UNION — Fishbone, Robert Gorl and Betty Davis were just some of the talents recently shared at the Vauxhall Vinyl Music Club’s Open Turntable.
The Vauxhall Vinyl Music Club is free and meets monthly at Vauxhall Branch Library. The club is presented in collaboration with music aficionados, Gabriel Ramos, Vauxhall Branch manager, and Union resident Paul Reitz, who worked with Sony for more than 20 years.
This month, in addition to Ramos and Reitz sharing songs, library attendees were also invited to talk about songs that mean something to them. All songs were played on a portable vinyl record player.
“It’s an open session to the community,” said Reitz.
Ramos said, “It’s an opportunity to meet people with similar music interests and expose yourself to new music.”
Reitz began the program sharing a tune by Bruce Springsteen, “No Surrender,” from the “Born in the U.S.A.” album.
Ramos followed by playing “a track that blew my mind,” by Fishbone, called “Party at Ground Zero.”
After Reitz and Ramos kicked off the record party, library attendees came to the front of the room to share their picks.
Ed Casey chose “My Generation,” by The Who. The song made it to No. 2 on the U.K. charts.
“My favorite band of all time,” he said. “They were very influential in punk rock. Patti Smith recorded ‘My Generation’ on the B-side of ‘Gloria.’ Generation X recorded the song ‘Your Generation’ in response to ‘My Generation.’ The Sex Pistols recorded ‘Substitute’ by The Who.”
Continuing, he said, “’65 was a time of swinging London, pop art, Twiggy, The Kinks topping the charts.”
Casey spoke about The Who’s historical connection to Union County. On Nov. 29, 1967, The Who played at Union Catholic High School.
Reitz added that Cream and Black Sabbath also performed there.
Kofi Polley played “I Want You Around,” by Snoh Aalegra. “A cinematic soul song,” he said.
Rob Greenberg played “The Weight,” by The Band. He spoke about their uniqueness and how they traded vocals and instruments. He said, “They were very well respected by peers.”
Mair Lewandowski-Reitz shared that she lived for weekends in New York to dance the night away. “You heard songs you did not hear on the radio,” she said.
“Darling Don’t Leave Me,” by Robert Gorl, was a song that moved Lewandowski-Reitz in 1983. She said, “To this day, I have goosebumps when I hear it. It’s about love and the fear of losing that love.”
A special tidbit she shared was that Annie Lennox also sang on the song.
Terri Suess played “Autumn in New York,” from Sarah Vaughan’s “Golden Hits” album.
Karen Scanio played “Take it Easy,” by The Eagles – her absolute favorite song. She said she saw The Eagles perform six times.
Lynn M. Stradford played “Dedicated to the Press,” by Betty Davis, who was once married to Miles Davis. “Her style was wild,” said Stradford. “A lot of growling.”
Stradford, who is a huge Prince fan, said that Prince was influenced by the music of Betty Davis.
The next Vauxhall Vinyl Music Club will be on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 1 p.m., and will be on the 2026 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
To learn more about Vauxhall Library, visit: https://uplnj.org/hours-and-locations/vauxhall-branch/.
Photos by Maryanne Christiano-Mistretta
