For a hot minute, Joey Dee (born Joseph DiNicola) and the Starliters were the other Jersey boys. Formed in Passaic, their career erupted in 1961 after a one-night gig at New York’s Peppermint Lounge became a 13-month residency. Half a block from Times Square, the club was the unlikely epicenter of a dance-crazed pop world. The Ronettes became house dancers there before hooking up with Phil Spector; the Beatles dropped in on their first visit to America. The Starliters’ anthem, “Peppermint Twist-Part 1,” shot to Number One; they later re-entered the Top Ten with a cover of the Isley Brothers’ “Shout.” Band lineups were a revolving door of rock ’n’ roll talent: guitarist David Brigati brought his brother Eddie in along with Felix Cavaliere and Gene Cornish before those three started the Rascals, and Jimi Hendrix passed through on his way to stardom (the Starliters were one of the rare interracial groups of that period).

The fun faded when the British Invasion hit, but Joey kept playing and twisting the night away. In 2010, Passaic renamed the corner of Washington Place and Columbia Avenue, where Joe DiNicola grew up, as Joey Dee and the Starliters Square.

Leon Huff was born in Camden but built his legendary career across the river in the City of Brotherly Love. Partnering with singer and songwriter Kenny Gamble, the duo first drew attention by writing hits for the Soul Survivors, the Intruders, and Jerry Butler. Given a shot by Columbia Records to run their own label, Philadelphia International Records, they merely changed the course of musical history, as their extensive catalog bridged the gap between soul music and disco and became the soundtrack to the ‘70s. Weaving sound tapestries with impassioned vocals and lush orchestral workouts by the studio outfit dubbed MFSB (Mothers Fathers Sisters Brothers), they crafted the world-renowned Philly sound on tunes like the O’Jays’ “Love Train,” Billy Paul’s “Me And Mrs. Jones,” and Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes’ “The Love I Lost.” Social awareness and uplift inspired much of their material, as with “Let’s Clean Up the Ghetto” and “Wake Up Everybody,” the latter memorably revived in 2010 by the Roots and John Legend. Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff were recognized by the Grammys in 1990 for the Simply Red cover of “If You Don’t Know Me by Now” and in 1999 with the Trustees Award, and earned spots in both the Rock and Roll and Songwriters halls of fame.

Born in Newark, Linda Jones, like nearly all great singers of the R&B and soul eras, got her start in the church, joining the family gospel act at age 6. Entering the record industry in her late teens, she bounced around a handful of labels with little success before landing at Loma Records, part of the Warner Brothers stable. It was there in 1967 she had her defining moment with “Hypnotized”: hitting Number 4 on the R&B charts, the vocal tour de force remains a monument from an age of powerful female voices. When Warners closed Loma, she continued releasing music, to lesser results. Finally landing at Turbo, Sylvia Robinson’s offshoot of the All Platinum label in Englewood Cliffs, Jones seemed poised for a return to the charts when she passed away in 1972 at age 27 of complications from diabetes.

Never forgotten, in 2008 her daughter Terry Jones co-produced an album featuring her mother’s vocals; one of the tracks, “Baby I Know,” was nominated for a GRAMMY at the 51st Annual GRAMMY Awards. Subsequently, Newark declared December 14th, her birthday, to be “Linda Jones Day,” and renamed where she had lived, Sherman Avenue, as “Linda Jones Way”.

Born in Harlem, Melba Moore moved to Newark at a young age where her artistic skills blossomed, helped along by her mother and stepfather, both musicians, and a friend who introduced her to gospel music. After two years teaching music in Newark schools, she became an in-demand session singer, often joining the husband-wife team of Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson backing up stars like Jerry Butler. Her big break came when she replaced Diane Keaton in the Broadway cast of “Hair.” The high-profile role led to her being cast opposite Cleavon Little in the musical “Purlie,” for which she won a 1970 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. A contract with Mercury Records that same year began a streak of critically acclaimed albums; a television variety show with songwriter/actor Clifton Davis aired in 1972. She continued recording throughout the next few decades, reaching Billboard’s R&B Top Ten eight times, including Number Ones with “Falling” and “A Little Bit More,” a duet with Freddie Jackson. Three times nominated for Grammy Awards, Moore still lives in New Jersey, being interviewed in 2021 about her multi-faceted career at Newark Symphony Hall for the first talk in the venue’s “Homegrown” series.