By Joan, January 30, 2019 — You know my mother was very domineering though, but I don’t know, it didn’t seem to bother me. I always said, she worried so- she was such a worry wort that something might happen. And she pressured me into some things like playing the accordion; I wanted the piano. My mother played the piano, and to me my mother had more talent than anybody, because she could listen to a song on the radio and she would sit down and play it. And to me that was talent; anybody could learn to read music. She gave me an ultimatum, there was this school. It was like 12 or 15 lessons to see if you liked it, [and] before you had to buy the accordion you know. “Just go and see if you like it,” my mother said. Well I knew that she was so excited about everything that I just kept playing you know and that was it. I never just switched over and we had a piano in the house, so it wasn’t like we needed a piano.
But I guess I was around nine or ten when I started playing, yeah, because our grammar school went to eighth grade- we didn’t have middle school, we went to eighth and then from nine to twelve was high school. And I remember when we graduated grammar school they made a big production, like a Broadway play would be and whoever had talent had to perform- and I played. But even before that I played in school so I must have been around eight or nine when I started playing.
I started in this place in Bayonne- and it was funny, the first store me and Pop opened up, HM, two doors down- it was like a little strip mall in Colonia- two doors down was an upholstery store. I used to see the guy all the time but this one time I saw the woman and I looked at her and I said, “Florence?” It was my accordion teacher! It was a father and his daughter who had the school; and she married the upholstery guy. So small world, right?! I was from Jersey City and she was from Bayonne and there we both were in Colonia.
But I would have never been a performer. One time, I was in school, it was the graduation- it must have been grammar school, I had a white dress on- and everybody in my class said to me when I got off of the stage, “You were as white as your dress was!” I mean, I did alright. And then our church used to have a variety show every year, and I had this girlfriend Vivian, she thought she could sing- I mean she could carry a tune but you know she was no big singer. “Come on, come on, come on let’s go audition, let’s go audition,” and I said, “No no, I don’t wanna,” but Vivian kept saying, ‘”Come on, come on, I don’t want to go by myself!” So, I went. I got accepted and she didn’t! I was ready to kill her! And the priest and all knew me so I didn’t want to back out, so there I was. And I was always too scared, I mean I did okay, but I was always too scared.
My music teacher in grammar school got me an audition for the Arthur Godfrey talent show on television. Well, I said to my mom, “You have got to make some kind of excuse.” You know my mother was so excited. But I said, “I’m not going!” I was going to Julliard, wait not Julliard, it was New Jersey School of Music after the school in Bayonne couldn’t teach me anymore, so they sent me there. And they were having a recital in Carnegie Hall. I didn’t get there because the day before I broke out in such hives, all over my body! I couldn’t stand, I was itching all over and my mother had to put calamine lotion on me! I said, “I can’t go!” My mother said, “We’ll cover you up” but I said, “I’m not going!” So, I knew I would never be a performer.
I enjoyed playing, and I didn’t mind playing if my friends came over. And even after I met Pop and we were going out on a date and some of our friends would come into the house — my mother [would say] right away, “Play a song for them,” and it was fine. But to get out in public, no… I knew that would never be me. So, when I got rid of the accordion, I got a keyboard.
