remember this one, Lou had alot of hair" and I laught,I told them"i wanted him to sign it for me",Dave said"he isn't coming, he's got a cold".That was ok with me,I met so many wonderful people anyway.
Joey and lois along with the others had to leave,I was left answearing phones as promised.Joey said"i want to thank you for doing this".I said "I was proud to do it".I sat there till midnight answearing phones,the Dj's I already knew and Nick and the guys came down for an appearence and I took a picture of them,Nicky was eating chicken and we got into talking,he told me"why not come and see us at the INN,we're there almost every other weekend"I said"i'll do that".
The Dj's were so impressed,they asked"since you went out of your way for us and joey,is there something you'd like"?I said without a blink"two tickets to the doowop show",They handed them to me and I was in my glory.Now you gotta remember something, here I was now in this circle of forever friends, I met Gary Us Bonds there and saw him many times after that, we became friends very fast and I never ever treated these people like a screaming teenager would,I treated them as human beings because they were.There is a funny story about Gary I'll share, once I was at the skylounge and Gary came in, I had gone over to chat with him and give him a hug, my sisters friends mother didn't believe I knew Gary, she wasn't very nice anyway to me.I asked gary"please go over there and tell her you know me"He said"ok,for you i will"he went over and said"hello"she just turned white,he said"i'm gary us bonds friend of joanne's"thats all she needed to hear and almost passed out.
Ok, so back to my story,I had became friends with joey and lois,arlene as well.I went to Atlantic City with a friend and she wanted to see Joey dee,I said"well thats great because he's a friend of mine"I would write joey in FL and he'd send me a post card or picture from Little Darlins with Tommy on frount, he knew I liked Tommy and would pass a note to him for me.Joey did a show for a few weeks and we went to see him,lois almost broke my finger, she stepped on my hand slighly {hehehe} and almost dropped a music stand on my hand, good thing i move fast.It was great seeing my friends and we sat up frount,afterwards Joey came out and My friend called him"Mr. Dee" he said"any friend of joanne's is a friend of mine,call me joey",we talked some, I gave him a hug,I gather the Dj's whom i knew had also told him I stayed till midnight answearing phones.I kept in contact with joey, my only link to Tommy,he told me once"tommy's moved to Fl,we'll be on tv,watch us"I was sick anyway's so I taped the sally show, joey, Tommy,Gary, Cousin Brucie were all on it talking about their pasts and the foundation as well.Tommy looked so handsome to me,Dark hair, black shirt with James Dean on frount who was tommy's idol and a black jacket.Tommy talked about his past,what he was doing now and spoke of his daughter"jessica" who was the light of his life.I could tell he was happy somewhat,he played Little Darlin's in FL on Mondays, the worst night for any show because people go back to work,They ran an article in people on the foundation as well,Tommy did things in his past as an escape,he wasn't happy back then,he wanted to work so bad,He was living in a small apartment in FL,trying to get by.I wanted so badly to reach out to him in someway but Joey was keeping his eyes out for me.I could never judge because we all make mistakes in our life's and learn from them as well, Tommy learned from his.
Then,I called arelen one day, I liked her,I would talk with her, she wasn't well,I had said"i don't see you at westbury any more" she said"i've been sick".I sent her a tib bit I found on fabian in the mail,she'd keep me imformed on shows and I'd keep her imformed on tib bits, she didn't live far from me at all.Then one day our conversation switched to Tommy Sands,I had said something like"I wish Tommy play Long island"she said"tommy's here"I said"where ,performing"she said "no,here,with me, he is staying with me for awhile"I said"oh arlene could I write him a letter and send it to your address,please"she said"of course,I'd think Tommy would enjoy that".I sat and wrote him a 4 page letter,sent a picture and thus started my friendship with Tommy.
My nana ,as I said before was very encouranging when it came to Tommy,she always thought it was good to have someone in your life that made a diffrence,Tommy made many diffrences in my life and never knew it.He gave me a sense of being, after hearing his interview on sally,I understood more that we were alike in many ways.At any given time I'd call Arlene to see if Tommy got my letter,the first time she said"jo, he loved your letter, you made him smile"I asked to talk to him but she said"he was busy",I just kept writting him instead.
My Father would look in the mailbox and I'd get something from joey or wayne newton but never Tommy,My father said"I gather he's not one for writting"I said"no,he isn't but thats ok, my letters make him smile".
I would chat with arlene and she said once"tommy told me to tell you hello ",I said"can I please talk to him"?Arlene was a sweet lady don't get me wrong but she never let me talk with Tommy.She said"jo, keep writting him, your letters make him smile,you guys formed a bond,please write him",so I did,one of my famous long letters.
Every week I'd write and every week I'd check with arlene to see him got it,this went on for months.then heart break.
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