Sad day for North Jersey Music Shop

[Mills Dude]

29 minutes ago, counterpoint said:

It was even worse before they rebuilt the 4/17 interchange about 20 years ago.  They are finally rebuilding the 3/46 merge after talking about it for 30 years.

Sure, I remember it well when they rebuilt that.  I commuted down 17 to Rt 80 every day back then.  It didn't really change the clusterf**k of getting into Sam Ash.  But that old exit ramp off 17S to 4E was a big problem, a lot of fender benders there with confused or aggressive drivers.  It still ain't that great.  I'll be heading that way tomorrow as I'm meeting some coworkers in the city for lunch.

[Delaware Dave]

Back in the late 90's I traveled to a client site in Parsippany frequently.  I would always stop by the local music shops and one of them I frequented was Robbie's music (I think).  If I recall correctly on the first floor was a bunch of hammond and leslies they had on site and on the 2nd floor was the synthesizer section.  That was my first sighting of the Gem Equinox and its acoustic piano was one of the best I had heard in a synth at that time. 

 

Glad to hear that they are still in business......

[Reezekeys]

I definitely remember the adventure of both getting into and out of the Paramus Sam Ash parking lot! Getting in was a little more hair raising! Never had a problem finding a parking space though. 🙂 

[The Real MC]

4 hours ago, counterpoint said:

They are finally rebuilding the 3/46 merge after talking about it for 30 years.

 

NJ and most other states seem to take a generation on infrastructure projects from concept to execution.  Private sector gets it done much faster.

[lightbg]

"They are finally rebuilding the 3/46 merge after talking about it for 30 years."

 

Now you can get to the American (wet)Dream Mall without any delay....... 🙄

[DovJ]

Starting in late July, I traveled to New York for work and vacation (we now live in Jerusalem, Israel). During our stay, we had reason to be on 47th Street. 
 

My wife and I had planned to walk over to 48th street so I could relive my college days of gaping over keyboards and other gear at Manny’s and Sam Ash. 
 

What a terrible surprise I had when I learned that the legendary 48th Street music store district no longer exists!

 

Fortunately, in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv (and many other cities in Israel) there are well-stocked music stores, staffed by knowledgeable musicians. 
 

You can never go back…

[obxa]

Wow thank you for the  great memories guys-  had no idea most of you were from there!!!

 

Went to West Milford HS, William Patterson Uni, and played all around the NJ/NY club circuit for years (Strutter)  before moving and working in NYC. Then going on the road moved to Cali,then here.  

 

Bought my Wurli and boat loads of stuff  from Sam Ash Paramus,  tons of stuff from Robbies.  The 2nd floor was big on "Univox" stuff.    Victor's House of Music in Ridgewood, (who is also ZZounds),  Got my Arp and used to rent road pianos from Long & Mcquade Parsippany,   I used to raid the basement at Muscara in Belleville- still have things I bought there.   ....And of course across the street  Triple S electronics (Springsteen's brother in law) used to fix all my synths!!!!   

 

 If you're old enough you'll probably remember Willowbrook Mall, and the big "2 Guys" store near where 46, 23 and all that stuff met.And if you gigged, the Tick-Tock diner on 46.

[Mills Dude]

1 hour ago, obxa said:

Wow thank you for the  great memories guys-  had no idea most of you were from there!!!

 

Went to West Milford HS, William Patterson Uni, and played all around the NJ/NY club circuit for years (Strutter)  before moving and working in NYC. Then going on the road moved to Cali,then here.  

 

Bought my Wurli and boat loads of stuff  from Sam Ash Paramus,  tons of stuff from Robbies.  The 2nd floor was big on "Univox" stuff.    Victor's House of Music in Ridgewood, (who is also ZZounds),  Got my Arp and used to rent road pianos from Long & Mcquade Parsippany,   I used to raid the basement at Muscara in Belleville- still have things I bought there.   ....And of course across the street  Triple S electronics (Springsteen's brother in law) used to fix all my synths!!!!   

 

 If you're old enough you'll probably remember Willowbrook Mall, and the big "2 Guys" store near where 46, 23 and all that stuff met.And if you gigged, the Tick-Tock diner on 46.

I thought Victor's became AMS (American Music Supply) not ZZounds.

 

Tick Tock diner is still there on Rt 3.  I think the Stones ate there a few years ago before one of their Meadowlands shows, at least I remember something from the papers about them eating at one of those diners.  I remember many a late night at the Tick Tock after a gig.  Another great after gig diner on Rt 23 north of Wayne is the Pompton Queen. 

