Hoboken Rock City - The Official Blog Of DJ Mike C.

It's December, the holidays, that special time of year when...we're all running around like crazy people because we're all so busy. Here at DJMC HQ, we understand that. And we suggest you shake off your holiday angst by rocking with us.

As my 10th anniversary year as a DJ winds down, I do declare it's been a strange and eventful year. My seven-year residency at The Goldhawk ended when the bar closed down in July. As fall approached, the timing was perfect to start a new residency, and it's been a great first few months at Northern Soul. The place is cozy, and it's fun to watch the transformation as it becomes a local music destination spot. Thursdays now feature live music booked by Dave Entwistle, host of that former staple of The Goldhawk and now Maxwell's, The Peoples' Open Mic.Rob Nicholas, Dave Calamonari, and Karyn Kuhl--all Hoboken favorites--are playing at Northern Soul tonight, starting at 8:30.

I'll carry so many amazing memories of 2009: spinning big bashes for Broadway's "Rock Of Ages," DJing Lisa Loeb's wedding, producing and releasing an '80s compilation, writing liner notes for two Elvis Presley box sets, finally seeing Leonard Cohen and the Pixies, and being at Yankee Stadium when my beloved Evil Empire won the championship. It's actually hard to believe there are still three weeks left in this calendar year, not to mention this decade of the '00s, which we never did come up with a name for before it ended. Strange days indeed.

I appreciate all of you for your support. Seriously. It's humbling. Thank you. I'll keep slinging tunes as long as you all want to hear them. I will send one more reminder to local peeps about New Year's a few days prior. To anyone I don't get to see, have a fun holiday season, and let's rock in 2010!


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Beat Surrender
Friday nights at Northern Soul

DJ Mike C.
spins '80s '90s indie oldies punk glam
groovy rock & soul & more

10 p.m. till late

This Friday, December 11
Next Friday, December 18
Thursday, December 31 - New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve: champagne toast, party favors, and rockin' tunes to ring in the new. Advance tickets available at the bar. $15 each, group discounts available.


Northern Soul
557 First St.
Hoboken, U.S.A.
no cover, 21+

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Previously on Beat Surrender

We closed it with a tribute to Eric Woolfson, lead singer of The Alan Parsons Project, who died earlier in the week. It was a very solid Friday at Northern Soul, to the tune of...

10:00
Shake Appeal - IGGY & THE STOOGES
All's Quiet On The Eastern Front - RAMONES
Pumping (My Heart) - PATTI SMITH
Spanish Bombs - THE CLASH
Pretty Green - THE JAM
Pretty Girls - JOE JACKSON
6' 1" - LIZ PHAIR
Rudderless - LEMONHEADS
Holy War - MATTHEW SWEET
Fuckin' Up - NEIL YOUNG
Refugee - TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS
When My Baby's Beside Me - BIG STAR
Substitute - THE WHO
Good Enough - DODGY
Somethin' Hot - THE AFGHAN WHIGS
I.O.U. - THE REPLACEMENTS

11:00
Juicebox - THE STROKES
Hash Pipe - WEEZER
Uprising - MUSE
Lucid Dreams - FRANZ FERDINAND
Animal - MIIKE SNOW
Soft Shock - THE YEAH YEAH YEAHS
Malibu - HOLE
My Party - KINGS OF LEON
Wolf Like Me - TV ON THE RADIO
Where Did All The Love Go? - KASABIAN
No Cars Go - THE ARCADE FIRE
Spread Your Love - BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE BLUB
Morning Glory - OASIS
Death - WHITE LIES

12:00
Spaceman - THE KILLERS
That's Not My Name - THE TING TINGS
1901 - PHOENIX
North American Scum - LCD SOUNDSYSTEM
Enola Gay - ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK
Space Age Love Song - A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS
Friday I'm In Love - THE CURE
Atomic - BLONDIE
Message In A Bottle - THE POLICE
11th Dimension - JULIAN CASABLANCAS
Bulletproof - LA ROUX
Kids - MGMT
Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger - DAFT PUNK

