Music of Long Island
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The music of Long Island has a long history, as the island has long been part of US history and is near the most populous city in North America, yet is located in the suburbs and as such is strongly influenced by youth culture. Psychedelic rock was widely popular in the 1960s as flocks of disaffected youth travelled to NYC to participate in protest and the culture of the time. R & B also has a history in Long Island, especially in Nassau County, where population is denser and more closely influenced by New York City (Queens and Brooklyn).
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[edit] Musical artists from Long Island
[edit] Pop
Famous musical artists have roots in Long Island. For example, superstar diva Mariah Carey was born and raised in Huntington in Suffolk County. R&B singer Ashanti grew up in Glen Cove, Paris-based singer-songwriter Elliott Murphy was raised in Garden City (the song "Garden City" describing his teenage years is included in the album Murph the Surf) and Billy Joel is from Hicksville in Nassau County.
Billy Joel's debut solo album, Cold Spring Harbor, was a reference to the Long Island town of the same name. Many compositions by Billy Joel pertain to life on Long Island, particularly his youth. Examples include the songs "Keepin' The Faith", "Captain Jack", "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" and most notably "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant", which names local eateries and hangouts. The restaurant itself is believed to be Christiano's in Syosset, New York. Also, the song "Movin' Out" is a highly identifiable song for Long Islanders. Its commiseration of the increasing cost for living on Long Island has its protagonists working too hard just to "move up", all too familiar to this island's inhabitants. The songs "No Man's Land" and "Downeaster Alexa" lament the increasing development of the island, the latter song specifically referring to the eastern island and its effect on the fishing industry.
[edit] Heavy metal
The pioneering heavy metal/psychedelic rock group Blue Öyster Cult came together around Stony Brook University, releasing hits such as "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", "Astronomy", and "Godzilla". Pioneering technical death metal band Suffocation come from the Farmingdale area in Nassau County. Eddie Money was a graduate of Island Trees High School in Levittown. In addition, the progressive metal band Dream Theater has most of its members stemming from Long Island, including John Petrucci, John Myung, and Mike Portnoy. World-known drummer John Miceli, who plays with Meat Loaf, and formerly with Blue Oyster Cult, is from Port Jefferson. He currently resides in St. James, which is the hometown of singer/songwriter Axella Johannesson. Television and film composer Roy Harter currently resides in Manhasset. Leslie Wunderman of Baldwin, better known as the diva Taylor Dayne, had an abundance of hits in the late 1980s and in the early 1990s. Some of the members of The Good Rats hail from Baldwin. Four-time Grammy Award winner, Pat Benatar, grew up in Lindenhurst. Brian Setzer (Stray Cats, The Brian Setzer Orchestra), Lee Rocker (Stray Cats) and Dee Snider, the lead singer of Twisted Sister, all hail from Massapequa, where Stanley Drucker (principal clarinetist, New York Philharmonic) resides with his wife, clarinetist Naomi Drucker. Harry Chapin lived in Huntington until his death in a car accident on the Long Island Expressway, and was active in numerous local charities such as Long Island Cares.[1]
[edit] Rap and hip-hop
Long Island is known for producing some of the most popular acts in hip-hop and rap music. Grammy winning rap group De La Soul (Dave, Posdnuos, Masseo) came from Amityville, Public Enemy and Flava Flav from Roosevelt, Leaders of the New School (Busta Rhymes, Charlie Brown, Dinco D, Cut Monitor Milo) from Uniondale, underground rapper Aesop Rock from Northport, EPMD (Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith), Keith Murray, Bad Boy-associated acts Black Rob and Craig Mack grew up in Brentwood, producer Prince Paul, R.A. The Rugged Man, and Rakim from the Eric B. & Rakim rap duo hails from Wyandanch. Method Man and LL Cool J were also born in Long Island.
[edit] Indie
Modern music in Long Island includes indie music, which has rapidly grown in popularity, particularly in Suffolk County where the local emo and hardcore punk scene continues to grow. It has been felt nationally by the moderate success of local bands such as Glassjaw, Head Automatica, Quinn, Taking Back Sunday, Brand New, Straylight Run, The Movielife, Nightmare of You, I Am the Avalanche and From Autumn to Ashes selling Gold albums nationwide. Many churches and synagogues, as well as VFW Halls and community centers constantly house underground shows, affording cheap entertainment and an underlying sense of "scene community". Pop punk bands also have an impressive following, with bands like Patent Pending, Jeff Orlick's Ex-Planets, SGT, topping the list of crowd pleasers. It is a self-serving "business", so to speak, and most bands that are known on the island spill over into adjoining regions such as New Jersey and Connecticut. Rising bands Envy On The Coast,Few Never Fail,Disarming Arctica, Pristine Cadre, The Adventures Of..., As Tall As Lions, WD-39, Rob Yourself Blind, Gabriel the Marine, This Endeavor, Valet Parking, Casari, The Vision, Greyscale, Styrofoam Junkies and Bayside also hail from Long Island. The emerging awk-rock collective Nondance Records calls Roslyn its home. Bela Kiss, The Resurrection, Anterrabae, The Ambition, The World We Knew, This Is Hell, Crime In Stereo, Dr. Acula, Idala, The Partisan Turbine, Two Will Witness, Sown In Tears, From The Pawn, Figure Without Form and the late Skycamefalling are also frequent contributors to the LI hardcore/metalcore scene. Most notably, long island hardcore legends Vision Of Disorder, hail from wantagh and merrick. The band played on ozzfest, toured with the tattoo the earth festival and also went out in support of pantera, slayer, black sabbath, and other heavy metal legends. Members of Vision of Disorder can now be found in BloodSimple.
