STONY BROOK, NY— While it’s often the rock stars and musicians who are the most visible part of the music industry, the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame recognizes the producers, promoters, agents, radio stations and the venues as vital parts of the music industry.
LIMEHOF recently inducted four of its board members, Chairman Ernie Canadeo, Co-Founders Norm Prusslin and Jim Faith, and Creative Director Kevin O’Callaghan in a special event at its Stony Brook Museum location (97 Main Street, Stony Brook, NY).
In addition to being board members, each inductee has had a significant career in the music industry including the Long Island music scene. The inductees were also recognized for their role in building the organization into one of Long Island and New York’s premier cultural institutions and tourist destinations.
LIMEHOF board member and radio personality Larry “The Duck” Dunn (WLIR, Sirius XM) emceed the event. Special Guests in attendance included Richie Cannata (Lords of 52nd Street), Albert Bouchard (founding and former member of Blue Öyster Cult), Roger Earl (Fog Hat), Jules Radino, Steve Adelson, Alan Inkles, Jimmy Rosica (The Brooklyn Bridge) and more.
Video tributes were shown from Dee Snider (Twisted Sister), Ray Romano (Everybody Loves Raymond), Joe Butler (The Lovin Spoonful), Randy Jackson (Zebra), Ron Alexenburg (Music Promoter) and Dave Davies (The Kinks). The night closed with a special music performance by the Kerry Kearnney Band (featuring Roger Earl on drums).
LIMEHOF Inductee Albert Bouchard inducted Norm Prusslin, co-founder of LIMEHOF and longtime Stony Brook professor and is the founding general manager of WUSB Stony Brook radio station.
“To have my board colleagues vote to induct me is something that is very special,” Prusslin said. “I see it more as a thank you and congratulations to everybody. I’m accepting this on behalf of everyone who has been part of this journey for 23 years.”
Bouchard is a longtime friend of Prusslin and has spoken to his classes and has participated in many events at LIMEHOF. He says it was an honor to induct Norm into the Hall of Fame and that to him personally it means more to receive the local recognition with his fellow Long Island musicians than national recognition.
“I can’t tell you how much it means to me to be here and to be an inductee in this organization,” Bouchard said. “This has been a community that’s been my life for most of my life, this Stony Brook or Long Island community. I’m in a Hall of Fame with John Coltrane…. So, this is a very prestigious, so I feel very honored to be part of LIMEHOF.”
Staller Center Director Alan Inkles inducted Jim Faith, LIMEHOF Co-Founder and Promoter and booking agent who also produces the Great South Bay Music Festival–one of the region’s premier live music events.
It feels amazing and I never could have pictured a day like this. When we first got together it was to change the perception that everybody had of Long Island. Back then every band from Long Island was told by their managers to say they were from New York. We wanted to change that because we knew we had more credibility than most other states.”
Faith said LIMEHOF was different in its mission to recognize all music genres and aspects of the music industry. LIMEOF also includes Brooklyn and Queens because the organization sees these areas as part of Long Island’s geography even if many consider them part of New York City. The result 23 years later is perhaps one of the most diverse halls of fame in the country honoring and recognizing a wide range of inductees in nearly every genre of music from Rock to Hip Hop to Classical to Doo-wop.
“We’ve inducted Clive Davis, Ron Alexenburg (Capital Records), Ron Delsner (music promoter). We also inducted music venues that have been around for a long time like the Jones Beach Amphitheater, The Tillis Center, and Westbury Music Fair. These are all people who created the music fabric of Long Island and without each other we couldn’t have done it. You need the artist and the agent and the place to play, so you need all of it.”
LIMEHOF inductee Richie Cannata inducted Ernie Canadeo, LIMEHOF Chairman and founder of EGC Group. Ernie’s sons Christopher Canadeo and Jonathan Canadeo also spoke as part of his induction.
Canadeo was acknowledged for his leadership in taking the organization to new levels of notoriety through building successful exhibits and use of the Hall of Fame building to offer a spotlight on Long Island talent.
“It feels very gratifying to be inducted,” Canadeo said. “I started my career at RCA Records in the 1970’s. I’ve always been a tremendous music fan. Spearheading what has happened here for the last decade or so has been a wonderful experience, so I’m thrilled that I’m being acknowledged and it’s humbling also….From finding this building, raising the funding for it, to having two incredible exhibits; the Billy Joel Exhibit and the Raymond Exhibit, and generating millions of dollars into the local economy, we are one of the if not the most successful halls of fame on Long Island and it’s a major accomplishment.”
Cannata says it was an honor to induct Ernie.
“I’ve traveled mostly all over the world and I’ve learned to understand how important Long Island is,” Cannata said. “We are up there very much with the entertainment and all of the arts in all the world. It takes a man like Ernie who gets it. He really does. From the bus where this all started to this amazing venue. He brought our lives to a fruition where people know who we are and I thank you very much for that.”
Kevin O’Callaghan was inducted by 10 members of his current School of Visual Arts class. He received video congratulations messages from his lifelong friend LIMEHOF inductee Dee Snider of Twisted Sister, Joe Butler (The Lovin Spoonful), and Ray Romoano from Everybody Loves Raymond who loved the new Raymond exhibit Kevin created.
“It feels amazing,” O’Callaghan said. “It’s a dream come true. I watched it grow from just a digital museum into a brick-and-mortar museum. It’s filled with people who love music, it’s filled with people who visit who love music. It’s a place for fans to gravitate and to be actually on the walls with some of the greatest people in the music business on Long Island is really something I never expected to happen to me.”
For more information about LIMEHOF’s inductees, please visit https://www.limusichalloffame.org/inductees/