Thomas Robert Ardolino (January 12, 1955 – January 6, 2012) was an American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

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 ...

best known as a member of

NRBQ NRBQ is an American rock band founded by Terry Adams (piano), Steve Ferguson (guitar) and Joey Spampinato (bass). Originally the "New Rhythm and Blues Quintet", the group was formed circa 1965. Adams disbanded it for a time, and the group re ...

(New Rhythm and Blues Quartet).

Biography

Tom Ardolino was born and raised in

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is the most populous city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, and its county seat. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ea ...

. A fan of the band, he began corresponding and trading tapes with keyboardist and co-founder Terry Adams. This led to him meeting and befriending the band. At one live show at the Rusty Nail in

Sunderland, Massachusetts Sunderland is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States, part of the Pioneer Valley. The population was 3,663 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. Sunderland was first ...

, when original NRBQ drummer Tom Staley did not return for an encore, Adams invited Ardolino to fill in. He performed well enough that when Staley left the band in 1974, his bandmates agreed that Ardolino was the natural choice as successor. Ardolino remained in the lineup until the band went on hiatus in 2004, returning for occasional performances with Adams, and contributing to solo recordings by Adams (''Rhythm Spell'' and ''Holy Tweet''), by NRBQ (''Keep This Love Going'' and ''We Travel the Spaceways'') and others (see Selected Discography). While

lead vocal The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

s were generally performed by other members of NRBQ, live shows often included a moment where Ardolino would take the spotlight and sing, either with a

karaoke is a type of interactive entertainment system usually offered in nightclubs and bars, where people sing along to pre-recorded accompaniment using a microphone. Its musical content is an instrumental rendition of a well-known popular song. I ...

backing track A backing track is an audio recording on audiotape, CD or a digital recording medium or a MIDI recording of synthesized instruments, sometimes of purely rhythmic accompaniment, often of a rhythm section or other accompaniment parts that live m ...

or with one of the other band members drumming. Ardolino's solo album ''Unknown Brain'' was released in 2004 on CD by Bumble Bee Records, Japan and on vinyl LP in the USA on Mystra Records. The album consists mostly of basement recordings made in 1971–72. The cover states "WARNING: If out-of-tuneness bothers you, do not listen." He was also an avid collector of song poems, and initiated the "MSR Madness" series of compilations. Ardolino appeared in a

promotional video In video production, a promotional video is marketing or advertising: Arts, media and entertainment * Promotional recording, an audio or video recording distributed to publicize a recording * Trailer (promotion), a commercial advertisement for a ...

to campaign for the world premiere of ''

The Simpsons Movie ''The Simpsons Movie'' is a 2007 American Animation, animated comedy film based on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' created by Matt Groening. The film was directed by series veteran David Silverman (animator) ...

'' in his hometown of Springfield. Tom Ardolino died on January 6, 2012, at a Springfield, Massachusetts, hospital; this was reported on the NRBQ Headquarters page on Facebook. A later article from the ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' specified the cause as

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

Selected discography

*''All Hopped Up'' ( Red Rooster Records) 1978 *'' At Yankee Stadium'' (

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...

) 1978 *''Kick Me Hard'' ( Red Rooster Records) 1979 *''Tiddlywinks'' ( Red Rooster Records) 1980 *''NRBQ in Person!'' ( Red Rooster Records) 1982 *''Grooves in Orbit'' ( Bearsville Records) 1983 *'' Tapdancin' Bats'' ( Red Rooster Records) 1983 *''She Sings, They Play'' ( Red Rooster Records) 1985, with

Skeeter Davis Skeeter Davis (born Mary Frances Penick; December 30, 1931September 19, 2004) was an American country music singer and songwriter who sang crossover pop music songs including 1962's " The End of the World". She started out as part of the Davis ...

*''Christmas Wish'' (

Rounder Records Rounder Records is an independent record label founded in 1970 in Somerville, Massachusetts, by Marian Leighton Levy, Ken Irwin, and Bill Nowlin. Focused on American roots music, Rounder's catalogue of more than 3000 titles includes records by A ...

) 1985 *''Lou & the Q'' ( Red Rooster Records) 1986, with

Lou Albano Louis Vincent Albano (July 29, 1933 – October 14, 2009) was an Italian-American professional wrestler, manager and actor, who performed under the ring/stage name "Captain" Lou Albano. He was active as a professional wrestler from 1953 until 1 ...

