Jukes juices “I’m Coming Back”
and “Ride the Night Away” from
Southside’s 1991 Steven-produced
comeback LP “Better Days,” “Love
on the Wrong Side of Town” and
“Some Things Don’t Change” from
1977’s “This Time It’s for Real,” and
his masterpiece, “I Don’t Want to
Go Home,” the title track of the
Jukes’ 1976 debut LP, are deli-
ciously re-energized and intricately
embellished. Most fun is when
Steven scratches his doo-wop
itch by remaking “I Don’t Want to
Go Home” as a stirring Drifters-
like track and throwing a couple
shooby doo-wops into “Love on
the Wrong Side of Town,” which
must make original Jukes drum-
mer Kenny “Popeye” Pentifallo
smile a little bit.
But the tune that really is a treat
is the doo-wop ballad “The City
Weeps Tonight,” which thankfully
resurfaces from the archives of
tracks written for “Men without
Women.” The power in the sim-
plicity of this soulful song lifts the
NJ STAGE 2017 - Vol. 4 No. 4
listener up to the point where you
feel like you’re dancing on air. And
what a sweet nod to the pre-Up-
stage days when Asbury Park was
a nationally recognized spot for
great doo-wop.
Other redeemed castaways and
overlooked treasure include “I Saw
the Light,” half-written for former
Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora
but finished for “Soulfire,” and the
soul-injected Dylanesque “Saint
Valentine’s Day,” written for but
not recorded by Nancy Sinatra.
Then there’s “Standing in the Line
of Fire,” which Steven wrote and
recorded as the title track for Gary
“U.S.” Bonds’ 1984 LP, but has a
ball hanging a sharp right with En-
nio Morricone-inspired, spaghetti-
western gusto.
Steven also covers chunky nug-
gets by James Brown, “Down and
Out in New York City” from the
“Black Caesar” soundtrack, and
Etta James, the Southside-of-Chi-
cago-styled “The Blues Is My Busi-
ness.” His enthusiasm for both is a
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