Bruce Springsteen Inducted Into New Jersey Hall of Fame

Bruce Springsteen was among the inaugural class of twenty-five inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame on Sunday. Springsteen was on hand to accept the honor at Newark's Performing Arts Center, alongside novelist Toni Morrison, Yankee cathcer Yogi Berra and retired General Norman Schwarzkopf. "Rise up, my fellow New Jerseyans. We are all members of a confused but noble race," Springsteen told those on hand. "Even with this wonderful Hall of Fame, we know there's another bad Jersey joke just around the corner." Frank Sinatra was also chosen as a first ballot Hall of Famer. The NJ Hall of Fame only exists as a website now, but funds are being raised to build an actual museum. Meanwhile, Bon Jovi sits idly by the phone, waiting for his rite of passage.

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Song Stories

“Tonight's the Night”

The Shirelles | 1960

The lead cut and title track from this girl group's debut album, "Tonight's the Night" was written by 19-year-old bandmember Shirley Owens, who sings lead, and producer Luther Dixon. The band from Passaic, New Jersey met in high school, first calling themselves the Pequellos. The song's frank thoughts about sexual and emotional surrender was racy for the time, but that didn't stop the Chiffons from cutting a similar version immediately after the original came out. "We were the first female group to write some of our own material," band member Beverly Lee recalls. "We did have some say-so in our writing."

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