00:00:02
Speaker 1: New jersey sits in the shadow of something bigger.
00:00:06
Speaker 2: A lot of new jersey music i love has a lot of hope and it might be about getting out but uh it's about reaching for something.
00:00:12
Speaker 1: Close enough to see it far enough to have to fight for.
00:00:16
Speaker 3: It located between the metropolis of manhattan and philadelphia is the state of new jersey some will say it's a state of mind Others will say it's.
00:00:25
Speaker 1: A mythical place. So you figure it out.
00:00:27
Speaker 3: Between the ages of 14 and 17 or 18, those were some of the deepest learning years of my life.
00:00:36
Speaker 1: You play anywhere. You learn fast. You build something of your own. We're going to play whatever we want. Now, no one had ever done that before in New Jersey. And we started a scene. From the street corners to the shore clubs to the world stage. And when it comes together, Jersey has that vibe, you know, all cool, but just kind of a little bit off. It doesn't sound like anywhere else. We were outcasts, but we had the freedom to be ourselves. That's Jersey. I'm Buzz Knight, host of the Taking a Walk podcast and host of Jersey Made. And this is the story of how one small state helped shape the sound of America. From Buzz Night Media Productions comes a new series about the outsiders, the rule breakers, and the people who changed American music forever.
00:01:26
Speaker 2: In Camden, New Jersey in 1896, Emile Berliner and Eldridge Johnson founded the modern music and home entertainment industry out of this little garage when they invented and developed the turntable and disc record.
00:01:38
Speaker 1: For the first time in history, music wasn't just something you heard. It was something you could bring home, play again, keep forever. And everything changed. Cosmic Thing was really written to heal ourselves, but magically it healed a lot of other people who heard it. And then the music starts changing culture.
00:01:57
Speaker 3: Basie also inspired other musicians because he was the first African American to win a Grammy.
00:02:02
Speaker 1: A kid from Hoboken uses his fame to challenge the culture around him.
00:02:07
Speaker 3: The greatest fuel for the fire is somebody telling you no. It's the day that they tell you, yeah, yeah, yeah, you're wonderful, that you become the fat Elvis.
00:02:14
Speaker 1: And Didn't see a future in rap, but Sylvia Robinson did. When Sugarhill Records came out, they owned all of rap. Rock, jazz, hip-hop, risk-takers, rule-breakers. Different sounds, same story. We never tried to be anybody else but who we were. Because in New Jersey, being overlooked isn't a weakness. It's the spark. This is the story of the players, the producers... The inventors and the outsiders that changed the American songbook. Hard work was always instilled in us. What shaped America didn't come from the spotlight. It came from diners, basements, boardwalks, union halls. It came from just outside of it. This is Jersey Made. Like Bruce Springsteen says, you know, like, I learned more from a three-minute record baby than I ever learned in school. A Buzz Night Media Productions original series.
Speaker 1: New jersey sits in the shadow of something bigger.
00:00:06
Speaker 2: A lot of new jersey music i love has a lot of hope and it might be about getting out but uh it's about reaching for something.
00:00:12
Speaker 1: Close enough to see it far enough to have to fight for.
00:00:16
Speaker 3: It located between the metropolis of manhattan and philadelphia is the state of new jersey some will say it's a state of mind Others will say it's.
00:00:25
Speaker 1: A mythical place. So you figure it out.
00:00:27
Speaker 3: Between the ages of 14 and 17 or 18, those were some of the deepest learning years of my life.
00:00:36
Speaker 1: You play anywhere. You learn fast. You build something of your own. We're going to play whatever we want. Now, no one had ever done that before in New Jersey. And we started a scene. From the street corners to the shore clubs to the world stage. And when it comes together, Jersey has that vibe, you know, all cool, but just kind of a little bit off. It doesn't sound like anywhere else. We were outcasts, but we had the freedom to be ourselves. That's Jersey. I'm Buzz Knight, host of the Taking a Walk podcast and host of Jersey Made. And this is the story of how one small state helped shape the sound of America. From Buzz Night Media Productions comes a new series about the outsiders, the rule breakers, and the people who changed American music forever.
00:01:26
Speaker 2: In Camden, New Jersey in 1896, Emile Berliner and Eldridge Johnson founded the modern music and home entertainment industry out of this little garage when they invented and developed the turntable and disc record.
00:01:38
Speaker 1: For the first time in history, music wasn't just something you heard. It was something you could bring home, play again, keep forever. And everything changed. Cosmic Thing was really written to heal ourselves, but magically it healed a lot of other people who heard it. And then the music starts changing culture.
00:01:57
Speaker 3: Basie also inspired other musicians because he was the first African American to win a Grammy.
00:02:02
Speaker 1: A kid from Hoboken uses his fame to challenge the culture around him.
00:02:07
Speaker 3: The greatest fuel for the fire is somebody telling you no. It's the day that they tell you, yeah, yeah, yeah, you're wonderful, that you become the fat Elvis.
00:02:14
Speaker 1: And Didn't see a future in rap, but Sylvia Robinson did. When Sugarhill Records came out, they owned all of rap. Rock, jazz, hip-hop, risk-takers, rule-breakers. Different sounds, same story. We never tried to be anybody else but who we were. Because in New Jersey, being overlooked isn't a weakness. It's the spark. This is the story of the players, the producers... The inventors and the outsiders that changed the American songbook. Hard work was always instilled in us. What shaped America didn't come from the spotlight. It came from diners, basements, boardwalks, union halls. It came from just outside of it. This is Jersey Made. Like Bruce Springsteen says, you know, like, I learned more from a three-minute record baby than I ever learned in school. A Buzz Night Media Productions original series.
