From E Street to Van Zandt Way

By:  | May 23, 2024 |  Features |  Middletown

By Ryan Loughlin

There are cities in the United States where rock stars and famous actors seem to grow on trees (or spurt from the asphalt, as the case may be.) Not many folks would bat an eye if a few living legends grew up in New York, Nashville or Los Angeles, but stars of stage and screen and rock n’ roll royalty hailing from a quiet suburb in New Jersey? That’s a bit more of a rarity.

But such is the case for the Van Zandt family, as both actor and playwright Billy Van Zandt and his older half-brother, E Street Band guitarist and Sopranos alum Steve Van Zandt grew up among the lineup of pleasant homes, soccer fields and tree-lined streets of Middletown.

And, in honor of the family’s roots, the town of Middletown partnered with the New Jersey Hall of Fame recently to dedicate a street name in honor of the well-known family that once resided there and continues to make its mark on pop culture and social activism to this day.

On April 26, the town held a ceremony on Wilson Avenue which featured the unveiling of the new street name, Van Zandt Way. The event included appearances from members of the NJ Hall of Fame, Middletown Mayor Tony Perry, and former NBC News Anchor and ex-Middletown resident Brian Williams in addition to both Van Zandt brothers. A large mixed crowd of both fans and locals packed the street, all hoping to catch a glimpse and show their support for two of the most notable residents in town history.

“A few years back, we had a discussion about how to recognize and provide an education to the members of the public that may not know that Middletown has been the home to many people who have done things of significance culturally around the world. Making it known that someone who has impacted culture in such a big way grew up on this street is a nice way to symbolize that,” says  Perry.

Though Mayor Perry has been around the world and hobnobbed with many highly respected members of government, the chance to appear onstage with rock royalty is still an opportunity that doesn’t come along very often.

“It was pretty cool, I have to say,” Perry confirms. “I have been fortunate in my six years as mayor to have sat on stages with presidents and governors and members of congress; and I have gotten to travel the world representing Middletown, but it’s certainly a very cool thing to be able to share the stage with such legends. And I am a huge Jaws fan as well and Billy [Van Zandt] was in “Jaws 2,” so it’s very surreal, but the ultimate pride happened when I first got there. Seeing all those people who still live on Wilson Avenue and grew up there as neighbors [of the Van Zandts] and seeing Billy and Stevie both call out people that they knew from the neighborhood so many years later was just so cool to me. Growing up, I never thought I would be able to toss it back to Brian Williams either. It was such a fun moment. We have so much pride in our history in Middletown and you always want to pay tribute to that. Being able to share a stage with Billy and Stevie was great, but to see the impact and the pride that their neighbors had was great to see as well.”

The event featured speeches from all of its distinguished guests, with Williams providing the crowd with a few genuine laughs as he jokingly poked fun at Mayor Perry, ordering him (in jest) to fetch the papers that had repeatedly blown off the podium during Williams’ speech.

In their individual speeches, both Van Zandts waxed nostalgic about their time growing up in Middletown, peppering in light moments of humor regarding former brushes with Middletown’s finest and how proud their parents would have been to ultimately see the street named after them. As the ceremonially-named street sign was revealed, Steve, dressed in his trademark purple headscarf, sunglasses and a paisley blazer, posed with his half-siblings Billy and Kathi, smiling and waving to the crowd before being whisked off in a black SUV to wherever the next stage may be.

More than just a sideman – a deeper look at Steve Van Zandt and his roots

For many an untrained eye, Steve Van Zant simply appears to be the colorfully dressed sidekick to Freehold’s most famous resident, Bruce Springsteen. And while it’s true that Van Zandt’s role within the E Street Band has always been secondary to Springsteen, his talents as an artist and actor as well as his political activism can hardly be dismissed as someone riding the coattails of a superstar. With that in mind, we present a few highlights of the career of the man they call “Little Steven”:

A Meeting in Middletown: Van Zandt and Springsteen met for the first time in 1966, at a now defunct club called the Hullaballoo in Middletown. Van Zandt was performing with his band The Shadows at the time. “I remember coming in and seeing a guy on stage in a top hat, a huge tie, singing the Turtles ‘Happy Together.’ We struck up an immediate friendship,” Springsteen later recalled in a live webcast interview from 2021.

The Ultimate Juke: Though he is most famous for his partnership with Springsteen, fans of the Jersey Shore music scene also recognize Van Zandt as one of the main driving forces behind Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes, a group that has been at the core of the Jersey shore music scene since its inception in the mid-70s. Van Zandt produced and wrote nearly all of the songs on the early Jukes records, helping the horn-fueled rock and soul band to solidify itself as a force to be reckoned with.

Going Solo: Just before Springsteen was to release the biggest album of his career (1984’s “Born in the USA”), Van Zandt surprised fans as he left the band to focus on his solo career with his own band, Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul. A gutsy and somewhat regrettable move from a timing standpoint, ultimately it did serve to establish Van Zandt as more than just a Springsteen sidekick, allowing him to explore his own musical direction while also helping him hone his chops as a frontman. Van Zandt has continued to release albums sporadically with the Disciples of Soul, with their most recent effort being 2019’s “Summer of Sorcery.”

Singer, Songwriter, Producer, Activist: For Van Zandt, as his fame rose, so did his political activism, which ultimately led to him fighting battles against human rights violations worldwide. Perhaps his most memorable and significant undertaking was an organized protest against apartheid in South Africa, which he cemented by rounding up a conglomerate of fellow musicians to perform on Van Zandt’s original song “Sun City”, which also served as an active protest against performing in the South African casino town at the time.

Bada Bing: After watching him deliver a speech inducting The Rascals into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, Soprano’s creator David Chase decided on the spot that Van Zandt would be perfect to star in the new mob-themed drama he was creating for HBO. Van Zandt initially gave him the brush off on account of not being an actor, but after some convincing, eventually took on the role of consigliere Silvio Dante. The show would go on to become a major hit for the network with Van Zandt’s character being one of the most beloved of all.

Photos by John Vitollo and Ryan Loughlin