350 Jersey Songs (listed alphabetically by artist)

The cover of Blondie's 1976 single, "X Offender."

The cover of Blondie’s 1976 single, “X Offender.”

From September 2014 to September 2015, I wrote about one New Jersey-related song a day in NJArts.net’s 350 Jersey Songs project. The idea was to find one song a day that had to do with Jersey in some way: It was either recorded by a New Jerseyan, or in New Jersey, or has some Jersey content in it (in many cases, the song has two or three of these elements).

One other thing: It had to be a song I liked, and thought people would enjoy hearing.

Here are the songs, listed alphabetically by artist, with asterisks (*) denoting bonus songs added after the 350th was selected. Click here to see them listed chronologically.

• 1910 Fruitgum Co.: “Simon Says”
• Abyssinian Baptist Gospel Choir: “Said I Wasn’t Gonna Tell Nobody”
• Adrenalin O.D: “Suburbia”
• Alabama 3: “Woke Up This Morning (Chosen One Mix)”
• Sean Altman: “R.I.P. Jon Stewart (Why’d Ya Go Ahead & Die?)”
• The Andrews Sisters: “Hohokus, NJ” (*)
• The Angels: “My Boyfriend’s Back”
• George Antheil: “Ballet Mecanique, Part 1”
• Ray Anthony and His Orchestra: “Little Peach From East Orange”
• Artists United Against Apartheid: “Sun City”
• Nicole Atkins: “Neptune City”
• Nicole Atkins: “War Torn”
• The B-52’s: “Rock Lobster”
• The Band: “Atlantic City”
• The Band: “Book Faded Brown”
• Bobby Bandiera: “C’mon Caroline”
• Amiri Baraka: “I Love Music (For John Coltrane)
• Count Basie: “The Kid From Red Bank”
• Count Basie: “One O’Clock Jump
• John Belushi with The Allman Brothers Band: “Hey Bartender” at the Capitol Theatre, Passaic
• Tab Benoit: “Crawfishin’ ” at Crawfish Fest, Augusta
• George Benson: “On Broadway”
• Benson Orchestra of Chicago: “Back in Hackensack, New Jersey”
• Chuck Berry: “You Can’t Catch Me”
• Black 47: “Green Suede Shoes”
• Bleachers: “I Wanna Get Better”
• Blondie: “Union City Blue”
• Blondie: “X Offender” at Convention Hall, Asbury Park.
• Bon Jovi: “Livin’ on a Prayer”
• Bon Jovi, with Jennifer Nettles: “Who Says You Can’t Go Home”
• Jon Bon Jovi: “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”
• Jon Bon Jovi: “Reunion”
• Jon Bon Jovi and Bettye LaVette: “A Change Is Gonna Come”
• Gary U.S. Bonds: “Dedication”

The cover of The Bongos' debut album, "Drums Along the Hudson."

The cover of The Bongos’ debut album, “Drums Along the Hudson,” which included “The Bulrushes.”

