New Jersey

New Jersey is the fifth smallest but most densely populated state of the United States of America; the U.S. postal abbreviation is NJ. The state is named after the island of Jersey in the English Channel.

Culture

Music

New Jersey has long been an important area for both rock and rap music. Some prominent musicians with connections to New Jersey are:

Related Topics:
Rock - Rap

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• Musician Bruce Springsteen, who has sung of New Jersey life on his debut album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. and in many of his most popular songs, including "Atlantic City," "Born to Run," "Darlington County," "Freehold," "Jersey Girl" (written by Tom Waits), "Jungleland," "Spirit in the Night," and others. Fellow musician Jon Bon Jovi has also written many songs about New Jersey and even named one of his albums after it (see New Jersey).
• Frank Sinatra, born December 12, 1915, the only child of working-class Italian-American immigrants, in a tenement at 415 Monroe St. in Hoboken. He sang with a neighborhood vocal group, the Hoboken Four, and appeared in neighborhood theater amateur shows before he became an entertainment legend and Academy Award winning actor.
• Whitney Houston is from the city of Newark, New Jersey, is best known for her cover of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" which set new records for sales and weeks at number one. Houston has sold well over 180 million records internationally.
• Bob Dylan's song "Hurricane" is about the accusation and trial of Rubin Carter which took place in Paterson. Dylan's view is that Carter was innocent. (In 1985 United States District Court judge H. Lee Sarokin ruled that Carter had not received a fair trial, saying that the prosecution had been "based on racism rather than reason, and concealment rather than disclosure.")
• Legendary jazz pianist and bandleader Count Basie, born in Red Bank in 1904. In the 1960s, he collaborated on several albums with fellow New Jersey native Frank Sinatra.
• Asbury Park, home of The Stone Pony, where Springsteen and Bon Jovi frequented early in their careers, which is still considered by many to be a "Mecca" for up-and-coming musicians.
• The Velvet Underground, who had their first performance as a band at Summit High School in Summit, New Jersey. Songs included "There She Goes Again" and "Heroin."
• Jerseyan Zakk Wylde of Jersey City, who is currently the guitarist with Ozzy Osbourne and is with another popular rock band, Black Label Society. Wylde is famous for his signature "Bulls-eye" Gibson Les Paul guitar.
• Former Fugee Lauryn Hill, a South Orange resident and hip-hop's best-selling solo female artist. Her 1998 debut album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, sold 10 million copies internationally.
• Hip-hop's longest running radio show, founded by two Jerseyans, Special K (Kevin Bonners) and Teddy Ted (Ted Whiting) of Hackensack, who began on New York's WHBI in 1982 and now appear on WPAT-AM.
• Other rap artists, including Irvington's Queen Latifah, the first female rapper to succeed in music, film, and TV, and the Grammy-winning Naughty By Nature of East Orange, who cut 1992's smash hit "O.P.P." Redman, an influential underground figure and Newark native, has recently found commercial success through collaborations with Eminem and the Wu-Tang Clan's Method Man.
• Musical artists Fountains of Wayne http://www.fountainsofwayne.com/home/, a group of New Jerseyians who took the name of a semi-famous lawn and garden store http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/NJWAYfountains.html on Route 46 in Wayne, New Jersey (also featured on an episode of The Sopranos).
• The band Snowball 37 http://www.snowball37.com, a group of brothers who were inspired by a Kevin Smith reference, is based out of Jersey City.
• The genre Emo until recently thrived in New Jersey, particularly near New Brunswick. Such bands that fit into this category include Thursday, My Chemical Romance, Midtown, Senses Fail, Saves The Day, Hidden In Plain View, The Early November, Armor For Sleep, The Escape Engine, for some more popular bands, recently, the growth of Jersey emo bands has seen somewhat of a decrease as the genre has moved elsewhere.
• Punk music is also an important alternative style in New Jersey, perhaps starting with the band that essentially invented hardcore, The Misfits from Lodi, in the 90's, The Bouncing Souls and Catch 22 were also prominent figures in New Jersey punk.
• The DeLeo brothers of Stone Temple Pilots are both from New Jersey. The brothers, Dean and Robert, are the guitarist and bassist for the band.
• Pete Yorn is another New Jersey artist. He has two albums out: musicforthemorningafter (2001) and Day I Forgot (2003).
• Deborah Harry from Blondie was raised in Hawthorne, New Jersey.
• Blues Traveler was formed at Princeton High School in 1987. John Popper, along with high school buddies drummer Brendan Hill, guitarist Chan Kinchla and the late bassist Bobby Sheehan are all natives of New Jersey.
• Spin Doctors began as Trucking Company in 1989 with Chris Barron (lead singer) and Eric Schenkman and were high school friends of the aformentioned Blues Traveler frontman John Popper at Princeton High School.
• American Idol season 4 contestant Anwar Robinson, considered to be one of AI's most talented male singers, was born in Newark and grew up in East Orange and Montclair, in addition, he teaches music at Edison Middle School in West Orange

TV and film

Motion pictures and televisions shows also have been set in New Jersey. The popular television drama The Sopranos depicts the life of a New Jersey organized crime family and is filmed on location at various places throughout the state.

