MAPACA is pleased to announce that our special guest for the 2016 conference is Randy “Now” Ellis, former booking agent for Trenton, New Jersey’s legendary City Gardens. Throughout much of the 1980s and 1990s, Randy booked bands like the Ramones, Ween, and REM at the famed City Gardens venue in Trenton, NJ. Randy’s story is the subject of the 2015 documentary film Riot on the Dance Floor: The Story of Randy Now and City Gardens and the book No Slam Dancing, No Stage Diving, No Spikes: An Oral History of New Jersey’s Legendary City Gardens. Randy has also hosted regionally popular radio shows on The College of New Jersey’s WTSR, including “One Step Beyond,” which played a major role in introducing ska music to the New Jersey area. As the proprietor of Randy’s Man Cave, a record and memorabilia store in Bordentown, Randy Now is a living legend in the New Jersey music scene, a popular culture aficionado, and a consummate storyteller.
MAPACA will present Randy Ellis with the 2016 Divine Impact Award, which recognizes outstanding creative or scholarly achievement in the production, performance, or scholarly consideration of popular culture that exhibits exceptional contribution, longevity, originality, and impact. Past years’ recipients are director John Waters and radio host Terry Gross.
Ellis will take part in a brief Q&A, hosted by MAPACA president Colin Helb (Elizabethtown College), at the conference’s reception on Thursday, November 3.
(This event is open to MAPACA conference attendees only.)