1:00
DARE - GORILLAZ
Once In A Lifetime - TALKING HEADS
He's A Whore - CHEAP TRICK
Candy-O - THE CARS
Charmer - KINGS OF LEON
She Sells Sanctuary - THE CULT
Dominoes - THE BIG PINK
Night By Night - CHROMEO
The Fear - LILY ALLEN
Strangelove - DEPECHE MODE
Lips Like Sugar - ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN
Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before - THE SMITHS
A-Punk - VAMPIRE WEEKEND
Daylight - MATT & KIM
Lust For Life - GIRLS
Lust For Life - IGGY POP
Sympathy For The Devil - THE ROLLING STONES

2:00
Houses Of The Holy - LED ZEPPELIN
Hush - DEEP PURPLE
Magic Carpet Ride - STEPPENWOLF
A Girl Like You - EDWYN COLLINS
Wonderwall - OASIS
Crazy Little Thing Called Love - QUEEN
Do Ya - ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA
Da Doo Ron Ron - THE CRYSTALS
I Only Want To Be With You - DUSTY SPRINGFIELD
Happy Together - THE TURTLES
Don't Answer Me - THE ALAN PARSONS PROJECT

They put a parking lot on a piece of land
Where the supermarket used to stand
Before that they put up a bowling alley
On the site that used to be the local palais
That's where the big bands used to come and play
My sister went there on a Saturday

Come dancing
All her boyfriends used to come and call
Why not come dancing
It's only natural


Most venues have a life cycle. For every Carnegie Hall or McSorley's, places that continue to thrive while barely changing after more than a century in business, countless more music halls and bars open up, do well for a while if they're lucky and they know what they're doing, and eventually close or evolve into something completely different.

The Goldhawk was both a bar and a live venue. After eight years in business, its reputation was firmly established on both counts. As a venue, it was home to the coziest, most inviting back room performance space and lounge that I've ever known, and I've been to a few. As a bar, it was Cheers to many regulars, with an eclectic crowd. Business was a little off during this time of economic downturn, as it has been at most places, but to most people who frequented the place and knew it well, it did not seem like The Goldhawk was done.

That's probably why the bar's closing hurts so much. When CBGB closed after more than thirty years, it was the end of an era, but the place was long past its prime. The club wisely prolonged its closing into a seemingly never-ending marketing event that both burnished its reputation and made them quite a bit of dough while they already had one foot out the door.

The Goldhawk Bar & Lounge did not at all seem to be on its last legs when it was announced on June 11 that it would close up shop in exactly thirty days. To the owners' credit, that month's notice was appreciated by all who were affected by the impending closing. Many of the key artists who had performed there often did farewell shows during the final weeks. The last several days were a blur: the weekly Tuesday open-mic night was jammed beyond capacity, the live bands had great crowds all week, and virtually every person I talked to there expressed a bit of sadness and disbelief that a place so vibrant and unique was about to disappear.

So the place lasted a hair more than eight years, and I was a resident DJ there for all but the first 10 months of that time. I'm proud to have been associated with such a special place for so long. I'm humbled that owners who really, really know their music entrusted me with the tunes for so many special occasions. Thank you Fran, Al, and Mike for the opportunity.

And I'm thankful I got to run the party at what may go down as the greatest event in the history of The Goldhawk, its closing night. Kerry, Butch, Justin, Andy, and especially Margaret kept the bar working smoothly all night long, despite an alcohol stock that was rapidly depleting. There was a fun but bittersweet vibe in the air. A little like New Year's Eve, except that the moment we were anxious about was not midnight, but last call.


The day they knocked down the palais
My sister stood and cried
The day they knocked down the palais
Part of my childhood died, just died


When last call came, I had time for two more songs. Of course I knew in advance what they would be. The Specials' "Enjoy Yourself" was one of the bar's unofficial theme songs from the start, and its advice to "Enjoy yourself--it's later than you think" was all too appropriate. To close it out, in the town of Frank Sinatra's birth, and the bar run by the singer of Skanatra, it was practically preordained that it had to end with "My Way."

There's more I want to write about the place, and hopefully soon I will have time to share some other memories. Keep a look out on my home page for future gigs at new and different venues. For now, enjoy the playlist. Goldhawk, we miss you already.