• The Bongos: “The Bulrushes”
• Bono: “One” at NetAid
• Lisa Bouchelle and Friends: “Restore the Shore”
• The Bouncing Souls: “Ghosts on the Boardwalk”
• The Bouncing Souls: “So Jersey”
• David Bowie: “Slip Away,” Uncle Floyd tribute.
• Oscar Brand: “Wilson, That’s All” (Woodrow Wilson presidential campaign song)
• Bernie Brausewetter: “Boogie Woogie Santa Claus”
• The Brigantines: ‘Brigantine Barrel’
• Tom Brislin: “Your Favorite Day”
• The Broadways: “Going, Going, Gone”
• Jackson Browne: “Nothing but Time” (*)
• Glen Burtnik: “Exit Number 9”
• Chris Butler: “The Devil Glitch”
• John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band: “Boardwalk Angel”
• Gregg Cagno: “Clinton Times”
• Gregg Cagno: “Hoboken Lullabye”
• Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon: “Palisades Park”
• Mary Chapin Carpenter: “Stones in the Road”
• Harry Chapin and Chevy Chase: “Flowers Are Red” at Capitol Theatre
• Chubby Checker: “The Twist”
• Bill Chinnock: “The Boys on the Avenue”
• Linda Chorney: “Cherries”
• Eric Church: “Springsteen”
• Clarence Clemons with Billy Preston: “You’re a Friend of Mine”
• Clutch: “Pulaski Skyway”
• Commander Cody: “Going to New Jersey”
• The Consensus Bureau: “New Jersey, New Jersey”
• Chick Corea Trio, featuring Christian McBride: “Work”
• The Cucumbers: “Rent Party”
• Anthony D’Amato: “Was a Time”
• The Dead Exs: “More Stuff” at Asbury Lanes
• Joey Dee and the Starliters: “Peppermint Twist — Part 1”
• The Delevantes: “John Wayne Lives in Hoboken”
• Detention: “Beaches”
• Dez Manku: “Union City”
• Jason Didner: “You Can’t Get There From Here in Jersey”
• Jason Didner and the Jungle Gym Jam: “Jersey Dinosaurs”
• Dion: “New Jersey Wife”
• Dirdy Birdies Jug Band: “Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives to Me”
• The Doughboys: “Queen City”
• Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show: “The Cover of ‘Rolling Stone’ “
• Dramarama: “Last Cigarette”
• The Drinkard Singers: “That’s Enough”
• The Duprees: “You Belong to Me”
• Joe D’Urso and Stone Caravan: “Come Down Tonight (Asbury Park)”
• Bob Dylan: “Day of the Locusts”
• Bob Dylan: “Hurricane”
• Bob Dylan with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Al Kooper: “Like a Rolling Stone” at Brendan Byrne Arena.
• East River Pipe: “Atlantic City (Gonna Make a Million Tonight)”
• John Eddie: “Play Some Skynyrd”
• Dave Edmunds and Friends at the Capitol Theatre: “Johnny B. Goode”
• The Everymen: “NJHC”
• Donald Fagen: “New Frontier”
• Brian Fallon: “Behold the Hurricane”
• Danny Federici: “Flemington”
• The Feelies: “Away”
• Arlan Feiles: “Jersey Coast Line”
• Ella Fitzgerald: “Jersey Bounce”
• Fleetwood Mac: “I’m So Afraid” at the Capitol Theatre, Passaic
• Foo Fighters with Krist Novoselic: “These Days” at Izod Center, East Rutherford
• Steve Forbert: “My Seaside Brown-Eyed Girl”
• Steve Forbert: “Strange Names (New Jersey’s Got ’em)”
• Foreigner with the New Jersey Mass Choir: “I Want to Know What Love Is”
• The Four Seasons: “Dawn (Go Away)”
• The Four Seasons: “Sherry”
• Fountains of Wayne: “Bright Future in Sales”
• Fountains of Wayne: “Song of the Passaic”
• Connie Francis: “Who’s Sorry Now?”

dean

Dean Friedman’s 1977 self-titled debut album contained his biggest hit, “Ariel.”