[edit] Ska
Long Island's ska scene has also garnered an impressive following. Many local venues, such as the Crazy Donkey, The Village Pub South, and the late Downtown often hold ska-oriented concerts. The long-disbanded Edna's Goldfish, whose trombonist Ian McKenzie has gone on to join famed ska punk band Catch 22 were one of the dominant bands in the late nineties music scene on Long Island. The experimental jazz and skacore band The Vagabonds also calls Long Island home. The Arrogant Sons of Bitches came out of Baldwin in the mid-nineties. Though the group has since disbandment, several members continue to participate in frontman Jeff Rosenstock's current project, Bomb the Music Industry!. Other notable bands to emerge from the Long Island ska scene include The Watergate Brigade, The Homecoming Queens, and High School Football Heroes, The Fad, Old Fashioned Oyster Crackers, Skanking in the Streets, Drop It Jeffrey, Royal City Riot and The Haberdashers. Additionally, groove rock band Stealing Jane is frequently found in ska lineups to their ska influences and their origins in the scene.
[edit] Other Music on Long Island
Long Island has a meagre Bluegrass scene spearheaded by Buddy Meriam and Backroads Bluegrass.
There is also a documentary about underground mess bands: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0429655/plotsummary
[edit] Venues and music education
Jones Beach State Park is a popular place to view summer concerts, with new as well as classic artists performing there during the summer months at its outdoor venue. It hosts a large Fourth of July fireworks show every year, and the stands are filled. People park cars along the highway leading to the show, and others watch from the nearby beaches.
In 2003, a group of local business people/music lovers, led by Rich L'Hommedieu, the publisher of a paper called Long Island Entertainment, began meeting to create a Long Island Music Hall of Fame. The organization was incorporated as a not for profit corporation in July of 2005. It held its first inauguration ceremony in October of 2006, inducting prominent musical Long Islanders from various genres and eras. Plans for the future include the creation of a physical space for a museum of Long Island music history that will also serve as a multimedia resource center, an educational facility and outreach program, and a venue for musical performance.
Long Island is also known for its schools' music programs. Many schools in Suffolk County have distinguished music programs, with high numbers of students who are accepted into the state-wide All-State music groups, or even the National All-Eastern Coast music groups. Both the Suffolk County and Nassau County Music Educator's Associations are both recognized by MENC, and host numerous events, competitions, and other music-related activities. Many colleges are also well-recognized for their rich music programs, such as Stonybrook University and C.W. Post.
With the rise of DIY and Noise related tape culture, Long Island too saw the rise of underground noise & diy scenes which included bands such as Insect, Jazz Became Elevator Music, United States, Megerk, Say No! to Architecture, James Kiwi, Buried Moth Duo, Ian Najdzionek, Telegraph, The Curator, Corey Larkin. Several collectives of such artists spawned, and thus were born groups of the likes of Ghosthunter's Club CO-OP, which focused on the promotion of various artists developing eclectic sounds. The DIY co-operative also booked shows around the NYC and surrounding areas showcasing Long Island's underground.
Another DIY faction, The Long Island Alternative Music Associaton, interviewed various artists bringing attention to the lack of venues opening their doors to independent Long Island artists. LIAMA, as they are commonly referred to, often book shows at the Plainview Old-Bethpage Public Library, to help to alleviate the problems created in local scenes form the shortage of underground supportive venues and booking agencies.
[edit] Controversies
The greatest controversy surrounding the Long Island music scene is the prevailing "pay-to-play" policy at most venues/clubs. Pay-to-play entails venue owners committing nothing to the promotion of local music shows, instead demanding a large sum of money from the performing acts, and issuing a given number of tickets which the musicians must sell in order to make the money back. Critics cite the policy as corrupt and demeaning to the integrity of local music, due to the way it financially cripples musicians, and provide newer bands with little opportunity to reach greater audiences. Advocates, on the other hand, sympathize with club owners struggle to stay afloat financially in the face of generally poor ticket sales at most all-ages shows, even though the policy is seldom found in other parts of New York, or the rest of the country. Pay-to-play creates such a dire musical landscape that the more dignified, forward-thinking bands in the area have set their sights on New York City, where there are more venues and pay-to-play doesn't exist, almost completely severing their ties to Long Island.
Another controversy surrounding the local music scene is the overwhelming indifference among local show goers to new music. Bands complain that fans show up for one band, and fail to stay for other acts on the bill, which is especially frustrating to artists trying to gain an audience. However, many bands encourage fans to show up only for their own sets, creating a sense of disunity among local musicians.
Long Island, having become a well-documented hotbed for the receding "emo" trend, a polarizing style of music that appeals to a largely female, adolescent demographic, has often received heavy criticism from outsiders of the scene. Such detractors consider emo to be a highly contrived and redundant form of music, and favor greater lyrical and musical sophistication in the place of emo's high emphasis on teenage angst and drama. Still, on a local scale, emo remains the most prominent and widely-played style of music, and nearly all local bands that find national success fall into the genre.
