GREETINGS FROM ASBURY MODSBURY PARK, PART 5:

Mick Hale, Mod Fun

Mick Hale (aka Mick London) burst into the NJ music scene back in the early Eighties with Mod Fun, a high-school Mod revival band (whose original lineup included Ween's Dave Dreiwitz on trumpet!) that soon found a home in NYC's booming mid-80's garage rock revival. The band continued to expand its sound until the end of the decade, when Mod Fun morphed into Crocodile Shop (later Croc Shop,) who experimented with industrial, goth, and electronic/dance music through the Nineties. A few years ago, the original three members of Mod Fun decided to reunite, and they continue to record and play shows, finding a new audience for their stylish brand of Mod/garage/soul fusion.
Mick has lived in Ocean Grove, right next door to Asbury Park, for a number of years, and this Friday, July 9, Mod Fun will be performing at Asbury Lanes.

Q: Where did you grow up, and how did you wind up living in Asbury Park?

Mick: I was born in Hackensack and brought up in a little town called "Maywood," which sits between Paramus (the "Mall Capital" of NJ!,) and Hackensack (an almost "little city/more urban" atmosphere much like Asbury, itself.) I went to Hackensack Highschool, which was a big (and racially diverse) melting pot of kids. I'd ride my moped to school with my bowling shoes and Paisley shirts and then walk from class to class with a boom-box blasting Motown, Ska & old Soul, while the "druggies" listened to Led Zepplin on "the Patio" and the black kids had early hip-hop/rap on their boom-boxes, they all called me
"home slice" or "home salad" - I still don't know what that means, but it seemed like it was meant as a compliment (one guy told me once "salad" was even better/kooler than "slice" LOL!.) I ended up here (by Asbury) after moving further south each time I moved, spending a little over a decade in & around New Brunswick, where I DJ'd at the niteclub "The Roxy" for about 6 years and when that club closed, then "The Melody" for a little over a year. During that time I got a graphics job just outside Red Bank, and by that time had also moved to Neptune City; then in 2004, made the move closer to the Ocean (and across the lake from AP) into the house I now own in Ocean Grove.

Q: Big question: What do you like about Asbury Park? What's good about being a performer or a fan there? Venues, audience, promoters, the beer... the proximity to NYC and Philly... whatever.

MIck: this is a tricky one for me, since we've only ever played 2 actual "clubs" in Asbury: The Saint, where we did our jam-packed-SRO"20 year reunion" which in turn (ironically) kicked off a longer run for "MOD FUN" than we did originally back in the 80's ! - and then,
since that ONE "Saint" gig, we've played at the ASBURY LANES pretty much every year since. To be diplomatic here, and not go into too much "negative" detail, I'll just say that the LANES has pretty much always treated us as people first and "worthless musicians" LAST! which is to say that they let you soundcheck, give u a couple free drink tix, a guestlist and do some promo for the gig on their own ... and then, most importantly for "indie" bands - pay you fairly at the end of the nite; if it's packed you get a fair cut. We've also played outdoors at a huge festival outside Convention Hall (just last month)
and done an "in store" at a kool little alt-clothing shoppe on Cookman (called B Unique,) and honestly, that's more what I like the most about this area in general. It's got less to do with being in a band than just the way this area is - there's great restaurants, bars, pubs and tons of kool little shoppes on Cookman Ave; some of which also do live (band) events and then you have the beautiful ocean, the beach & all these new places out on the boardwalk too, heck we even have a PINBALL "Museum" now too... I have DJ'd at some and been to a lot of events out that way & it's just kind of the "feel" or "vibe" of Asbury that has a kind of "electricity" to it (that sounds very Paula Abdul, I know, but it's tough to explain!) As for being a "FAN" (only? does that even exist anymore? isn't everyone an artist or musician, DJ, or "blogger" of some kind nowadays? hehe;)
but - there's always *something* going on around here - people call NYC the "city that never sleeps" - well it seems that here in Asbury, we have almost as much to do on a nightly basis; but we get to sleep too (on the beach,... the next day!)

Q: Bigger question: What is wrong with Asbury Park? What's the first thing about the city you'd change if you could?

Mick: HA! see my previous answer (read between the lines, I guess) - but I will say again, because Asbury is (and has been for years, in fact,) an "Up And Coming" tour spot or "live music" HUB if you will, some clubs seem to think they can rip off bands and piss on their own "locals," if you will...this really gets to me, but you know if some supposedly "big/legendary" clubs won't book us (as an example, TeeHee!) then there's many other outlets in town (now) like the shoppes on Cookman, or the newer clubs and bars (even the Brickwall has has some interesting band nites there,) and there's outdoor gigs (on First Nite!) in AP to be had... What I'd change would be the booking agents (or their "attitude!") at a couple of the "longer running" clubs here.