 

Victors had expanded to a new store on Rt 17 about 25 years ago.  A few years later they sold the retail business to GC and that store became a GC.  A few years back they closed that and the GC on Rt 4 and consolidated to the new Rt 17 location in Paramus.   I just stopped in there on my way back from NYC and it was very depressing.  Keys section had an MPC Keys, no audio and I didn't bother trying to get it hooked up.  They also had a few Junos, an MX88, an RD88 and a used Krome.  

 

Question for you old geezers, are the guys from Robbies Music City the same guys that owned Robbies Music Barn up on Rt 17 in Mahwah? 

 

That store closed about 10 years ago.  I almost bought a beat up Rhodes Stage 88 with not bad action from them.  I was close to pulling the trigger but then decided I didn't have it in me to do the rehab.  I know those Robbies guys also had a store in Nanuet more than 30 years ago.  Bought my M1r there. 

[lightbg]

I know the barn's been closed for years. However, Wayne and Hackettstown are going strong, but it looks like either a holding company or other enterprize owns the name.

 

https://www.newarkmusical.com/robbies_hackettstown.php

 

I cried the day they closed the Long and McQuade in Parsippany. John Darko was the manager and even gave me his Sequential Circuits ballcap when I bought my Pro One. Korg Polysix and CX-3, Roland D-50 and PMA-1 plus my RVS II amp all made gigging tons of fun.

[Synthaholic]

Wow, I haven't thought about Paramus in years, but my experience was a bit different. Last time I was there I was 13 or 14, working for Wurlitzer, demonstrating organs. I would go to my home base Wurlitzer at Brunswick Square Mall in East Brunswick, and then they would drive me for the day to the Paramus Mall Wurlitzer. I did this at a few of their locations. Newark was a free-standing store, so they only brought me there for events, as anyone going there normally was already interested in buying and didn't need the novelty of a kid drawing them in. 

[obxa]

Mills Dude- Yes sorry AMS,  though technically American Music and ZZounds are the same.  Not sure why they feel a need to pretend,  they have different portals but same store. I shop at both and abide  

 

Lightbg:  Wow- I remember John at L& MQ very well!!   Great guy- always encouraging to talk to, always hooked me up. 

I used to work at First Union bank (Now Wells) Totowa.   Soul sucking job as a teller, was playing in a band at night, living in Clifton.   Without fail, I'd go to L&Mq  EVERY day on my lunch hour.    One day finally decided I wanted to do music full time and never came back from lunch.  I think John had something to do with that-or they just got sick of me being in there. 

 

Synthaholic- that's so cool-  I vaguely remember there was a music store in Pompton lakes/Butler  and he  also had a store at  the mall that did Wurlitzer presentations?  One of my  piano teachers was Dr. Howard Van Orden -  and he had a Wurli Theater Organ in his teaching studio in Butler.  That ring a bell?

 

My Brother lives  near Phillipsburg - in the 80's there was a music store out in the sticks- but they had the only Dx7  in Jersey.  Can't remember the place, but remember how happy I was to have scored one.  Old friend of mine used own Yada-Yada studios in Boonton -Dx7 got a ton of mileage for rentals.

 

I also remember Ritchie's music in Rockaway. (and they're still there).

[Synthaholic]

11 minutes ago, obxa said:

Synthaholic- that's so cool-  I vaguely remember there was a music store in Pompton lakes/Butler  and he  also had a store at  the mall that did Wurlitzer presentations?  One of my  piano teachers was Dr. Howard Van Orden -  and he had a Wurli Theater Organ in his teaching studio in Butler.  That ring a bell?

No, this was around 1973, 1974. I'm from Spotswood, next to East Brunswick, and would ride my bike to work every day after school. I started working for Wurlitzer the day after turning 13. They hired me when I was 12, but I had to wait until my birthday because of NJ labor laws. I didn't get anywhere else, really, at that age. But I'd imagine that Wurlitzer expanded the idea with other young players, although I believe because of my start age I'm still their youngest employee ever. It's funny, I was cleaning out old boxes in the garage and found an old check stub: I remember that they paid me $1.75 an hour in 1973. 👍

 

 

[Franz Schiller]

Wow, I live in North Jersey as well and didn't know there were so many of you here too.

 

I bought a lot of stuff from the Paramus Sam Ash, including my first DAW, first DP, and a bunch of other stuff. Sad to see it go.

