East Main Street in Patchogue turned into a little piece of Hollywood last night, with a host of red-carpet arrivals at the Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts for the first-ever induction ceremony of the Long Island Music Hall of Fame.
Stars from Billy Joel and Joan Jett to Paul Shaffer and "American Idol" finalist Kevin Covais walked the red carpet, eager to help Long Island begin to get its due for its musical contributions over the years.
"I've always been proud of where I'm from," said Joel, a native of Hicksville. "Long Island is a great place for music. And unlike the City where there's no place to practice, we have garages out here so we can make noise."
Joel drew the largest reaction from the fans lining the street waiting for arrivals, as well as from the theater foyer where people screamed for his every move, whether it was autographing a new Harley Davidson motorcycle, which many of the inductees also signed, or holding up a guitar.
The great bluesman Sam Taylor said he flew back from his European tour specifically to attend the awards. "So many Long Island musicians have said they were from New York instead of Long Island because they thought it helped them," said Taylor, of Bay Shore. "I've been saying I've been from Long Island since 1955. I'm so proud to be here. It's giving me goosebumps just thinking about it."
Long Island pride has even crossed generations. Covais, now a senior at Levittown's Island Trees High School, said, "This is a great place to come from, there are so many great Long Island musicians and I hope to be one of them someday."
Organizers said they wanted more young people to be proud of the area's musical heritage and Covais said it should work. "I do think this will help inspire more people my age," he said. "I know I was inspired when I found out Billy Joel was from here."
With so many talents from so many genres hailing from Island, Shaffer, who inducted Peter Criss from Kiss, wondered aloud, "Do you think there's something in the water?"
