(upbeat music) - This was Mecca of Jersey music.

You know what happens is when you walk through the door, you change.

You kind of like are walking through the Stargate.

That all of a sudden you're mesmerized by what's going on here.

And you see that horse on the stage, you see the stage, you see who's going to be playing.

You start looking around and say, this is where it really happens.

It's just that this is Asbury Park and this is the Stone Pony.

And that band's got to be good because you got to be good to play here.

In 1974, when it first opened, I was a junior at Monmouth College, which is now Monmouth University.

And of course, all the bars used to have college nights and things like that, so I was a customer at first.

You know, our family moved from Jersey City down the shore when I was 12 years old, and Asbury Park was always here.

It was the place you went to the movies.

It was the place you went to, you know, hang on the boardwalk, to go to the beach, et cetera.

(upbeat music) - Of course, I've known about the Stone Pony forever.

I didn't actually come here until the first day I worked here.

It was just a moving experience for me.

I walked in by myself and just to look around and know all the history that was here and the responsibility that was now on me.

(upbeat music) One thing that was always here was the vibe of history.

Many, many famous artists have played the stage.

Obviously Bruce has been here, Bon Jovi has been here, Patti Smith, Joan Jett, Cheap Trick, Leonard Skinner.

(upbeat music) - Here we were in the 80s, there was talk about moving us because this land was of course very valuable.

- You know, walking into the venue, it wasn't the way it looks today.

A lot of repair was needed, it was in a lot of disrepair.

It was a tough go.

New developers had just taken over.

They were trying to keep the buildings alive so that more development would come into town because development is what Asbury Park needed to come back.

There were some very dark times back then.

People had hesitation about coming here.

So it was difficult to keep a building full of history alive and running when customers were hard to come by here and there.

So really that was happening.

There was nothing going on in town.

A lot of the stores were closing.

Only a few were still open and we were really the only thing that was really viable back then.

Over the last 20 years, the town has exploded in how it's changed.

More in the years of 2006 onward, Asbury Park seems to be a place where talent gathers and people want to be part of not only the music but the art that's really hitting a high here and I don't think we've even begun to get to where it's going yet.

We don't know what's going to go on in the boardwalk and things like that.

I mean, there's so much that's going on and so many things that are changing.

But yeah, Asbury Park is always special, always was, always will be, and always be deep in our hearts.

Every name that's up on that stage adds to our legacy.

It creates a legacy.

And when they come back, it's even better, because it keeps the power of the legacy going.

And that is what's going to keep us here for the next 20 years.

[MUSIC PLAYING] Of course, we see all these bands come in.

And there's so many still that the talent is unbelievable.

We don't know why, but they're all here in this area.

The Jersey Shore, whether it's this long from Perth Amboy all the way down to Atlantic City and further, hey, the music is there.

The music is there, and that's what we are.

We're the music.

[MUSIC]