Steve Conte Remembers the “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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