More Glen News (Yogi)

[SuiteMadameBlue]

I read this from another Styx site and thought to pass it along on here, especially for Yogi

Enjoy

http://www.app.com/app/story/0,21625,1137175,00.html

JOLLY OL' SAINT (BURT)NIK

Published in the Asbury Park Press 12/10/04
By CHRIS JORDAN
Gannett New Jersey

Quite a few Christmases ago, Bryan Burtnick gave his 12-year-old brother Glen something he never had before.

A Christmas present.

The Burtnicks of North Brunswick were Jehovah's Witnesses, and as such didn't celebrate Christmas or birthdays.

The present was a Magnus organ.

"It was a big gift," Glen Burtnik said. "And I was a guy who didn't celebrate birthdays."

Burtnik would grow up to be a rock 'n' roll star who -- ironically enough -- has become known in part for his yearly tribute to the the holiday season, the Xmas Xtravaganza. His 16th Xmas Xtravaganza comes tonight to the State Theatre in New Brunswick.

"Part of the reason why I work this hard and my family has to put up with me is because as a kid I felt a little left out," Burtnik said. "I think the shows compensate (for a childhood without Christmas). I admire J.C., but I can't say I've given my life to Christ. I've really always been a closet secular Christmas fan growing up."

The Xmas Xtravaganzas are kind of rockin', a little wacky and plenty sweet. Burtnik makes calls to some of the biggest names in music -- who are never announced before the show -- and they come a runnin' with holiday classics to sing.

At past Xtravaganzas, stars such as Patty Smyth, John McEnroe, Phoebe Snow, Marshall Crenshaw, the Patti Smith Group, Fred Schneider, Styx, Billy Squier, Richie "LaBamba" Rosenberg and Mark Pender of the Max Weinberg 7 and even Max Weinberg himself and Danny Federici of the E Street Band showed up.

"It's particularly great that all these musicians perform for nothing," Burtnik said. "This year there are over 100 (musicians), and they're going to be there out of the kindness of their hearts. My name is involved but it's not my gig. I just put it together."

Comic interludes will be provided by Jigs Giglio of North Brunswick, Burtnik's brother-in-law, who annually performs a robust pantomime version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" -- usually with his clothes on. Also, expect Somerset-raised actor Chuck Buck (also known as Chuck Wagner), to present his own unique take on Santa. In past shows, Buck arrived as a cross-dressing Santa, a Rasta Santa, Santa-nator (ready to get pumped-up on eggnog) and Castro Santa.

"It's an extremely special show and a labor of love," said Buck, a former bouncer at the defunct Melody Bar of New Brunswick. "The core of the people have been doing it as long as I have and seeing each other, the comradery of the event, is beyond words."

"We're helping people in need and having fun doing it."

The show has donated more than $10,000 to food banks in New Jersey and New York. The Community Food Bank of New Jersey will receive proceeds from this year's show. Audience members are also encouraged to bring canned food, warm clothing and new, unwrapped toys to the shows for distribution to area soup kitchens and shelters.

This year, it's a return to Jersey for the Xmas Xtravaganza gang. The shows have been held at New York City's Bottom Line and B.B. King's Blues Club and Grill since 1994. Previous shows, which began in 1989, where held at the Stony Pony in Asbury Park and the former Club Bene in Sayreville.

"It was getting a little too routine," Burtnik said. "With changing venues there's always a risk involved, but the State Theatre called and they wanted to do the show. I had always wanted to do the show in a theater, and it's home."

Growing up, Burtnik saw the "Let It Be" and "Woodstock" movies at the State. Sufficiently inspired, Burtnik went onto portray Paul in "Beatlemania," rock the Jersey Shore with Cats on a Smooth Surface, release two solo albums on A&M Records in the 1980s, write the hits "Sometimes Love Ain't Enough" for Patty Smyth and Don Henley and "Spirit of a Boy, Wisdom of a Man" for country singer Randy Travis. He also became a member of Styx for the better part of 15 years and was even asked to join Bon Jovi when that band was forming.

But every holiday season Burtnik marches to the beat of a different drummer boy.

"The music is a great piece of Americana," Burtnik said. "It's wonderful, and I like the idea of a type of music you can only play one time of year, and it doesn't work any other time. That's pretty neat."

[yogi]

Thanks for the article. Have you purchased Welcome to Hollywood Yet?? If you have what do you think?? If you have'nt I'm telling you its a MUST!

Finally, I figured you could answer my trivia questions under the Assembly Line 'You Might Be a Styx Fan If'.....