• Dean Friedman: “Ariel”
• From Good Homes: “Wide Open Wide”
• The Fugees: “Killing Me Softly”
• Funkadelic: “One Nation Under a Groove”
• Funkadelic, featuring Eddie Hazel: “Maggot Brain”
• G. Love: “Can’t Go Back to Jersey”
• Garden State Social Club, “Turnpike Twist”
• The Gaslight Anthem: “The ’59 Sound”
• The Gaslight Anthem: “The Diamond Church Street Choir”
• Gloria Gaynor and Diana Ross: “I Will Survive” at NJPAC, Newark
• Jigs Giglio: “The 12 Days of Christmas” at Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank (*)
• Dizzy Gillespie: “Night in Tunisia”
• Allen Ginsberg and Paul McCartney: “The Ballad of the Skeletons”
• Lesley Gore: “It’s My Party”
• Lesley Gore: “Someday”
• Lesley Gore: “You Don’t Own Me”
• John Gorka: “Christmas Bells”
• John Gorka: “I’m From New Jersey”
• Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five: “The Message”
• The Grateful Dead: “Eyes of the World” at Raceway Park, Englishtown
• The Grateful Dead: “Scarlet Begonias” at Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City
• The Grateful Dead: “We Bid You Goodnight” at Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford
• A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera: “Say Something”
• Green Day: “Welcome to Paradise” at City Gardens, Trenton
• Nanci Griffith: “Love Wore a Halo (Back Before the War)”
• Loretta Hagen: “Hello Mountain (Ode to Bearfort Mountain)”
• Bill Haley and the Comets: “Rock Around the Clock”
• Dick Haymes: “On the Boardwalk (In Atlantic City)”
• Billy Hector: “Back to Jersey”
• Lauryn Hill: “Doo Wop (That Thing)”
• Lauryn Hill: “To Zion”
• Peter Himmelman: “Waning Moon”
• Holme: “Garden State Parkway Boogie”
• Whitney Houston: “Do You Hear What I Hear?”
• Whitney Houston: “The Greatest Love of All”
• Whitney Houston: “I Will Always Love You”
• Whitney Houston: “Home”
• Whitney Houston: “The Star Spangled Banner”
• Janis Ian: “Society’s Child (Baby I’ve Been Thinking)”
• The Isley Brothers: “This Old Heart of Mine”
• The Isley Brothers, with Jimi Hendrix: “Testify”
• James Gang (featuring Joe Walsh): “Walk Away”
• Jay-Z: “No Sleep Till Brooklyn” at All Points West Festival, Jersey City
• Wyclef Jean: “Gone Till November”

The cover of the "We've Got the Love" single.

The cover of the “We’ve Got the Love”charity single.

• Jersey Artists for Mankind (J.A.M.): “We’ve Got the Love” charity single
• Joan Jett and Bruce Springsteen: “Light of Day”
• Jimmy Eat World: “Big Casino”
• James P. Johnson: “Keep Off the Grass”
• Daniel Johnston and Yo La Tengo: “Speeding Motorcycle”
• Louis Jordan and His Tympany 5: “Pompton Turnpike”
• Alicia Keys: “Send Me an Angel”
• Killian and Company: “I Like the Jersey Shore”
• Sam Kinison, with Bon Jovi, Skid Row and Billy Squier: “Wild Thing” at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford
• B.B. King with Phish: “The Thrill Is Gone” at Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford
• Ben E. King: “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)”
• Carole King: “Pleasant Valley Sunday” demo
• Dave Kleiner and Liz Pagan: “Stuck Inside New Jersey”
• The Knickerbockers: “Lies”
• Marie Knight: “I Thought I Told You Not to Tell Them”
• Kool & the Gang: “Celebration”
• Kool & the Gang: “Jungle Boogie”
• Kool & the Gang: “Kool & the Gang”
• Bettye LaVette: “Joy”
• Lefty and the Leadsmen: “Wildwood Fun”
• Life in a Blender: “Paterson Falls”
• Lifers Group: “Belly of the Beast”
• Little Steven: “I Am a Patriot” (*)
• Looking Glass: “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)”
• Nils Lofgren: “Here Comes the Sun”
• Bobby Long: “Jersey City”
• Darlene Love with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: “A Fine, Fine Boy”
• Low Cut Connie: “Boozophilia”
• Lyle Lovett and Emmylou Harris: “Walk Through the Bottomland”
• The Manhattan Transfer: “The Boy From New York City”
• Bruno Mars: “Just the Way You Are” at Super Bowl XLVIII
• Christine Martucci: “Jersey Style” (*)
• Christine Martucci: “Ocean Avenue”
• Johnny Marvin: “Jersey Walk”
• John Mayall and Friends: “C.C. Rider” at Capitol Theatre
• Tris McCall: “Sugar Nobody Wants”
• John McCutcheon: “Talking Yogi Talk”
• Roger McGuinn with R.E.M.: “So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star” at Capitol Theatre, Passaic
• Nellie McKay: “Knock on Wood” at “American Songbook at NJPAC” series, Newark
• James McMurtry: “Down Across the Delaware”
• Shannon McNally: “Bury My Heart on the Jersey Shore”
• Melanie: “Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)”
• John Mellencamp: “Born in the USA”
• Chip Mergott: “LBI Song”
• Metallica: “Whiplash”
• Pras Michel with Mya and Ol’ Dirty Bastard: “Ghetto Supastar (That Is What You Are)”
• The Misfits: “Halloween”
• Mr. Reality: “In My Yard”
• Thelonious Monk: “Hackensack”
• The Monotones: “The Book of Love”
• Monster Magnet: “Negasonic Teenage Warhead”
• James Moody: “Last Train From Overbrook”
• James Moody: “Moody’s Mood for Love”
• Scott E. Moore: “The Bridge and Tunnel Song”
• Cozy Morley: “On the Way to Cape May”
• Dave Murphy: “My Garden State”
• Billy Murray: “Over on the Jersey Side”
• The Myddle Class: “Don’t Let Me Sleep Too Long”
• My Chemical Romance: “The Sharpest Lives” at Maxwell’s
• My Chemical Romance: “Welcome to the Black Parade”
• Naughty by Nature: “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright”
• Naughty by Nature: “O.P.P.”
• New York Wind Symphony with Joseph Alessi: “Lincoln Tunnel Cabaret”
• “One Touch of Venus” cast: “Way Out West in Jersey”
• Tony Orlando and Dawn: “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree”

