Freestyle music revival draws nostalgic Long Islanders to dance events

At 9 p.m. on a breezy Thursday at The Boat Yard at Tobay Beach, the dance floor is packed with 40- and 50-somethings grooving to the freestyle music that was the soundtrack to their teens and 20s. As DJ Tommy Nappi spins, and they anticipate a live performance by Alisha ("All Night Passion"; "Baby Talk"), they dance, drink, laugh and meet new people, just like they did in the clubs in the late '80s, before cellphones and internet dating.

To some, freestyle music is a mysterious, somewhat ill-defined blip on the global dance radar, a brief New York-based Latin-inflected hip-hop electronic dance interlude between the dramatic death of disco and the dance-pop tsunami.

But to thousands of Long Islanders, many of whom, like freestyle itself, migrated from the boroughs, the music feels as fresh now as when they were sneaking into the clubs.

"It’s something that makes you move; it makes you feel good," says Despina Manitaras, 58, a former Queens resident now living in North Massapequa. "You feel the words and they resonate with your life. When I want to be in a good mood, I throw it on."

Her friend Gina Johnson, 55, a Brooklyn transplant to Massapequa, agrees. The sweet yearning in the lyrics takes her back. "Freestyle is all about love and heartbreak; as a teenager you are into all that, so it hits home," she says. "And it’s still a good vibe; at a concert, it’s always love, everybody dancing with each other and everyone knows all the words."

REVIVAL OF FREESTYLE

Freestyle’s second wind blew into Long Island in 2012 when concert promoter Brian Rosenberg and his longtime collaborator, Sal Abbatiello, who were instrumental in the first surge of freestyle in tristate area clubs in the '80s, noted the continuing strength of the audience at clubs like Copacabana and at WKTU’s Beat Stock at Jones Beach. The artists were still in the tristate area, and eager to keep performing for their fans. While some were making new music, the fans were really hungry for the old-school tracks.

Rosenberg put together some of freestyle’s most popular acts for a reunion concert called Louder than Love at Flagstar at Westbury Music Fair in 2012. "Boom; it sold out," Rosenberg says. "It showed that people really love it and proved that if you give them a lot of artists at a decent price, they will come."

The 13th edition of the annual ensemble extravaganza show Monsters of Freestyle, will take place on Nov. 1, featuring headliners TKA ("Maria"; "Tears May Fall") and Shannon ("Let the Music Play"; "Give Me Tonight") at Flagstar at Westbury Music Fair. The 14th edition of Louder Than Love is scheduled for  April 11, also at Westbury.

BONDING THROUGH MUSIC 

In addition, a steady circuit of smaller shows, some with DJs and cover band Forever Freestyle, keep fans pumped up all year long.

For example, in August, David Torres ("Diamond Girl"); Abbatiello’s own girl band, The Cover Girls ("Show Me"; "Wishing on a Star"), and George LaMond ("Bad of the Heart") performed at Dublin Deck in Patchogue, drawing a diverse crowd of freestyle fanatics like married couple Frank and Maria Romano, 56 and 53, respectively, of East Meadow, who met in Queens at a freestyle event in the '80s, and Maribel Goldstein, 58, of Bay Shore, revisiting her youth. "It brings me back to when I was always in the clubs, when life was good to me," she says.

Mike Iadanza, 53, of Moriches, came as a birthday present to himself and his twin. They brought a crowd, including the kids. "We listen to the kids’ music all day every day," he says. "So I asked 30 or 40 people to come out and listen to my music for my birthday. And they came."

Iadenza’s daughter, Bella Iadenza, 25, took it well. "It’s good," she says. "I don’t know any of the words, but it’s good."

A crucial element of the enduring success of live freestyle performances is the artists themselves. "People feel a bond with the artists because they grew up with them; we are a community, " Brian Rosenberg says. "You can’t go to a Steven Tyler (of stadium rock band Aerosmith) show and hug him at the end. But you can take a selfie with George LaMond. You can still see the original artists perform in intimate settings and speak to them."

Another element is timing. Freestyle aficionados used to arrive at the club at 10 p.m. and dance until dawn, but 40 years later, shows start at 7 p.m. and wrap up well before midnight.

As Manitaras puts it: "Freestyle nights are perfect; I get out, have fun with my friends, and still make it home early enough to wind down with Netflix and tea."