web1_gavel.jpg

SCI Dallas guard awarded $62K for race-fueled firing

Pope attends Good Friday service recalling Jesus' suffering

<p>When rock &#8216;n&#8217; roll was young, Joe Nardone &amp; The All Stars backed up Freddy &#8220;Boom Boom&#8221; Cannon at Sans Souci Park in Hanover Township.</p><p>That was June 29, 1962.</p><p>Fifty-five years later, Nardone is promoting a rock and doo wop showcase that features the legendary singer of &#8220;Tallahassee Lassie&#8221; and &#8220;Palisades Park&#8221; among other well known acts from his era of popular music.</p><p>Solid Gold Party will start at 7 p.m. May 6 at the <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/633514/wilkes-barres-f-m-kirby-center-announces-first-fundrasing-event-of-2017" target="_blank">F.M. Kirby Center</a> in Wilkes-Barre and will feature Cannon, 76, along with Gary U.S. Bonds, The Marcels, Shirley Alston Reeves and a super girl group comprised of members of The Exciters, The Cookies, The Jaynetts, The Raindrops and Reparata and the Delrons.</p><p>Cannon, a Massachusetts native, said he was influenced by Big Joe Turner, Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry.</p><p>&#8220;Those people made an impact on me,&#8221; Cannon said.</p><p>Although Tuner died before Cannon &#8220;got big,&#8221; Cannon got the opportunity to work with Diddley and Berry.</p><p>&#8220;Chuck Berry, to me, is bigger than Elvis Presley, bigger than The Beatles, bigger than anybody,&#8221; Cannon said. &#8220;Here&#8217;s a guy who was copied by everybody. Without the Chuck Berrys and the Big Joe Turners, you wouldn&#8217;t have rock &#8216;n&#8217; roll music.&#8221;</p><p>Cannon released &#8220;Tallahassee Lassie&#8221; in 1959 and, over the career that followed, set industry precedents by making the first rock &#8216;n&#8217; roll record to top the UK Albums Chart in 1960 with &#8220;The Explosive Freddy Cannon&#8221; and by being featured on &#8220;American Bandstand&#8221; 110 times, more than any other musician.</p><p>&#8220;I feel really honored that it did that well in England and Scotland and Ireland,&#8221; Cannon said of the album. &#8220;The people were wonderful to me. They loved this kind of music.&#8221;</p><p>Cannon, who has never strayed from his early rock &#8216;n&#8217; roll style, said it&#8217;s important to him to be true to himself and not stray from what he does well or from the person he is.</p><p>&#8220;If I&#8217;m going to sing rock &#8216;n&#8217; roll, I&#8217;m going to sing Freddy &#8216;Boom Boom&#8217; Cannon rock &#8216;n&#8217; roll music,&#8221; Cannon said. &#8220;When you come and see me you&#8217;re going to hear the roots of rock &#8216;n&#8217; roll. As long as I&#8217;m alive, it won&#8217;t ever be forgotten.&#8221;</p><p>The rock legend infused his old-school technique into his latest work, an original song called the &#8220;Svengoolie Stomp,&#8221; which Cannon penned for MeTV horror and sci-fi program &#8220;Svengoolie.&#8221;</p><p>A classic horror-movie buff, citing films like &#8220;Frankenstein,&#8221; &#8220;Dracula&#8221; and &#8220;The Wolf Man,&#8221; Cannon watches &#8220;Svengoolie&#8221; regularly and is a fan of its host, Rich Koz, aka Svengoolie.</p><p>&#8220;One day my wife said to me, &#8216;If you like him so much, why don&#8217;t you write a song about this guy?&#8217; &#8221; Cannon said. The thing that came to my mind was a stomp, and I started to write what the show was all about.&#8221;</p><p>The show&#8217;s producer liked the song so much, he invited Cannon to Chicago to be on the show and shoot a video for &#8220;Svengoolie Stomp&#8221; in April of 2016.</p><p>Just over a year later, Cannon will leave his California home to rock Wilkes-Barre, and he&#8217;s excited to perform among other celebrated acts.</p><p>&#8220;A lot of the acts are classified as doo wop acts, and I&#8217;m different from them,&#8221; Cannon said. &#8220;It gives the show a little variety.&#8221;</p><p>Among his fellow performers, Cannon lauds Shirley Alston Reeves.</p><p>&#8220;Shirley and her group, the Shirelles, deserve high honors for what they&#8217;ve done over the years,&#8221; Cannon said. She is another legend. She puts on a great show.