The 1991 debut album by Jersey City's P.M. Dawn, "Of the Heart, of the Soul and of the Cross: The Utopian Experience," contained "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss."

The 1991 debut album by Jersey City’s P.M. Dawn, “Of the Heart, of the Soul and of the Cross: The Utopian Experience,” contained “Set Adrift on Memory Bliss.”

• P.M. Dawn: “Set Adrift on Memory Bliss”
• P.M. Dawn: “Untitled”
• Christopher Paolini: “Won’t Somebody Sing a Song About New Jersey”
• Parliament-Funkadelic: “Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)”
• The Parliaments: “(I Wanna) Testify”
• Les Paul and Mary Ford: “How High the Moon”
• Les Paul, Tal Farlow and Bucky Pizzarelli: “C Jam Blues”
• Paul Evans Pedersen, Jr.: “In the Pine Barrens Night”
• Katy Perry: “Hackensack”
• John Phillips: “Holland Tunnel”
• Phish: “Frankenstein” at Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City
• Bucky and John Pizzarelli: “Sweet Georgia Brown”
• John Pizzarelli: “I Like Jersey Best”
• Joel Plaskett: “Song for Jersey”
• Eric Plutz: “Sabre Dance” at Princeton University Chapel
• The Porchistas: “The PBR Song”
• Grace Potter: “I Shall Be Released” at Love for Levon concert
• Franke Previte and Rachele Cappelli: “(I’ve Had) the Time of My Life”
• Quebec Celebration Gospel Choir: “More Abundantly” at McDonald’s Gospelfest at Prudential Center, Newark
• Queen Latifah: “Jersey”
• Queen Latifah: “When You’re Good to Mama”
• Queen Latifah, featuring Monie Love: “Ladies First”
• Queens of the Stone Age: “My God Is the Sun” live at Vintage Vinyl, Fords
• Eddie Rabbitt: “Jersey Boy”
• “Ragtime” cast: “Atlantic City”
• Railroad Earth: “Crossing the Gap”
• Robert Randolph & the Family Band: “I Need More Love”
• The Rascals: “People Got to Be Free”
• Redman: “Time 4 Sum Aksion”
• Lou Reed: “Rock and Roll” at the Conspiracy of Hope concert at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford
• Remember Jones (Anthony D’Amato): “Caravan”
• Marc Ribler and Friends: “Our Spirit Is Strong”
• Richard and the Young Lions: “Open Up Your Door”
• Riff: “My Heart Is Failing Me”
• John Roberts and Tony Barrand: “The Rolling Mills of New Jersey”
• Paul Robeson: “Ol’ Man River”
• The Roches: “The Hallelujah Chorus”
• Jimmie Rodgers: “Blue Yodel No. 1 (T for Texas),” recorded in Camden
• The Rolling Stones with Lady Gaga: “Gimme Shelter” at Prudential Center
• Billy Joe Royal: “Cherry Hill Park”
• Tom Rush: “If I Never Get Back to Hackensack”
• Rutgers Symphony Orchestra et al: “On the Banks of the Old Raritan”
• Ruth Ruth: “Uninvited”

