Sunday, November 29, 2009 was filled with music, memories and a lot of fun as the current and many former members of The North Tower Band celebrated the band's 30th Reunion. I had the honor and pleasure of being the Master of Ceremonies for this memorable event held at TJ's Nightlife in Raleigh, NC. So much happened that afternoon and evening that there is no way to write about it all, so I'll address a few highlights.

The first set was performed by current North Tower members Larry Dean, Chuck Canady, Bob Craig, Jeff Hinson, Johnny Hopkins and Bobby Craig. Talk about bringing their A-Game! They smoked on every song!! It had been awhile since I had a North Tower fix, and I got a good one with this set.

After the break, I narrated a slide show presentation, giving a brief history of the band. In case you didn't know, the original lineup was an acapella vocal group, formed in 1975 of UNC-Chapel Hill students Gary Dennis, Tom Ed White, Lowell Ball and Alan Meisenheimer. All original quartet members but Alan were able to make it, but he had a good reason to miss the reunion. He is stationed in Iraq, serving our country. THANKS ALAN!! Anthony Tart, who was an original member when North Tower merged with the Top 40 band, Carolina Trace, subbed for Alan on "Blue Moon" and "Come Go With Me". Larry Dean was going to do it, but with him being a Wolfpack fan....well, you get the picture :o). Another Carolina Trace/North Tower original member, Doug Manning along with former members Freddie White, Kevin Duncan, Britt Hardy, Jim Stoudemire and Jeff Swafford then joined the others on stage for one of the most energy filled jam sessions I have ever seen. From North Tower Classics like "Daydreamer" and "1,2,3 Kind of Love" to beach classics and other tunes, these guys played like they never stopped playing together. Just as things couldn't get any better, the five piece horn section of Hinson, Craig, Hopkins, Stoudemire & Swafford kicked things up a couple of notches. OK, here's another tidbit of North Tower trivia you may not know. North Tower was the first (and probably the ONLY) "beach music band" to have a violin on stage. Tom Ed played it on several tunes, including "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" with Doug Manning on lead vocals.

The last set started out with North Tower members, but it didn't take long for former members to join in on various tunes. In addition to all of this, Taylor Manning performed "Game of Love" with her dad and some of the NTB backing her.

If you were there, you know how great it was. If you were not there, you can only imagine how great it was. Thirty years is a long time for anything to last, especially a band with membership changes, etc. Hats off to Larry Dean for keeping the North Tower Band going and kudos to Bob Craig & his son Bobby for all their hard work in putting the reunion concert together. Thanks to Ray, Joni & the staff of TJ's for providing the venue and a SPECIAL THANKS to all the fans who came out! MC'ing this event was definitely one of the major highlights of my career in music.

The 2009 Carolina Beach Music Awards have come and gone and now plans for 2010 are in the works. If you were there you know what a great weekend (actually 5 days) of Beach Music & FUN!  Thursday night I got to check out King Tyrone & The Graveyard Ramblers at Fat Harold's. KT was his usual royal self... Then I went to catch my long time friends, The Sand Band, at the OD Beach Club. Another great performance. Rebecca Lapping (Stephan's wife) got up and sang her original "Dancin' Man Blues" that is getting a lot of notice in the beach & shag world. Rebecca and some of the band have a side group called Sweet T, so check them out if you can. Country Music icon, Jeff Cook, of Alabama fame sat in with the guys most of the night on guitar and some vocals. The man can pick, y'all.....

Friday night, I had the honor of DJ'ing at Ducks Beach Club for the first time in my career. GREAT PLACE! Thanks to David, Buzz, Paul, Kelli, Keiza & Meredith for making me feel so welcome! Too Much Sylvia and MRB (the band formerly known as Mark Roberts & Breeze) were the bands of the evening. It was my first time seeing either one and MAN.... Both bands blew the roof of the joint! If you have never seen either of these bands, you owe it to yourself to see them next time they are in your area. Thanks to Steven, Ray & Dave with The Night Riders for coming by and singing their 2 latest releases and to Alan B, Dick Diamond (Van Stuckey), Johnny B, Tiny, David, Toni, Rick, Sharron, Hesta, Gayle and Jack & The Randolph County crew for coming out Friday night. I am sure I forgot someone, so please forgive me...

Saturday morning, armed with a humongous cup of coffee and a large Diet Dr. Pepper, I embarked on a journey to WLSC 1240-AM, Tiger Radio, in Loris, SC for a morning interview with DJ Pat Gwinn.

Saturday's New Artist Showcase was great. The Taylor Manning Band was smoking. Just wait until you hear Taylor sing the Garnett Mimms' & Janice Joplin's tune "Cry Baby". It went over so well, she had to sing it as an encore! The Tim Clark band was another band that I had not seen before and was great as well. The Industry Awards were held in The Spanish Galleon and there were some surprises and some un-surprises. Special performances to note include William Bell and DieDra. The only other thing I am gonna say is that some categories need to be revisited as far as eligibility and... Congratulations to my buddy Gary Smith of WLWL 770AM in Rockingham, NC for taking home the AM Radio DJ Of the Year Award!!

