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Ushering in a feel-good era for LI-based musicians

Glenn Gamboa | DROPS

April 24, 2008

It wasn't that long ago that Long Island bands would have to say they hailed from New York to make their record companies happy. Rockers from Long Island were seen as less edgy than their Manhattan counterparts. Rappers from Long Island, as Amityville's De La Soul once explained to me, were thought to be "too country" compared with city rappers.

Those stereotypes have dissipated in recent years, as the area's rock scene busted into the mainstream and its bands wore the badge of being Long Islanders proudly. But James Faith, along with the rest of the Long Island Music Hall of Fame board, wants that outmoded way of thinking to go the way of the 8-track.

"We want Long Island to feel good about itself," says Faith, a founder of the organization and now one of its vice chairmen. "We've heard from so many bands saying they had to lie about where they were from. We were all sick of that."

The nonprofit, all-volunteer group after a period of restructuring, is set to step up its pro-Island message once again. Its second class of Hall of Fame honorees - including everyone from Louis Armstrong and Count Basie to Pat Benatar and Blue Öyster Cult to Mariah Carey to Public Enemy and LL Cool J - is set to be inducted at the Garden City Hotel on Oct. 30.

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"We're a group focused on education, not a big party," says Faith, adding that the group hopes to hand out up to $200,000 in music scholarships by 2010. "But the gala is looking like a pretty good show."

The Hall is already starting to round up testimonials for the event and is working on a DVD about Long Island's musical history. And the group has narrowed its search for a permanent Hall of Fame to two sites. "We know we're on to something," he says. "When we do our workshops or other appearances, we get all these people thanking us for what we're doing."

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