Related Topics:
The Sopranos - Organized crime

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The 2004 Sundance Film Festival favorite Garden State (starring Zach Braff and Natalie Portman) was shot on location in Morris Township. Also, the popular animated series Megas XLR and Aqua Teen Hunger Force take place primarily in New Jersey. The love comedy "Pizza my heart" was filmed in Verona, New Jersey.

Related Topics:
Sundance Film Festival - Garden State - Zach Braff - Natalie Portman - Morris Township - Megas XLR - Aqua Teen Hunger Force

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Director Kevin Smith sets many of his films in New Jersey, particularly his "New Jersey Trilogy" of Clerks, Mallrats and Chasing Amy. The 2004 movie, Jersey Girl, is also based in New Jersey. Clerks also had a short-lived animated series spin-off with the same name. It took place in the same locations as the movie.

Related Topics:
Kevin Smith - Clerks - Mallrats - Chasing Amy - Jersey Girl - Animated - Spin-off

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2001's A Beautiful Mind had several scenes shot at Princeton University. The movie is a biopic of the mathematician John Nash, who currently lives in Princeton, New Jersey.

Related Topics:
A Beautiful Mind - Princeton University - John Nash

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Actor Jack Nicholson grew up on the Jersey shore, and went to Manasquan High School in Monmouth County.

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The 2004 stoner film Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle took place in New Jersey. Several locations seen in the movie include Princeton University, Newark, New Brunswick, and a fictional White Castle in Cherry Hill.

Related Topics:
Stoner film - Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle - Princeton University - Newark - New Brunswick - White Castle - Cherry Hill

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Although supposedly set in New York, the 2003 movie School of Rock was filmed primarily in Edison and Mahwah, perhaps due to the significance these towns have on rock music.

Related Topics:
New York - School of Rock - Edison - Mahwah

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The 1988 comedy film 'Big' starring Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins, Robert Loggia, Jon Lovitz, and Mercedes Ruehl was also filmed in Bergen County, New Jersey.

Related Topics:
Big - Tom Hanks - Elizabeth Perkins - Robert Loggia - Jon Lovitz - Mercedes Ruehl - Bergen County, New Jersey

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Bruce Willis grew up in Penns Grove, New Jersey.

Related Topics:
Bruce Willis - Penns Grove, New Jersey

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The movie War of the Worlds was filmed in many locations in New Jersey, including Bayonne and Newark, NJ.

Related Topics:
War of the Worlds - Bayonne - Newark, NJ

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The infamous radio show broadcast starring Orson Welles, The War of the Worlds (radio) was set in Grover's Mill (a section of West Windsor Township) and other locations around New Jersey.

Related Topics:
Orson Welles - The War of the Worlds (radio) - Grover's Mill - West Windsor Township

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Urban legends

A long circulated legend says a creature, the Jersey Devil or the Leeds Devil, terrorizes the population of the Pine Barrens. New Jersey is also home to several other urban legends, such as the ghost of Annie's Road in Totowa, Midgetville in Edgewater, Albino Village in Clifton, the haunted and demon-possessed Clinton Road in West Milford, and the Witch of Igoe Road in Marlboro. There is also the popular attraction of the Atco Ghost where the ghost of a little boy runs across the street late at night chasing a basketball located on Burnt Mill Road in Atco. It is also rumored that Jimmy Hoffa, the late leader of the Teamsters union, is buried beneath Giants Stadium or the New Jersey Turnpike.

Related Topics:
Jersey Devil - Pine Barrens - Annie's Road - Totowa - Midgetville - Edgewater - Albino Village - Clifton - Clinton Road - West Milford - Witch of Igoe Road - Marlboro - Atco Ghost - Burnt Mill Road - Atco - Jimmy Hoffa - Teamsters - Giants Stadium - New Jersey Turnpike

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Camp NoBeBoSco in Blairstown was the setting of the original Friday the 13th movie, which was partially based on real murders that have occurred near the campground, in the state's rural northwest. Such horror stories were the inspiration behind the now nationally-famous Weird NJ magazine and website.

Related Topics:
Camp NoBeBoSco - Blairstown - Friday the 13th - Weird NJ

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Miscellaneous

The properties in the United States version of the board game Monopoly are named after the streets of Atlantic City.

Related Topics:
Monopoly - Atlantic City

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Diners are considered very common in New Jersey, and it's thought that nearly all medium-sized and larger towns have one. New Jersey is home to many diner manufacturers.

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