 

Where was Muscara's in Belleville? There is a pawn shop called Spinosa Music that has super random stuff sometimes, though rarely anything great. Like a Yamaha DX21 and an old Lowery organ were the coolest things I can remember.

[Franz Schiller]

11 hours ago, obxa said:

My Brother lives  near Phillipsburg - in the 80's there was a music store out in the sticks- but they had the only Dx7  in Jersey.  Can't remember the place, but remember how happy I was to have scored one.  Old friend of mine used own Yada-Yada studios in Boonton -Dx7 got a ton of mileage for rentals.

 

I also remember Ritchie's music in Rockaway. (and they're still there).

 

That's Dave Phillips Music. They're still around, though they've moved several times over the past 20 years.

 

Ritchie's recently moved from their original location into the "center" of Rockaway.

[Franz Schiller]

Victor's House of Music is very sentimental for me personally. My Dad bought a JX-8p from there back in 1988 or so. I was just a little kid, and I remember it clearly. That's what got me into synths.

 

A few years later, I had saved up birthday/Christmas money to go to Victor's and buy a Casio VZ-10m on clearance. A few years after that, I saved up to get a Roland TR-505 on clearance.

 

Once I was in my 20s, I bought cables and microphones from them as well. I remember they had a Kurzweil K2500 on display that I drooled over; that pretty much started my Kurzweil enthusiam.

[obxa]

We may need a "keyboard players from NJ " forum. .   Talking with you all has made me feel warmly fuzzy for those days. 

 

Hey Franz- the other guys can correct me, but I think Muscara's  was actually right  on Main st. aka "Belleville Ave"?  Across the street from Triple S Electronics.   The place was legendary.     https://thisismynewjersey.wordpress.com/tag/muscara-music/ Just seeing the storefront picture brings back fond memories.  My weekly ritual was to take my Wurli, OB ,or other battered gig gear  to Triple S for repair.  Would go to Muscara's or that pizza place next store to kill time while they fixed stuff.  Muscara's had the "graveyard" basement. Loved rummaging down there.

 

So you might know - wasn't there a guy at Victors named Richie w/Italian last name....  (Forma- something)?? ...  who went on to become a product rep for Korg and ton of others?

 

28 minutes ago, Franz Schiller said:

Wow, I live in North Jersey as well and didn't know there were so many of you here too.

 

I bought a lot of stuff from the Paramus Sam Ash, including my first DAW, first DP, and a bunch of other stuff. Sad to see it go.

 

Where was Muscara's in Belleville? There is a pawn shop called Spinosa Music that has super random stuff sometimes, though rarely anything great. Like a Yamaha DX21 and an old Lowery organ were the coolest things I can remember.

 

[NosPup]

Im another North Jerseyan!  (but now in Central NJ).

In high school, there used to be a back way into that Sam Ash that would drop you in the parking lot for the next store, but right next to it.  I think it was off Farview?  And there was also another place nearby for a while.  I think it was Muscially Yours or something like that.

 

Im sure the people at Sam Ash and Victors loved me spending hours in there and never buying anything!  Especially Victors when it was small in the middle of Ridgewood.

 

[Joe P]

Bought my DX7s at Rondo in 1987! 

 

[lightbg]

Muscara's was on Washington Ave.in the middle of Belleville. The picture in the link above was their final store, which was across the street from the original store. Eugene Muscara was a total gentleman who wasn't satisfied with a sale until he knew that the buyer was. I remember seeing him manhandle Voice Of The Theater bins with his handtruck into vans and station wagons in a suit and tie and never broke a sweat. The one quirk I remember him having was he loved his Citroen D21 and would show anybody how it didn't need a jack because it had independent pneumatic suspension and could lift each wheel like a dog lifting it's leg. BTW his son Eddie was a monster drummer who sat in with the Montclair State Big Band and could play "West Side Story" better than Buddy Rich.

 

I taught keyboards for him in the old store for a while. When he moved across the street the old store became mostly storage. I tried to teach in the new building but after 30 minutes would suffer severe headaches. It turns out he had an ultrasonic alarm installed that no one was supposed to hear....... lucky me(I left there soon after and wound up teaching at the Hammond Studio in Totawa for a decade.).

 

I recall two salespeople there. One was Jan, who sold me my Arp Omni (version 1), and Bill, the guitar specialist who had chops that he never demonstrated but was a total monster, and also one of the nicest gentlemen I ever met. He sold me my Harmony D22 bass guitar which I still have.

