“He works harder than I do at Christmas time,” said Darlene Love while inducting Tim McLoone into the New Jersey Hall of Fame, Oct. 27. “And I work pretty hard.”
McLoone — inducted along with other New Jerseyans such as Southside Johnny, The Smithereens, Jason Alexander, Martha Stewart, George R.R. Martin and Laurie Hernandez at the Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, Oct. 27 — owns a number of New Jersey restaurants and nightclubs, though the honor, I assume, was mainly in recognition of his work spearheading Holiday Express, which presents free shows at hospitals, nursing homes, soup kitchens and other locations throughout the holiday season.
McLoone, who has a band of his own called Tim McLoone & the Shirleys, performed with Love (who sang “River Deep — Mountain High” and Steven Van Zandt’s “Among the Believers” early in the evening) and also participated in the evening’s final two songs, The Beatles’ “I Saw Her Standing There” and Ben E. King’s “Stand by Me.”
He also gave a short speech. “I told them I wouldn’t do a long speech, but in return, I got to do a song,” he said, before leading five students at the Matheny School for children with disabilities in Peapack through Tom Petty’s “Learning to Fly,” which was the emotional high point of the evening.
Here is what Love said in her induction speech. Below that is video footage of her speech, McLoone’s speech, “Learning to Fly,” “Among the Believers,” “River Deep — Mountain High” and “I Saw Her Standing There.”
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