BOBBY RYDELL

BOBBY RYDELL

• Bobby Rydell: “Steel Pier”
• Bobby Rydell: “Wildwood Days”
• Raymond Scott Quintette: “Bumpy Weather Over Newark”
• Screaming Females: “Shake It Off”
• Norman Seldin and Steel Breeze: “Jersey Boy”
• Marc Shaiman: “Fifty Checks”
• Richard Shindell: “Transit”
• The Shirelles: “I Met Him on a Sunday (Ronde-Ronde)”
• The Shirelles: “Will You Love Me Tomorrow”
• Phil Silvers: “Nobody Ever Died for Dear Old Rutgers”
• Paul Simon: “The Sound of Silence” at Princeton University
• Simon and Garfunkel: “America”
• Frank Sinatra: “The House I Live In”
• Frank Sinatra: “It Was a Very Good Year”
• Frank Sinatra: “That Old Black Magic”
• Frank Sinatra: “That’s Life”
• Frank Sinatra: “Summer Wind”
• Frank Sinatra and Count Basie: “Fly Me to the Moon”
• Frank Sinatra, Jerry Lewis and Sammy Davis Jr.: “The Oldest Established (Permanent Floating Crap Game in New York)” in Atlantic City
• Mike Sinatra: “Jersey Bound”
• “Sinatra Idol” Contestants: “New York, New York”
• Sleepy Man Banjo Boys: “Flint Hill Special”
• Antonique Smith: “Hold Up Wait a Minute (Woo Woo)”
• Patti Smith: “Ghost Dance”
• Patti Smith: “O Holy Night”
• Patti Smith Group: “Because the Night”
• Patti Smith Group: “Gloria” on “Saturday Night Live”
• Willie “The Lion” Smith: “Finger Buster”
• The Smithereens: “Blood and Roses”
• The Smithereens: “Christmas (I Remember)”
• The Smithereens: “White Castle Blues” (*)
• The Smithereens with Graham Parker: “Behind the Wall of Sleep”
• Phoebe Snow: “I Believe in You”
• Southside Johnny and Brian Fallon: “Wonderful World”
• Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes: “Havin’ a Party”
• Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes: “Trapped Again”
• Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, with Bruce Springsteen: “I Don’t Want to Go Home”
• Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, with Bruce Springsteen and Steven Van Zandt: “It’s Been a Long Time”

The cover of the Ronnie Spector and the E Street Band single, "Say Goodbye to Hollywood."

The cover of the Ronnie Spector and the E Street Band single, “Say Goodbye to Hollywood.”

• Ronnie Spector and the E Street Band: “Say Goodbye to Hollywood”
• Bruce Springsteen: “In Freehold”
• Bruce Springsteen: “My City of Ruins”
• Bruce Springsteen: “The Rising”
• Bruce Springsteen: “State Trooper”
• Bruce Springsteen: “Tenth Avenue Freeze-out”
• Bruce Springsteen: “The Wish”
• Bruce Springsteen and Friends: “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”
• Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: “Born to Run”
• Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: “Dancing in the Dark”
• Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: “Racing in the Street”
• Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: “Thunder Road” (*)
• Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: “The Wall”
• Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: “The Weight”
• Bruce Springsteen with Clarence Clemons and the Red Bank Rockers: “Jersey Girl”
• Bruce Springsteen and Jimmy Fallon: “Gov. Chris Christie’s Fort Lee, New Jersey Traffic Jam”
• Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi, Southside Johnny and Steven Van Zandt: “This Time It’s for Real”
• Steel Mill: “Garden State Parkway Blues”
• Steely Dan: “Black Friday”
• Stone Temple Pilots: “Interstate Love Song”
• Straight No Chaser: “Jersey Girl” (“Surfer Girl” parody)

From left, Henry "Big Bank Hank" Jackson, Michael "Wonder Mike" Wright and Guy "Master Gee" O'Brien of the Sugarhill Gang.