Saturday night, The Souls got to open up for the Sand Band at The Pirate's Cove. We had a great crowd to come out and party with us. Special thanks here to bartenders Chris & David, Program Director for WEVA-AM 86 in Emporia, Va, Andy Lucy (they air our show on weekends) and to my fellow weekend DJ via the magic of computer technology from our flagship station, COOL 105.3FM, Big John Gualda, again to The Randolph County crew (thanks for the Shag Rag, Jack), Jim & Anne Bruce from Cornelia, Ga, Harriett Grady-Thomas (Big Mamma), the ladies from Charlotte & Raleigh, Pat Christie of the Fabulous Hot Dog Daddy O's and some of The Out-of-Towners band for coming out and especially Steve Craig for singing with us. I hate to sound like a broken record, but The Sand Band was HOT Saturday night. 3 or 4 encore songs should prove it. It was a blast joining them and Pat Christie on stage on "Mustang Sally". (Note to Pat Christie: If you need the rest of the lyrics, just let me know - LOL)

Bright and semi-early Sunday morning, Tony & I set up for Band Fair. We sold enough CD's to get gas money back to NC! We met many folks who have heard our latest release, "Mom and Dad" on radio. If you don't have it, you can find it on the CD from Tobacco Road Records, "Carolina Soul Collection". It can be ordered from my online music store. Just go and click on the logo for it on the homepage. I will admit that I was one of the biggest fans there that morning, visiting everyone, including the Stax Records Legend, William Bell. Got his autograph - gonna put it in da book!

Sunday afternoon brought us the 15th Annual Carolina Beach Music Awards at The Alabama Theater. All the artists' performances were outstanding. The winners have been posted on the CBMA site, so I will not list them all here, BUT, a few I want to bring to your attention are: Band of Oz: Song of the Year (Build Me Up), Group of the Year (tied with The Holiday Band), and Jerry West: Male Vocalist and Instrumentalist of the Year. I lost count of the number or artists I heard say "Jerry deserved those two awards". Great acceptance speech too, Jerry... The Castaways and Bo Schronce for Collaboration of the Year (Your Love Looks Good On Me). Side Note: The Castaways were in the green room when they were announced as the winners. They heard their song being played. I went back there to get them and Karen Clayton said "What is it?" to which I replied "Y'all won for Collaboration of the Year". I wish Dana Kirk (photographer) was behind me so he could have got a shot of the look on her face. It was a missed Kodak moment.. Several nominees for New Artist of The Year are good friends of mine, so I knew that some would be disappointed. Bridesmaids last year but winners this year is Hip Pocket!

William Bell made a repeat appearance to this year's show and performed his Mega Beach Music Hit "Easy Coming Out, Hard Going In" with the Band of Oz (who also had a hit with it). The man has still got it! Great performance would be an understatement.

Now I have been searching for the right adjective to describe the effect that Chuck Jackson had on the audience with his performance. Backed by CWB, he first performed "Any Day Now". That in itself would have been enough, but he slowed down the intro of "I Don't Want To Cry" while sitting on a stool, then cranked it up. The air conditioning system at the theater had some issues with on/off programming so it was rather warm inside. I was on the side of the stage working right next to two stacks of Crown amps, so yes, I was a-sweatin'. All of a sudden I got a chill and goose bumps appeared on my arms as he went full throttle into the song. I told Sam Niemeyer that was almost like a religious experience. Mr. Jackson's wife was behind me, hearing what I said, and gave me a squeeze on the shoulder. But wait.. There's more.. He next gave us a memorable performance of "Stand By Me".  The man lowered his microphone while the band broke down in the song and you could hear him all over the theater. WHAT A VOICE! These three songs took a little less than 30 minutes to perform, so as you can see this was no 1,2,3 kind of singing. Kudos to the CWB for their stellar work in backing him up. I had the chance to talk with him before his performance and found him to be a charming gentleman who is genuinely appreciative of his fans and of those who paved the way for him, as he is very active as a board member of the Rhythm & Blues Foundation.

The Hayes Jewelers After Party held at the Spanish Galleon with Jim Quick & Coastline & my brother DJ Mike Brooks was slammin' and jammin'. I caught part of the show and when you see a man like William Bell soaking in JQ & TCB, nodding his head in approval, you know they had it going on... Over on the OD Beach Club side, my other brother, Johnny B got the crowd warmed up, then turned it over to the Band of Oz for two stupendous sets of music. After the break and stage change, the Craig Woolard Band took the stage and played from around 10:30pm to 1:45am straight, without a break. Like over on the other side, they brought up some guests vocalists, including Lia Long, Ray Scott and yours truly. When Lia sang "Black Drawers" she had a horn section consisting of Craig (Sax), Greg Moseley (bone), Keith Stone (trumpet) - all with CWB, The Shakers' Jeff Swafford (trumpet), Joe Sizemore (trumpet), The Embers' Stephen Pachuta (trumpet) and David Franks from Band of Oz on harmonica. There were a few other guest vocalists, but I did not get their names.

On the way back Monday, I stopped in for an interview with The Captain on WODR-FM, COOL 105.3 in Whiteville, NC. This station rocks with the coolest Oldies and Beach Music. Check them out at www.coolbeach1053.com. 

If you have not yet joined the Carolina Beach Music Academy, join before the deadline so YOU can have a voice in deciding who wins next year. You can vote for your favorite band, singer, RADIO STATION, song, event, etc. For more information, simply go to carolinabeachmusicawards.com. I can't wait for 2010!