[Adam]

Here, I found this too...

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/ledger/ ... 215790.xml

NJ Star Ledger review:
"All you wanted for Christmas, and then some"
BY JAY LUSTIG Star-Ledger Staff
Monday, December 13, 2004

You could spend the rest of the holiday season going to Christmas concerts, and you still might not hear as many different styles of music as Friday's Xmas Xtravaganza at New Brunswick's State Theatre offered. Punk, lounge, blues, polka, gospel, folk ... this show really had it all.

This event -- an annual benefit for local hunger organizations, organized by North Brunswick singer-songwriter Glen Burtnik -- marked a couple of firsts this year. It was the first Xmas Xtravaganza to take place in Burtnik's original hometown of New Brunswick, and it was the first one to be housed in a theater, rather than a nightclub.

It was by far the most elaborate show in the event's history. String and horn sections often augmented the house band, which was anchored by guitarist Burtnik and bassist Tony Shanahan (a member of Patti Smith's band). Fake snow fell during Carlton Brown's soul-ballad interpretation of "White Christmas" and the show-closing, ensemble version of John Lennon's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)." Members of the North Brunswick Township High School marching band joined in on "The Little Drummer Boy."

The show lasted close to four hours (without an intermission), and some of the rehearsed material couldn't even fit in. An exhausted Burtnik -- who didn't just play guitar and sing, but filled in on bass, piano, drums and percussion as needed -- finally called an end to the evening, shortly after midnight.

There hasn't been an Xmas Xtravaganza in New Jersey since 1994: from 1995 to last year, the show has taken place in New York. Accordingly, there was a higher concentration of Jersey artists than usual, though some out-of-staters who have been Xtravaganza regulars (including Marshall Crenshaw, Willie Nile, Christine Ohlman, and Joe Hurley of the band Rogue's March) made the trip.

The quality of performances was uneven, but most of the artists rose to the occasion. Mary Lee Kortes sang a simple but heartwarming "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." Joy Askew was similarly low-key on Joni Mitchell's Christmastime meditation, "River," while Antonique Smith turned "O Holy Night" into a pop-gospel showstopper. The band Spiraling ingeniously merged "Do You Hear What I Hear?" with the Who's "Baba O'Riley," and showcased frontman Tom Brislin's dexterous keyboard playing on an adrenalinized version of "The Nutcracker Suite."

Singer-guitarist Bernie Brausewetter -- who, like Brislin, played in the house band for much of the evening -- swung hard on his showcase number, "Boogie Woogie Santa." Vicki Genfan impressed with her unique, percussive style of acoustic guitar playing on "Joy To the World." Trombonist Richie "La Bamba" Rosenberg sang in a sweet falsetto on "I'll Be Home For Christmas," while trumpeter Mark "The Love Man" Pender belted out "Santa Claus Is Back in Town."

It's hard to think of a Christmas song that got left out of this show. Shanahan and Crenshaw sang "Blue Christmas" and "Christmas Blues," respectively. Lenny Kaye -- who, like Shanahan, comes from New Brunswick and backs Patti Smith -- sang "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" over a Phil Spector-like wall of sound, after dedicating the song to "any of my old girlfriends who may be in the audience."

The band Everlounge brought an intentionally smarmy lounge-rock flavor to "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch." "This is a classy joint, let me tell ya," said Everlounge frontman Don Dazzo.

A group of children sang sweetly on "Christmas Don't Be Late" (originally performed by the cartoon group, the Chipmunks), while the show veered toward sophisticated R&B on numbers by Carlton Brown, Freedom Bremner and the Hudson River Rats. Rats frontman Rob Paparozzi noted that the band's drummer, acclaimed session musician Bernard Purdie, played on the original version of one of the songs in its set, Donny Hathaway's "This Christmas."

Hurley and Ohlman spat out the sordid "Fairy Tale of New York," originally recorded as a duet between Shane MacGowan of the Pogues and Kirsty MacColl. Nile played a fast, rocking "O Come All Ye Faithful," and the Youth Ahead raced through Adam Sandler's silly, name-dropping "Chanukah Song" as if it were a punk-pop anthem.

More comic relief was offered by Jigs Giglio, who offered a goofy dance interpretation of "The Twelve Days of Christmas," bouncing around the stage like "ten lords a-leaping" and "eight maids a-milking." And Chuck Buck arrived onstage dressed like Santa Claus, but bravely stripped down to lingerie during "Walking 'Round in Women's Underwear" (sung to the tune of "Winter Wonderland").