WILDWOOD – Outside, things were quiet with the hubbub of the summer still many weeks away, but inside La Piazza owner and chef Joe Montello was busy making pasta.
"I don't even think the seagulls are in town right now," Montello said as he worked.
Even in the quiet off-season here, Montello, 59, stays busy running the restaurant, but he always has time for the music so closely tied to Wildwood's past.
On a wall across the dining room, dozens of framed photographs document his love of doo-wop, Motown, and the sounds of a generation - and most were taken right here in this small seaside resort.
There are pictures of Montello, better known around town as Joey M., with the likes of Bobby Rydell, Danny and the Juniors, Mary Wilson and James Darrin.
"It's amazing how many people I met over the years," he said.
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And those meetings, those connections go beyond his personal collection of memorabilia.
"Joe is an absolute treasure and an unbelievable help to the city," Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. said.
Troiano, who thinks of Joey M. as a brother, credited him with helping to bring the island's musical past to life thanks to his contacts in the music industry. He's used those contacts over the years to help get acts for local concerts held at Fox Park and other venues.
Years ago, the island's Chamber of Commerce began hosting two weekends devoted to the music of the 1950s and 1960s. The Vocal Music Hall of Fame even held an induction ceremony here.
"Joe was feeding them out of his pocket," Troiano said of the acts that passed through the doors of La Piazza.
And, he added, they did more than eat.
"There was Mary Wilson and the Marvelettes and others on stage. They were singing all night long at Joe's place," Troiano said.
Montello, who still performs regularly by singing at his restaurant, worked in the music business in Philadelphia as a radio producer and later as a host at the Carousel Cabaret at Resorts Casino.
His connections to the shore and to Wildwood, in particular, run deep. Five Mile Beach was a regular family vacation stop each summer when he was young.
So, when he and his wife decided in 2001 to open a restaurant at the shore, Wildwood was a natural choice.
"I saw the Drifters and the Dovelles. Cozy Morley. This is the stuff that we did," Montello recalled.
Wildwood, which earned the nickname the Vegas of the East, brought in many of the top acts of the day during the 1950s and 1960s.
"When I got down here, I felt the need to bring acts in," he said of the effort to draw entertainers such as The Duprees and The Platters.
Tracey Dufault, executive director of the Greater Wildwood Chamber of Commerce, called Montello an important resource as the chamber plans its fall and spring musical events.
"Both him and the mayor are huge resources on who's played here and where they played," Dufault said.
Dufault said residents like him, with a passion for the music that once filled the clubs of Wildwood, are essential to keeping those memories alive.
"Joey is an entertainer himself," Dufault said. "You can walk in his restaurant any given day and he can be on stage with a well-known performer."
Contact Trudi Gilfillian:
609-463-6716
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