‘A Song For You: My Life With Whitney Houston’ by Robyn Crawford
Mike Greenblatt Mike Greenblatt

‘A Song For You: My Life With Whitney Houston’ by Robyn Crawford

Prior to 1985, when Whitney Houston busted out of Newark in her meteoric rise to the top of the charts, she palled around with Robyn Crawford, her best friend. In 2022, a feature film biography, ‘Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody,’ was well-received. It was based partially on Crawford’s very personal memoir recounting her life before Bobby Brown muddied the waters.

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‘Ivy Hill’ by Arthur Ruben with Eleanor Cooney
Mike Greenblatt Mike Greenblatt

‘Ivy Hill’ by Arthur Ruben with Eleanor Cooney

Ivy Hill is in the Vailsberg section of Newark. Taken from true events like the 1967 race riots, Eddie is traumatized by the death of his dad, and alienated from the asshole his mom decides to marry. Music is his salvation and he forms a band, The Camaros…

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Linking Bruce & Billy: ‘Bridge and Tunnel Boys’ by Jim Cullen
Mike Greenblatt Mike Greenblatt

Linking Bruce & Billy: ‘Bridge and Tunnel Boys’ by Jim Cullen

‘Bridge & Tunnel Boys’ (Rutgers University Press), by Jim Cullen, subtitled ‘Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, and the Metropolitan Sound of the American Century,’ is a $28.50 262-page book detailing the similarities of two artists who grew up similarly influenced on those who came before them.

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Jersey Bookshelf

Books by and about Jersey musicians