The School of Temptations
The first summer that I had a house at the New Jersey shore was the summer of 1999. Memorial Day Weekend 1999 came and I headed for Belmar. There I experienced a good time at DiJai's for all of Friday. Saturday came and the older people in my house mentioned going to Seaside Heights on a party bus to Temptations. I said "why the hell are we going to go to Seaside when we got a house in Belmar, what is so great about this club called Tempts?" I just didn't understand nor did the other first time shore guys in the house. The older guys said "it is just a crazy, great time, you gotta go."
So I went....
I arrived into a line that rounded the block. The girls on the line were amazingly beautiful and the guys were massive. I was intimidated. I was scared. I eventually got in to Tempts that night. I walked through the door and ended up planted against the wall at the top right bar. There I stood in a corner and I couldn't really move. I just didn't know how to deal with the crowd. They were never rough or nasty to me, they were just different. My mobility was limited but my ears were wide open. I listened to the music, and listened to the music, and listened to the music......
The charging sound in "Kiss." "Don't make this one intellectual, the way I feel is sexual." "This is the police, come out with your hands up." "Your love is my love, and my love is your love. It would take an eternity to break us, and the chains of Amistad couldn't hold us." Those were the words that went through my head over and over for the next week. The second weekend of summer came. Although I was still not one with the crowd, I decided to take another chance at Tempts that Saturday. We got into the party bus again and went back to Temptations for round two. This time I had a better idea of how to dress and stuff like that. Throughout the summer I went to Tempts several more times. I enjoyed it but still didn't completely get the feeling.
The end of the summer of 1999 came, closing to "The Soul Shaker." I had been Tempts de-virginized. Even though I did not attend most weekends, my freshman year was complete.
The summer of 2000 was much different. I went to Tempts a little bit more prepared. I found myself fitting in to a corner with other second year "sophomore" friends. We weren't known faces, nor did we take the whole section, but we were accepted. I went to Tempts 90% of the weekends. The only problem was that I was still in Belmar and had to travel back and forth. It was a great summer, closing with "1975." The water bottles were flying and the crowd chanting. I felt at home for the first time.
The first two years of Tempts are like the first two years of high school. You are new the first year, yet by the end of the second year you just start to fit in.
The summer of 2001 was a different story all together. I had gotten a house in Seaside and didn't care to see Belmar once. The house was directly across the street from Tempts on Blaine. I could now walk into Tempts on a Saturday night to an entire section of friends. We know the bartender, the people here and there and everywhere. There was no doubt in my mind that I would go to Tempts every Saturday. I did just that. Then came a new factor...Sunday. Everyone knows how great the Surf Club is on Sunday. I went there often in 2001. What I didn't expect was to end up at Tempts 75% of the Sundays in the summer of 2001. Sunday is a great night at Tempts. It is a night that is more for the Tempts seniors. In my case the Tempts juniors. The summer of 2001 was great and ended with "And now Temptations, I leave you with Sweet Dreams." -Denny Tsettos
The last line that Denny spoke in the summer of 2001, left all of us Tempts lovers with sweet dreams. We spent all fall and winter and some of spring with the dreams of returning to Tempts for the summer of 2002. Now the summer of 2002 is here. Some of my friends and I are now Tempts seniors. We take up a whole section and have friends all over Tempts. We walk around not intimidated or scared. We enjoy the tightness, the energy, the music and the style. I am a senior that never wants to graduate.
When this weekend arrives and Denny Revisits Summer's Past, each song will bring back that feeling of the magical summer that took place. "My love is your love", brings tears to my eyes because it reminds me of the first time I stepped foot in Tempts. As I listen to songs of the past summers, I will re-live the great memories. This week remember how great every summer has been. Feel the music and let it take you back. Make the summer of 2002 a memorable one. Don't cheat yourself of valuable memories. Live it up, party like a rockstar. Don't miss a weekend. There are no excuses. ~Moo