By Bruce Doorly
This month’s topic certainly fits that criteria. I have been writing about local history for eleven years and have been a mobile disc jockey for thirty-five years. Yet I only recently discovered the fact that from 1963-1966 Christ the King Church in Manville held two dozen Rock N Roll concerts featuring popular artists.
But when Rock N Roll was young that was the case. The artists did not charge a lot, because they had small portable equipment and their road crew and security consisted of only a handful of people.
Photo courtesy of Christ the Redeemer Parish, Manville.
Together they booked two dozen popular Rock N Roll acts over a three-year period.
Most of these concerts were in the auditorium of the church, but two were at Manville High School and two were at the VFW Hall in Manville.
Gene Kaye, a passionate fan and promoter of Rock N Roll, was always on hand and functioned as the master of ceremonies.
The concerts were often billed as dances as there was no seating. But the teenagers often had little room to dance as the auditorium almost always was packed.
There was a strict dress code. Boys were required to wear jackets and ties. The girls had to wear dresses. During summer months the dress code for boys was relaxed a bit.
Only one aborted concert (Herman’s Hermits) was written about in the newspaper. Even newspaper advertising for the concerts was minimal as these popular concerts needed little advertising.
When a post about the concerts was made on the Manville History Facebook Group, we received many recollections.
Examples of the comments are “It was a special time to grow up”, “wonderful great memories”, and “I don’t know how they got all these great people to perform.”
In 1964, there would be at least ten concerts. The best known being The Four Seasons, Bobby Rydell, and the Isley Brothers.
In 1965, there would be seven concerts with the best known the Ronettes and Herman’s Hermits. In 1966, there would be three concerts.
By far the most remembered concert of the Christ the King Manville concerts was held on April 19th 1965.
Herman’s Hermits, a group from England, had been booked a month in advance. It was their first concert ever in the United States.
Their songs “Can't You Hear My Heartbeat” and “Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter” made it to the top of the charts. Their appearance fee had doubled since they signed with Gene Kaye and Father Dzema to play at Manville. But since they wanted to honor the contract, they played – at least they tried to.
When the band took the stage, the girls in their excitement rushed forward coming onto the stage. The group was very popular and the girls found their lead singer Peter Noone (known as Herman) very cute.
There were several adult chaperones and a police officer, but they were no match for the wave of hysterical fans. The band left the stage while the chaperones temporarily restored order. They issued a warning to the crowd that if they continued to rush the stage the band could not play. Twenty minutes later Herman’s Hermits took the stage again. But once again the onrush of the crowd plowed past the chaperones and onto the stage.
So, the band left for good. The chaperones announced that the Hermits had left. Some kids exited, but most stayed as the gymnasium had sound equipment and records for dances. So, the concert became a dance with a DJ.
This performance is preserved on YouTube. The screaming by the girls offers an example of what it was like when the Hermits played. Lead singer Peter Noone, whom the girls found irresistible, had many unique facial expressions.
He emailed back “I remember Gene Kaye announcing us and the Hermits began playing the opening song and then I walked out to sing and the whole audience joined us onstage.” Peter seems to harbor no negative feelings about appearing in such a venue as he went on to say “I wonder why concerts are no longer played in high schools where all those lovely girls are today.”
Documentation shows that the final concert was in April of 1966. It featured the “Bobby Fuller Four” whose hit was “I Fought the Law and the Law Won”.
A couple of years later other Manville groups held a few of their own concerts, but the “Christ the King Church” concerts by Father Dzema and Gene Kaye ended in 1966. Three reasons are given for their ending. The sad one was that racial tensions resulted in fights – it was the sixties. The other reason was that the artists had increased their fees putting them out of reach for a church function or high school dance/concert. The final reason is that Father Dzema was transferred to a parish in Keyport in the mid-1966.