Steve Conte Remembers the “Girl With No Name”

steve conte girl with no name

Gritty New York City Guitarist-Singer-Songwriter Steve Conte roared out of Monmouth County as a kid with one thing on his mind:  to rock and roll bigtime, and that he did with the New York Dolls and Finnish rocker Michael Monroe. His new album on Stevie Van Zandt’s Wicked Cool label isn’t due until next year but “Girl With No Name” has been released. With all the hoopla about the perfect three-minute single, Conte has managed to make the perfect four-minute single. (His last release was “Fourth Of July” with Andy Partridge of XTC. His last album was 2021’s Bronx Cheer.)

Conte wrote his new one in 1984, forgot about it, then rediscovered it in a pile of tapes. Stream it here. He’s also worked with Chuck Berry, Peter Wolf of The J. Geils Band, Eric Burdon of The Animals, Willy DeVille, Billy Squier, Maceo Parker of James Brown’s band, Willie Nile, Paul Simon and blues legend Hubert Sumlin. He met Van Zandt when The New York Dolls played the 2004 Underground Garage Festival.  “But my connection with him goes back to Jersey,” adds Conte. “I grew up with his cousins in Matawan near the Jersey Shore so I had been hearing about his legend for years.”


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Mike Greenblatt

MIKE GREENBLATT has been writing for Goldmine magazine and New Jersey's Aquarian Weekly for more than 35 years. His writing subjects fill the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

He's interviewed Joe Cocker, Graham Nash, David Crosby, Carlos Santana, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Johnny Cash, and members of The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. He was 18 when he attended Woodstock in 1969.

In addition to writing about music, Greenblatt has worked on publicity campaigns for The Animals, Pat Benatar, Johnny Winter, Tommy James and Richard Branson, among others. He is currently the editor of The Jersey Sound.

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