From left, Henry “Big Bank Hank” Jackson, Michael “Wonder Mike” Wright and Guy “Master Gee” O’Brien of the Sugarhill Gang.

• The Sugarhill Gang: “Rapper’s Delight”
• Clark Terry, James Moody and George Benson: “Billie’s Bounce”
• Jim Testa: “(Everything Is Swell) in Weehawken”
• Jim Testa: “Here’s to the State of New Jersey” (*)
• They Might Be Giants: “Asbury Park (Stone Pony)”
• They Might Be Giants: “The Edison Museum”
• The Thousand Pities: “Point Pleasant”
• Titus Andronicus: “No Future Part Three: Escape From No Future”
• “Toxic Avenger” cast: “Who Will Save New Jersey?”
• Traveling Wilburys: “Tweeter and the Monkey Man”
• Moon Trent: “We Two Boys”
• Tony Trischka: “Great Big World”
• John Trubee and the Ugly Janitors of America: “Driving Around New Jersey on a Summer Night”
• The Trypes: “Belmont Girl Is Mad at Me”
• The Two Man Gentlemen Band: “The Hindenburg Disaster”
• U2: “Pride (In the Name of Love)”
• U2 with Bruce Springsteen: “Stand by Me”
• The Unlovables: “Jersey Boy”
• Keith Urban and Alicia Keys: “Gimme Shelter” at Live Earth
• Frankie Valli: “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”
• Frankie Valli: “My Mother’s Eyes”
• Dave Van Ronk: “Garden State Stomp”
• Sarah Vaughan: “I Got Rhythm”
• Sarah Vaughan: “I’ve Got the World on a String”
• Sarah Vaughan and Wynton Marsalis: “September Song”
• Eddie Vedder with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: “Better Man” at Vote for Change concert at Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford
• Suzanne Vega: “Tom’s Diner” at Thomas Edison National Historical Park, West Orange
• “Uncle” Floyd Vivino: “Deep in the Heart of Jersey”

walker

The cover for the single, “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore,” by The Walker Brothers

• The Walker Brothers: “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore”
• Dee Dee Warwick: “You’re No Good”
• Dionne Warwick: “Anyone Who Had a Heart”
• Dionne Warwick: “Hasbrook Heights”
• Dionne Warwick, Whitney Houston, Stevie Wonder and Luther Vandross: “That’s What Friends Are For”
• Max and Jay Weinberg: “Sing, Sing, Sing”
• Weather Report, featuring Wayne Shorter: “Elegant People”
• Kevin Welch: “Jersey Devil”
• Ernie White and Richie Sambora: “Hallelujah”
• Jack Whiting: “There’s a Small Hotel”
• Bernie Worrell: “Funkentelechy”
• Gary Wright: “Love Is Alive”
• XTC: “Statue of Liberty”
• Yo La Tengo: “Did I Tell You”
• Yo La Tengo: “Roadrunner”
• Neil Young: “My Hometown”
• The Young Rascals: “Good Lovin’ ”
• Joe Zook & Blues Deluxe: “Jersey Blues”

CONTRIBUTE TO NJARTS.NET

Since launching in September 2014, NJArts.net, a 501(c)(3) organization, has become one of the most important media outlets for the Garden State arts scene. And it has always offered its content without a subscription fee, or a paywall. Its continued existence depends on support from members of that scene, and the state’s arts lovers. Please consider making a contribution of any amount to NJArts.net via PayPal, or by sending a check made out to NJArts.net to 11 Skytop Terrace, Montclair, NJ 07043.

$

Custom Amount

Personal Info

Donation Total: $20.00

Leave a Comment

Sign up for our Newsletter