Saturday, July 11, 2009

9:00
Rock And Roll Music - THE BEATLES
You Only Live Once - THE STROKES
When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What's Still Around - THE POLICE
My Ever-Changing Moods - THE STYLE COUNCIL
Cruel To Be Kind - NICK LOWE
Oliver's Army - ELVIS COSTELLO & THE ATTRACTIONS
Don't Do Me Like That - TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS
Don't Look Back - THE REMAINS
Good Times Bad Times - LED ZEPPELIN
Summertime Blues - THE WHO
Vehicle - IDES OF MARCH
Rockin' In The Free World - NEIL YOUNG
Salute Your Solution - THE RACONTEURS
4 Songs & A Fight - THE SOUNDS
We Are All Made Of Stars - MOBY
Take Me, I'm Yours - SQUEEZE
Roll With It - OASIS
Radiation Vibe - FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE

10:00
Pop Song 89 - R.E.M.
There's No Other Way - BLUR
Atomic - BLONDIE
Heads Will Roll - THE YEAH YEAH YEAHS
Head On - PIXIES
Good Enough - DODGY
Just Got Lucky - JOBOXERS
Sole Salvation - THE ENGLISH BEAT
Sherry Darling - BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
The Bulrushes - THE BONGOS
Black And White - THE dB'S
Starry Eyes - THE RECORDS
Mr. Brightside - THE KILLERS
The '59 Sound - THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM
Alex Chilton - THE REPLACEMENTS
Way Down Now - WORLD PARTY
Sympathy For The Devil - THE ROLLING STONES

11:00
I'm A Man - THE SPENCER DAVIS GROUP
Move On Up - CURTIS MAYFIELD
That Lady (Part 1 & 2) - THE ISLEY BROTHERS
Doing It To Death - JAMES BROWN
Don't Stop Till You Get Enough - MICHAEL JACKSON
1999 - PRINCE
Mercy - DUFFY
Girls & Boys - BLUR
Get Myself Into It - THE RAPTURE
Time To Pretend - MGMT
Daylight - MATT & KIM
Young Folks - PETER, BJORN & JOHN
Monday Morning - THE FUNDAMENTALS

12:00
Is It Any Wonder? - KEANE
Saturday Night (Is The Loneliest Night In The Week) - FRANK SINATRA
United States Of Whatever - LIAM LYNCH
Surrender - CHEAP TRICK
We're An American Band - GRAND FUNK RAILROAD
Roadrunner - MODERN LOVERS
Vacation - THE GO-GO'S
Sheena Is A Punk Rocker - RAMONES
This Charming Man - THE SMITHS
Inbetween Days - THE CURE
Don't You Want Me - THE HUMAN LEAGUE
Cruel Summer - BANANARAMA
The Look Of Love (Part 1) - ABC
DARE - GORILLAZ
The Seed (2.0) - THE ROOTS FEATURING CODY CHESNUTT
The Way You Move - OUTKAST (BIG BOI) FEATURING SLEEPY BROWN
Sir Duke - STEVIE WONDER
Thank You (Falletinme Be Mice Elf Agin) - SLY & THE FAMILY STONE

1:00
Twenty-Five Miles - EDWIN STARR
Love Child - SUPREMES
Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground) - THE JACKSONS
Low Rider - WAR
Give It To Me Baby - RICK JAMES
Let's Go - THE CARS
Your Love - THE OUTFIELD
Rock The Casbah - THE CLASH
Faith - GEORGE MICHAEL
Breakout - SWING OUT SISTER
Surfin' Bird - THE TRASHMEN
You Never Can Tell - CHUCK BERRY
Burning Love - ELVIS PRESLEY
Right Back Where We Started From - MAXINE NIGHTINGALE
More Today Than Yesterday - SPIRAL STARECASE
Car Wash - CHRISTINA AGUILERA & MISSY ELLIOTT
SexyBack - JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE

2:00
Changes - 2PAC
Regulate - WARREN G. FEATURING NATE DOGG
Damn It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta - GETO BOYS
Superstition - STEVIE WONDER
Freedom 90 - GEORGE MICHAEL
* Matt Azzarto speech: "We raised the bar" *
Ooh La La - FACES
Baba O'Riley - THE WHO
Silly Love Songs - WINGS
Our House - MADNESS
Come Dancing - THE KINKS
Town Called Malice - THE JAM
Enjoy Yourself - THE SPECIALS
My Way - FRANK SINATRA