&#8221;</p><p>As far as the the 1962 Hanover Township performance with Joe Nardone &amp; The All Stars, Cannon said he remembers it clearly.</p><p>&#8220;They did a terrific job backing me up,&#8221; Cannon said. &#8220;Joe is a nice guy. I didn&#8217;t know he was promoting the show. I&#8217;ll be glad to see him.&#8221;</p><p>The All Stars, at the time the house band at Sans Souci Park, often rehearsed with star acts during afternoons and acted as their backing band at night.</p><p>&#8220;Some artists were rough to deal with being &#8216;national&#8217; stars and coming to Wilkes-Barre feeling superior to their amusement park surrounding,&#8221; Nardone said. &#8220;But not Freddy Cannon. He was very cordial and extremely friendly and got along with all of the members of my band and put on a great show.&#8221;</p><p><ins>For other Life Section stories, <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/category/features" target="_blank">click here</a>.</ins></p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_Marcels-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Doo wop legends The Marcels will be among the celebrated acts performing at Solid Gold Party at the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_Marcels-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Doo wop legends The Marcels will be among the celebrated acts performing at Solid Gold Party at the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre. </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photo </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_Gary_cropped-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Rhythm and blues-rock &#8216;n&#8217; roll singer Gary U.S. Bonds is known for hits like &#8220;New Orleans&#8221; and &#8220;Quarter to Three.&#8221; </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_Gary_cropped-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Rhythm and blues-rock &#8216;n&#8217; roll singer Gary U.S. Bonds is known for hits like &#8220;New Orleans&#8221; and &#8220;Quarter to Three.&#8221; </caption1><photoCredit1>Submitted photo </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_freddy-1-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Legendary rock &#8216;n&#8217; roll singer Freddy Cannon headlines a rock and doo wop show full of popular musicians from the early days of the genres on May 6. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_freddy-1-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Legendary rock &#8216;n&#8217; roll singer Freddy Cannon headlines a rock and doo wop show full of popular musicians from the early days of the genres on May 6. </caption2><photoCredit2>Courtesy of MeTV/Jim Roach </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_FredSvengoolie-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Freddy &#8216;Boom Boom&#8217; Cannon, right, wrote &#8216;Svengoolie Stomp&#8217; in 2016 for the MeTV horror and sci-fi program &#8216;Svengoolie&#8217; and its host Rich Koz aka Svengoolie, left. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_FredSvengoolie-1.jpg</photo3><caption3>Freddy &#8216;Boom Boom&#8217; Cannon, right, wrote &#8216;Svengoolie Stomp&#8217; in 2016 for the MeTV horror and sci-fi program &#8216;Svengoolie&#8217; and its host Rich Koz aka Svengoolie, left. </caption3><photoCredit3>Courtesy of MeTV/Jim Roach </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta></subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Matt Mattei</p><p>mmattei@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p><p><strong>What: </strong>Solid Gold Party featuring Freddy &#8216;Boom Boom&#8217; Cannon, Gary U.S. Bonds, The Marcels, Shirley Alston Reeves and more</p><p><strong>Where: </strong>F.M. Kirby Center, 71 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre</p><p><strong>When: </strong>7 p.m. May 6. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.</p><p><strong>Ticket information: </strong>Tickets range from $29.50 to $49.50 and are available at the Kirby Center box office, online at kirbycenter.org and by phone at 570-826-1100.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Matt Mattei at 570-991-6651 or on Twitter @TimesLeaderMatt.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Freddy Cannon to headline rock and doo wop showcase at F.M. Kirby Center