 

 

Great memories and great thread.

 

Jake

[lightbg]

On 8/16/2022 at 9:13 PM, Synthaholic said:

Wow, I haven't thought about Paramus in years, but my experience was a bit different. Last time I was there I was 13 or 14, working for Wurlitzer, demonstrating organs. I would go to my home base Wurlitzer at Brunswick Square Mall in East Brunswick, and then they would drive me for the day to the Paramus Mall Wurlitzer. I did this at a few of their locations. Newark was a free-standing store, so they only brought me there for events, as anyone going there normally was already interested in buying and didn't need the novelty of a kid drawing them in. 

Wow. That had to be Gimbel's downstairs from the escalator in the (then open-air) Garden State Plaza on 4 and 17. My first organ, a Wurli 4300 spinet came from there, and it wasn't quite ready for prime time. It was Wurlitzer's first foray into integrated circuits, and I should have been a beta tester for them. After a month the rhythm section  (which I recall one of the tabs being labeled "Ssh-Boom") crapped out and after three tries the local tech gave up. They flew an engineer from the home office and he had every PC strip on my living room floor for 4 days with replacement parts flown in while he took the originals back for study. It did sort of work after that, but a very benevelent salesman at the Hammond Studio made my father a deal, and the Wurli got traded in on my B-3.

[jerrythek]

 Nice memories… another Jersey boy here (until end of 1988). The store in Butler someone mentioned was called Village Music, I worked and taught piano lessons at their Parsippany store for a number of years. The Aquino brothers ran the business. 
 

Long and McQuade memory: Master ARP demonstrator Mike Brigida did a clinic in the store when the Chroma first came out - this was a big deal for us fledgling synth nerds - a clinic of this stature in Parsippany!

 

I shopped at all those stores, and got all my gear serviced at Triple S for years. Really obscure reference: for a few years a guy named Sam Adriano ran a small business called Impact Audio across the street from Muscaras. I bought some of his custom cabinets (an 18 cabinet and a 12 cabinet) for my keys rig. Sounded great, but stupid expensive and blonde wood. Not a smart move for playing one-nighters in N Jersey clubs!

 

 

[ElmerJFudd]

9 minutes ago, jerrythek said:

 Nice memories… another Jersey boy here (until end of 1988). The store in Butler someone mentioned was called Village Music, I worked and taught piano lessons at their Parsippany store for a number of years. The Aquino brothers ran the business. 
 

Long and McQuade memory: Master ARP demonstrator Mike Brigida did a clinic in the store when the Chroma first came out - this was a big deal for us fledgling synth nerds - a clinic of this stature in Parsippany!

 

I shopped at all those stores, and got all my gear serviced at Triple S for years. Really obscure reference: for a few years a guy named Sam Adriano ran a small business called Impact Audio across the street from Muscaras. I bought some of his custom cabinets (an 18 cabinet and a 12 cabinet) for my keys rig. Sounded great, but stupid expensive and blonde wood. Not a smart move for playing one-nighters in N Jersey clubs!

 

 

Triple S is still there.   Karl has always been good to me. 

[Bobbo Fett]

13 hours ago, lightbg said:

Muscara's was on Washington Ave.in the middle of Belleville. The picture in the link above was their final store, which was across the street from the original store. Eugene Muscara was a total gentleman who wasn't satisfied with a sale until he knew that the buyer was. I remember seeing him manhandle Voice Of The Theater bins with his handtruck into vans and station wagons in a suit and tie and never broke a sweat. The one quirk I remember him having was he loved his Citroen D21 and would show anybody how it didn't need a jack because it had independent pneumatic suspension and could lift each wheel like a dog lifting it's leg. BTW his son Eddie was a monster drummer who sat in with the Montclair State Big Band and could play "West Side Story" better than Buddy Rich.

 

I taught keyboards for him in the old store for a while. When he moved across the street the old store became mostly storage. I tried to teach in the new building but after 30 minutes would suffer severe headaches. It turns out he had an ultrasonic alarm installed that no one was supposed to hear....... lucky me(I left there soon after and wound up teaching at the Hammond Studio in Totawa for a decade.).

 

I recall two salespeople there. One was Jan, who sold me my Arp Omni (version 1), and Bill, the guitar specialist who had chops that he never demonstrated but was a total monster, and also one of the nicest gentlemen I ever met. He sold me my Harmony D22 bass guitar which I still have.

 

 

Great memories and great thread.

