Pepé got the experience of  a lifetime attending the Brooklyn Paramount Rock 'n' Roll Reunion Concert in Brooklyn, New York on Sunday, April 1!  (Sponsored by the Daily News and Long Island University.)   A Richard Nader Entertainment Inc. Production and hosted by Cousin Brucie, a.k.a., Bruce Morrow, the show brought together some of the most famous groups from the time when Alan Freed put on the hottest shows in the early days of Rock 'n' Roll.  Appearing for 2 shows were Little Anthony and the Imperials, The Drifters, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, Johnnie and Joe, Bobby Lewis, The Penguins,and  Kenny Vance and the Planotones.

For Pepé, this show brought him full circle because it was here in the Brooklyn Paramount and Fox Theatres that he worked for his uncle's group, Little Anthony and the Imperials, every time they came into to town to perform in these holiday shows.  This is where Pepé learned the business of music.

What makes this so siginificant is that the birthplace of what we have come to know as true Rock 'n' Roll concerts is considered by many to be shows that were put on in the 1950s and 1960s at the Brooklyn Fox and Brooklyn Paramount Theatres by the legends, Murray the K and Alan Freed.  Annual holiday extravaganza shows that ran for as long as 10 days and coincided with Easter, Christmas, Labor Day and other holidays brought together not just one or two performers, but brought many of the hottest groups of the day all together in one big show.  Not only would there be more that 12 or 13 groups/artists on one stage, but they also shattered the conventions of the time by bringing together interracial audiences.   Think of it, on the same stage in one show, you might find Jackie Willson, the Shirelles, the Four Seasons, the Tempatations, Jay & the Americans, Martha & the Vandellas, the Supremes, Ben E. King, Bobbie Vinton, Chubby Checker and many, many more.   Most importantly, one of the all-time favorites of these shows and somewhat of a fixture were Little Anthony and the Imperials, the founder of which is Clarence Collins, Pepé Willie's uncle.

Pepe quote:

Pepé got the experience of  a lifetime attending the Brooklyn Paramount Rock 'n' Roll Reunion Concert in Brooklyn, New York on Sunday, April 1! 
Click here to read more about the reunion concert . . .