Dino Danelli (born Robert Daniel; July 23, 1944 – December 15, 2022) was an American

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

. Danelli was best known as an original member and the drummer in the rock group

the Young Rascals ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

. He has been called "one of the great unappreciated rock drummers in history". He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 with the (Young) Rascals. After the Rascals split up in 1972, Danelli formed the group Bulldog. Soon after, he and former Rascal Gene Cornish formed the band

Fotomaker Fotomaker was a power pop group from Long Island, NY, Long Island, New York who released three albums between 1978 and 1979. History The band was formed in 1977 by bassist Gene Cornish and drummer Dino Danelli, former members of The Rascals (a ...

with

Wally Bryson Wallace Carter Bryson (born July 18, 1949) is an American guitarist, best remembered for his time with the Power pop, power-pop group Raspberries (band), Raspberries, famous for their hit "Go All the Way (song), Go All The Way". After the Raspbe ...

of Raspberries. Danelli died on December 15, 2022.

Early life

Danelli was born Robert Daniel to father Steven Daniel and mother Teresa Bottinelli in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

, Danelli was a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

drummer by training. He had played with

Lionel Hampton Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, percussionist, and bandleader. He worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, an ...

and, by 1961, was playing R&B in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. He returned to New York in 1962 with a band called Ronnie Speeks & the Elrods. He also worked at times with such legendary performers as Little Willie John. Danelli met Eddie Brigati (a pickup singer on the local R&B circuit), and

Felix Cavaliere Felix Cavaliere (born November 29, 1942) is an American musician. He is best known for being the co-lead vocalist and keyboard player for The Young Rascals. Although he was a member of Joey Dee and the Starliters, known for their hit " Pepperm ...

(a classically trained pianist) in 1963. Later that year, Danelli and Cavaliere traveled to

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

to try their luck with a casino house band. They remained there until early 1964, but then returned to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

The Rascals

In late 1964, Danelli teamed with Cavaliere, Brigati, and a Canadian-born guitarist named Gene Cornish to form the Young Rascals. Cavaliere and Danelli traveled to Las Vegas in January 1963–1964 to back up singer Sandu Scott and her Scottys, but returned to NYC in February 1964. That month they debuted with the Young Rascals at the Choo Choo Club in Garfield, New Jersey. In addition to playing drums (before Cavaliere and Brigati began composing original music), Danelli and Cavaliere often scouted new repertory that the group could perform. In a 1988 interview, he cited their trips to record stores as yielding such songs as " Mustang Sally" and " Good Lovin'." He was with the Rascals for seven years (1965–1972) and performed on three No. 1 hits. After performing with Cavaliere and Cornish at the Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary concert on 14 May 1988, there was a short-lived Rascals reunion tour later that year without Brigati. All four original members came together to perform at their induction to the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

in 1997 and then once again on 24 April 2010, for the Kristen Ann Carr Fund dinner at the Tribeca Grill in

Tribeca Tribeca ( ), originally written as TriBeCa, is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. Its name is a syllabic abbreviation of "Triangle Below Canal Street". The "triangle" (more accurately a quadrilateral) is bounded by Canal Str ...

. He reunited with his bandmates. The Rascals appeared at the Capitol Theatre in

Port Chester, New York Port Chester is a administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the largest part of the town of Rye (town), New York, Rye in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County by populati ...

, for six shows in December 2012 and for fifteen dates at the Richard Rogers Theatre on Broadway (April 15 – May 5, 2013). Their production, entitled 'Once Upon A Dream', toured North America (Toronto, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, Chicago, Detroit, Rochester, and New York City).

Bulldog and after

Along with Cornish, Danelli formed the group Bulldog in 1972 and they produced two albums and the single " No" before disbanding in 1975. Danelli joined the

Leslie West Leslie Abel West (born Weinstein; October 22, 1945 – December 23, 2020) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was the co-founder, guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the rock band Mountain. West was named the 245th greatest guit ...

Band for a short time along with bassist Busta Jones. Danelli and Cornish then joined the group

in 1978 (initially with ex-Raspberries member Wally Bryson). By 1980, Danelli joined

Steven Van Zandt Steven Van Zandt (né Lento; born November 22, 1950), also known as Little Steven or Miami Steve, is an American musician and actor. He is a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, in which he plays guitar and mandolin. He has appeared i ...

as a member of Little Steven & The Disciples of Soul. In 1999, Danelli produced a series of tracks for New York singer-songwriter Roxanne Fontana, which were released as an album entitled ''Love Is Blue'' on Etoile Records. He was also a visual artist, and designed album covers for The Rascals and Little Steven & the Disciples of Soul.

Death

Danelli died at age 78 from

coronary artery disease Coronary artery disease (CAD), also called coronary heart disease (CHD), or ischemic heart disease (IHD), is a type of cardiovascular disease, heart disease involving Ischemia, the reduction of blood flow to the cardiac muscle due to a build-up ...

and

congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF typically pr ...

on December 15, 2022, at a rehabilitation facility in Manhattan after a period of declining health. A tribute concert was held in May 2023.

References

External links

The Rascals Appreciation Site

Dino Danelli's Rascals

Dino Danelli Art
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Danelli, Dino 1944 births 2022 deaths American rock drummers Musicians from Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey Shore musicians The Rascals members American people of Italian descent 20th-century American drummers American male drummers 20th-century American male musicians Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul members Drummers from New Jersey Deaths from coronary artery disease Deaths from congestive heart failure in the United States