 

Jake

MORE great memories! We called him "Smilin' Bill" and he hooked up at least a couple of bands I played in with PA gear. Also Montclair State! I studied trumpet there with Mario Oneglia fo a few years in the late 70's.....

[Synthaholic]

It's a well-known fact that all the most talented people come from New Jersey and Canada.

 

 

True story!

[Synthaholic]

On 8/18/2022 at 12:07 AM, lightbg said:

Wow. That had to be Gimbel's downstairs from the escalator in the (then open-air) Garden State Plaza on 4 and 17. My first organ, a Wurli 4300 spinet came from there, and it wasn't quite ready for prime time. It was Wurlitzer's first foray into integrated circuits, and I should have been a beta tester for them. After a month the rhythm section  (which I recall one of the tabs being labeled "Ssh-Boom") crapped out and after three tries the local tech gave up. They flew an engineer from the home office and he had every PC strip on my living room floor for 4 days with replacement parts flown in while he took the originals back for study. It did sort of work after that, but a very benevelent salesman at the Hammond Studio made my father a deal, and the Wurli got traded in on my B-3.

I don't remember who the Mall anchor was at Paramus, but at Brunswick Square Mall it was Bamberger's, with an Orange Julius right between us. I drank way too many of those damn things. But there were other perks: the movie theater let me in for free and I saw Woody Allen's 'Sleeper' over 20 times when it came out.

[lightbg]

"MORE great memories! We called him "Smilin' Bill" and he hooked up at least a couple of bands I played in with PA gear. Also Montclair State! I studied trumpet there with Mario Oneglia fo a few years in the late 70's....."

Good God, Mario was still inflicting you guys then? I got out in '73 and had him for Brass Class at 8am MWF. He dressed like T.H.E. Cat (Robert Loggia starred in that show), smoked de Nobili cigars, and drank Pathmark Beer, all the while breathing in your face about "the breath is the life of the tone". His breath could stop a camel. I thought for sure he retired after we left....

 

Jake

[Synthaholic]

12 hours ago, lightbg said:

Also Montclair State! I studied trumpet there with Mario Oneglia fo a few years in the late 70's....."

Do you remember the pipe organ? I got to play it once.

[lightbg]

8 hours ago, Synthaholic said:

Do you remember the pipe organ? I got to play it once.

The 3 manual Moeller pipe organ was the first pipe organ I ever played, and that occasion was my audition for entering Montclair! The time delay got to me, but I was told to play the notes and not listen, and Russell Hayton, who was my instructor at the college was impressed. He looked like Elmer Fudd (the cartoon character, not our musical brother here), told the worst pantyhose jokes, but had the teaching ability to get even a Hammond hack like me to sound like I knew what I was doing at that console.

[obxa]

On 8/18/2022 at 12:23 PM, jerrythek said:

 Nice memories… another Jersey boy here (until end of 1988). The store in Butler someone mentioned was called Village Music, I worked and taught piano lessons at their Parsippany store for a number of years. The Aquino brothers ran the business. 
 

Long and McQuade memory: Master ARP demonstrator Mike Brigida did a clinic in the store when the Chroma first came out - this was a big deal for us fledgling synth nerds - a clinic of this stature in Parsippany!

 

I shopped at all those stores, and got all my gear serviced at Triple S for years. Really obscure reference: for a few years a guy named Sam Adriano ran a small business called Impact Audio across the street from Muscaras. I bought some of his custom cabinets (an 18 cabinet and a 12 cabinet) for my keys rig. Sounded great, but stupid expensive and blonde wood. Not a smart move for playing one-nighters in N Jersey clubs!

 

 

Hey Jerry thanks for reminding me about Village!!!!    I was in there constantly- also took a few lessons before I went to Dr. Van Orden.   I also left  NJ around 86 .but  I'm sure you and I may have crossed paths  at Village or at least in the club scene... hard to believe:  6 nights a week.  My brother (still in Jersey)  was a sound guy, and Annie Haslam's (Renaissance) road manager for a bunch of years.  He still has bunch of stuff he used with her from Impact Audio and Erik Waynes stuff in storage. 

 

 I mentioned before it's funny how we all  define Jersey geography either by (former Rock) clubs or music stores.       

[Morrissey]

On 8/16/2022 at 12:15 AM, DovJ said:

What a terrible surprise I had when I learned that the legendary 48th Street music store district no longer exists!

 

This is a sad sign of the times.  It was quite a district for musos!