*A street in New Jersey will be renamed after The Isley Brothers this summer.
Per WHUR, Teaneck Street in New Jersey was the home to Ron and Rudolph Isley and was the namesake for their record label, “T-Neck Records.” On June 24, the street will be renamed after the Rock & Roll Hall of Famers.
“It’s a great big wow for this to happen,” Ernie Isley said. “It’s really humbling and really wonderful.”
The naming ceremony is set for June 24th at 2 PM. Teaneck Street will be renamed, “The Isley Brothers Way.”
It was the group’s song “Shout!”, performed by the Deltas in the 1978 hit film “Animal House” that sparked the street-naming project.
“I was watching TV and the movie ‘Animal House’ was on,” said resident Ira Buckman, an Orthodox Jew. “I’ve seen ‘Animal House’ an umpteen number of times. The highlight is the toga party scene — and the highlight of the toga party scene is when the band plays ‘Shout!’ Two thoughts occurred to me. I knew ‘Shout! was by the Isley Brothers. And I knew the Isley Brothers were from Teaneck. Wouldn’t it be nice to name a street in their honor?”
He added, “The fact that the idea happened to come to me might be seen as an interesting oddity. I think it speaks to Teaneck’s diversity.”
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In August 2019, Buckman presented the idea to the Township Council.
“I always feel that the best way to make a point is the most effective way possible,” he said. “Instead of just telling the council members about the Isley Brothers, about how great they are, I went to YouTube on my phone, got the video for ‘Shout!’ and I just put my phone up to the microphone. And I was able to demonstrate the joy of the music. Usually town council meetings are pretty boring, bland. This was electrifying. I got a lot of compliments doing it.”
After the council approved the proposal, Buckman set out to determine which street should be named after the R&B icons. He created a Facebook group, through which he received feedback from two neighbors of Ron’s from back in the day, Connie Robertson and Kim McClow Stewart.
“I grew up with Ron Isley,” said Stewart. “He had four children, and in my household my parents had two children. I went to his house almost every day, and my parents would entertain his family. We used to swim in his pool every summer. Mr. Isley taught my younger sister how to swim.”
Stewart is still close to the Isleys and she said they are just as thrilled as she is about renaming the street.
“It’s an exciting thing. I embraced it immediately,” Stewart said. “Whenever I mention Teaneck, wherever I go, I say ‘Teaneck’ and people say, ‘That’s the Isley Brothers’ town,’ ” Stewart said.
Current group members Ron and Ernie Isley are expected to attend the renaming ceremony in June.
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