Q: Clearly Asbury is a city with a storied past that's been mired in a sort of murky present for a long time, with (supposedly) a bright future. I am reminded of Hoboken. Musicians and artists flocked there in the Eighties because the town was a dump, but a cheap place to live and a great place to be a musician. Developers moved in and then it became not-a-dump but a modern commuter city, but the rents were no longer cheap and it wasn't such a great place for musicians and artists. So: Can urban development and gentrification come to Asbury Park and NOT wipe out everything that people in the music scene like the place? Is there room for a "new" Asbury that leaves room for the Wonder Bar and Asbury Lanes and the Stone Pony?

Mick: I seem to be on a rant here, but I have to say I have only ever stepped foot in the "STONE PONY" twice in my life (and I've been playing clubs all over NJ and going out to shows since about 1985! and lived within "bicycling distance" for the last dozen years!) The Psychedelic Furs and Lee Scratch Perry were the only 2 things that could lure me in there so far,...and as much as it'd be neat to play there, honestly to me the PONY could just vanish this second & I think Asbury would be pretty much the same! The "scene" is so *outside* that one club (to me anyway,) the PONY is more like a "Ritz" than a "CBGB," if you know what I mean... Now lose THE LANES and it'd be a big loss, you go in there & see people from a lot of other bands hanging out, the shoppe owners from Cookman Ave are all in there, the staff is all pretty friendly and you know a lot of them
from seeing them at other places in town... I don't get any of that from the Saint or Pony, and the "Vintage" Bowling Alley aspect of it too - it's so kool... Sure a lot of bands ("get to") play @ the PONY, but without it, you'd still have the ability to have BIG shows (on the beachfront, at or outside the Paramount,) we just played at the Pridefest 2010 there - full stage (ala "Warped Tour,") and this kind of thing could be done all summer long. I've only ever walked thru the Wonder Bar twice so I don't honestly know what their deal is, there. I really like that they do a pet-friendly "Yappy Hour" tho! As for losing this "alternative" sort of underground if Asbury ever really comes 'round I don't think it'd be like a Hoboken or New Brunswick (where Rutgers and RWJ Hospital have taken over the whole "downtown!) for that matter - for one thing it's too far to commute to any City or Corporate type job, it's very much a Vacation or Weekend "Getaway" kind of a place (where "Entertainment" is actually valued and not shut out for "Commuter Housing") AND a number of the more "artistically minded" types are more involved in the community and both it's economic viability and keeping it sort of "interesting" here - in other words we've got "allies" on City Councils and in the Chamber of Commerce as well as *in* the Real Estate/Development business here, TOO...

Mod Fun in the 80's

Q: Pretend I am a 15 year old kid in Nebraska reading this and all I know about Asbury Park comes from the lyrics of a Bruce Springsteen song. What is the most important thing you want to tell me about your city?

Bruce who? . . . Just kidding - even tho I don't care much for his music, Bruce's lefty politics/causes are alright by me and he has done a lot of good, positive stuff for this City he used to call "home." But, you know, and this goes back to some of my thoughts on what I like about this area & how it's not even so much about bands/music or clubs per
se - but here, in the Asbury Park "greater" area I feel like you can actually be yourself, live comfortably and without so much prejudice - which is to say we have a little bit of everything here and it's mostly all "celebrated" there really is a "live and let live" attitude prevalent here. Asbury's racially diverse in population makeup and we also have an equal share of women who are the top entrepreneurs and "trend setters" in town. There's a huge gay and lesbian population (NJ's biggest gay club - which is also a world class hotel is here with the "Paradise/Empress," owned by Shep Pettibone who's a legendary producer/remixer & co-wrote "Vogue" w. Madonna, & he also lives in Ocean Grove, btw!)... and there's just an inclusive "vibe" that permeates much of the area. To me this is most apparent on the Cookman Ave corridor of kool shoppes, and restaurants & bars, out by the boardwalk or with all the kids from Asbury Lanes (some of whom recently opened the "Parlor" Art Gallery on Cookman, and also another new 'gay friendly' club "SWELL" out near the ocean, with a friend of mine from Ocean Grove...) there is just so much "energy" here to plug into, and that's what anyone can benefit from - be they some 15 year old from the mid-west, or just anyone who finds that being here makes them *feel* that young again! Come to Asbury - it makes you feel *alive!* And hey - especially come here on Friday July 9th, when my own yearly event "MODSBURY PARK" happens (at - you guessed it - the ASBURY LANES!) check out the link:
www.modfun.com/modsbury. For more information on Mod Fun gig, recordings, and history, visit www.modfun.com