*''Uncommon Denominators'' (

) 1986 *''God Bless Us All'' (

) 1987 *''Through the Eyes of a Quartet'' ( Demon Music Group) 1987 *''Diggin' Uncle Q'' (

) 1988 *''Truth or Consequences'' (Amigo-Sweden) 1988 *''Wild Weekend'' (

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

) 1989 *''Peek-A-Boo, The Best of NRBQ 1969-89'' (

Rhino Entertainment Rhino Entertainment Company (formerly Rhino Records Inc.) is an American specialty record label and production company founded in 1978. It is currently the catalog division for Warner Music Group. Its current CEO is Mark Pinkus. History Founded ...

) 1990 *''Honest Dollar'' (

Rykodisc Rykodisc is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, operating as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance. History Claiming to be the first CD-only independent record label ...

) 1992 *''Stormalong'' (Rabbit Ears/BMG Kidz) 1992, with

John Candy John Franklin Candy (October 31, 1950 – March 4, 1994) was a Canadian actor and comedian who is best known for his work in Hollywood (film industry), Hollywood films. Candy first rose to national prominence in the 1970s as a member of the Tor ...

*''Message for the Mess Age'' (

) 1992 *''Tokyo'' (Dreamsville – Japan) 1996 *''Christmas Wish'' (Big Notes) 1996 *''Tokyo'' (

) 1997 *''You're Nice People, You Are'' (

) 1997 *''You Gotta Be Loose'' (

) 1997 *''NRBQ'' (

) 1999 *''Ridin' in My Car'' (

) 1999 *''Christmas Wish – Extended Edition'' (Dreamsville – Japan) 2000 *''Atsa My Band'' (Edisun) 2002 *''Music's Been Good to You'' (Edisun) 2007 *''Live from Mountain Stage'' (Blue Plate) 2002 *''Live at the Wax Museum'' (Edisun) 2003, with

John Sebastian John Benson Sebastian (born March 17, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter and musician who founded the rock band the Lovin' Spoonful in 1964 with Zal Yanovsky. During his time in the Lovin Spoonful, Sebastian wrote and sang some of the ban ...

*''Transmissions'' (Caraway-Japan) 2004 *''Froggy's Favorites'' (Clang) 2006 *''Christmas Wish – Deluxe Edition'' (Clang!) 2007 *''Keep This Love Going'' (Clang!) 2011 *''We Travel the Spaceways'' (Clang!) 2012 With Terry Adams *''Terrible'' (

New World Records New World Records is a record label that was established in 1975 through a Rockefeller Foundation grant to celebrate America's bicentennial (1976) by producing a 100-LP anthology, with American music from many genres.Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the ...

) 1991 With Hot Shots *''Teen Street'' (Clang! – US and Vivid Sound Corporation - Japan) 2008 With Neanderthals *''The Modern Stone-Age Family'' (

Sundazed Music Sundazed Music is an American independent record label founded and based in Coxsackie, New York. It was initially known as a '60s-centric surf, garage, and psych label. Over time with the additions of imprints such as Modern Harmonic, American ...

) 1999 With Jim Stephanson *''Say Go'' (Clang!) 2010 With Instant Cytron *''Little Gang Of The Universe'' (Dreamsville Records) 2000 Solo: *''Unknown Brain'' (Bumblebee Records) 2004 As Producer/Presenter *''The Beat of the Traps: MSR Madness Vol 1'' (Carnage Press) 1992 *''The Makers of Smooth Music: MSR Madness Vol 2'' (Carnage Press) 2007 *''Off The Charts: The Song Poem Story'' Various artists (Red Rock Records - film soundtrack)

Video/Film/TV

*''Derbytown'' (Recorded Live in Louisville, 1982, MVD Visual) *''One in a Million'' (Recorded Live in Montreal, 1989, MVD Visual) *''Saturday Night with Connie Chung'' (band profile, CBS, 1989) *''Complex World'', (director Jim Wolpaw, 1992) *'' Take My Wife, Sleaze'', episode 234 of

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

, first broadcast November 28, 1999 *''Off the Charts: The Song Poem Story'' (director Jamie Meltzer, 2003) *''NRBQ: Rock & Roll's Best-Kept Secret'' (produced by

Mike Scully Michael C. Scully (born October 2, 1956) is an American television writer and producer. He is known for his work as executive producer and showrunner of the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' from 1997 to 2001. Scully grew up in West Springfield, ...

and Julie Thacker), first broadcast on

A&E (TV channel) A&E (an initialism of its original name, the Arts & Entertainment Network) is an American cable and satellite television network and the flagship property of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Walt Disney Company ...

's Breakfast with the Arts on January 26, 2003 *''Live in Performance'' (SRO Entertainment, 2006)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ardolino, Tom 1955 births 2012 deaths Musicians from Springfield, Massachusetts American rock drummers NRBQ members The Minus 5 members American male drummers Drummers from Massachusetts