“Free tickets to Woodstock and free record albums” were the drive behind Richard Branciforte’s 1969 endeavor to publish the first issue of Good Times Magazine.
He thought it would be a two- or three-year venture.
But 49 years later, Branciforte just published the 1,260th issue of the longest-running locally focused entertainment newspaper in the country and will be inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame on Nov. 8.
His fellow inductees include singer-songwriter Jimmy Webb, Long Island-based rock band Taking Back Sunday and singer-songwriter Melanie, who is known for her songs “Brand New Key” and “What Have They Done to My Song, Ma.”
Branciforte believes he will be the first person from Roslyn ever inducted.
The Long Island Music Hall of Fame opened in 2004 with a mission to preserve Long Island’s rich musical heritage.
Branciforte attributes the continued success of Good Times Magazine to the wealth of local musical talent that the hall of fame wishes to recognize.
In fact, the publication has reviewed all of the soon-to-be hall of famers who are being inducted with him, Branciforte said.
Good Times Magazine was prominent in the 1970s and ’80s for its uncanny tendency to “write stories on up and coming artists before they became superstars,” he said.
The magazine boasts of publishing Elton John’s first U.S. interview and being the second magazine ever to cover Bruce Springsteen.
Good Times Magazine can also take credit for the name of the Allman Brothers Band’s album, “Eat a Peach,” which was titled after a statement made by Duane Allman in an interview with the magazine’s intern at the time, Ellen Mandel.
She asked the guitarist if he was involved with the current peace movement, to which he responded, “I’m hitting a lick for peace. And every time I’m in Georgia, I eat a peach for peace.”
The biweekly magazine is distributed free at 400 locations on Long Island, and each issue contains 450 listings of concerts and events across the island along with an assortment of columns and music reviews.
