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Choosing board members and officers won’t be the only item on the agenda when the Asbury Park Historical Society (APHS) holds its reorganization meeting on Thursday, January 16 in the Asbury Park Public Library.

There’s also the subject of when Asbury Park banned rock and roll.

Specifically, the response to what happened after the 1956 Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers concert in Asbury Park — one of the country’s earliest rock and roll concert riots that resulted in the music genre being banned from the boardwalk.

In the summer of 1956, an aborted concert by the group at Convention Hall led to a riot that caused “Asbury Park to ban Rock & Roll,” according to a news release from the historical society. News of the riot fueled fears across the country that the new rock and roll music was driving the country’s youth toward violent juvenile delinquency, the release stated.

After the society conducts its reorganization meeting business, music expert Charlie Horner and his wife Pam will give a multimedia presentation entitled “The City That Banned Rock & Roll.”  The Horners are recognized by the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, in Cleveland, Ohio, as the premier experts in vocal harmony (doowop) music.

“Other municipalities soon forbade Rock & Roll concerts, citing the news reports coming from Asbury Park. While Asbury Park’s banning of Rock & Roll turned out to be limited and short-lived, the impact of the 1956 Rock & Roll Riot was felt worldwide,” said Charlie Horner, as quoted in the APHS news release.

The APHS reorganization meeting begins on Thursday, Jan 16 in the Asbury Park Public Library at 7 pm and people are invited to come and renew their membership in, or to join, the Historical Society. A vote on the Board of Trustee’s membership will also be held. It will also be President Don Stine’s last official meeting since he is stepping down from the post.  Admission is free and there will be refreshments.

“None our formal business takes long and this program is an especially interesting part of Arbury Park’s unique musical history. The effect of this riot went well beyond the boundaries of Asbury Park,” Stine said.

“It’s a story that has been long-waiting to be told and no one can do it better than the Horners,” Stine said.

   

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