Joan Jett at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, in 2001.
With this year’s Light of Day Festival now in full swing, it’s a good time to add the song “Light of Day” to the 350 Jersey Songs list. Bruce Springsteen wrote it, of course, for the 1987 movie of that name that co-starred Joan Jett and Michael J. Fox, and when Jett and Springsteen both volunteered for the post-9/11 Alliance of Neighbors benefit concerts at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank on Oct. 18-19, 2001, it was inevitable that they would performthe song together.
They did so, both nights, with E Streeter Garry Tallent (the event’s music director) on bass and Dennis Diken of The Smithereens on drums. And it was truly scorching. Check out the clip, below.
The shows — which also featured Jon Bon Jovi, Phoebe Snow, Felix Cavaliere,Joe Ely, Sonny Burgess, Max Weinberg, Patti Scialfa and others — raised more than $400,000 for 9/11 victims and their families.
New Jersey celebratedits 350th birthday from Sept. 2014 to Sept. 2015. Andin the 350 Jersey Songs series, we markedthe occasion by posting 350 songs — one a day, for almost a year — that have something to do with the state, its musical history, or both. The complete list is here.