Celebrating Rascals Drummer Dino Danelli
By all accounts it was a night to remember. On April 27, in Manhattan’s Cutting Room, friends, family and fans of legendary Rascals drummer Dino Danelli [1944-2022] came together to celebrate the life and music of the first great rock-star Drum Hero. Billed as “An All-Star Tribute To Dino Danelli,” the documentary film Dino Danelli: Second To None was screened. Rascals Eddie Brigati and Gene Cornish were in attendance, as were May Pang and Kiss drummer Peter Criss. (Brigati performed “Groovin’” and “How Can I Be Sure,” two of the biggest Rascals hits.)
Onstage drummers included Joe Russo, Shawn Pelton, Rich Pagano, Corky Laing (Mountain), Dennis Diken (Smithereens), Simon Kirke (Bad Company), Liberty DeVitto (Billy Joel), Steve Jordan (Keith Richards/John Mayer), plus keyboardist Paul Shaffer, The Alessi Brothers, bassist Will Lee, saxophonist Mark Rivera, composer Frankie Vincie (performing Fotomaker’s “Where Have You Been All My Life”), and vocalists Christine “The Beehive Queen” Ohlman, Dennis Collins (Roberta Flack) and Susie Collins. The house band had drummer John Cowsill, keyboardist Benny Harrison, bassist Mark Prentice, guitarists Mike Riddle/Paul Allen with Stefan Arngrim on harmonica. Video tributes poured in from Felix Cavaliere (Rascals), Alice Cooper, Steve Gadd, Joe Vitale, Jim Keltner, Clem Burke (Blondie) and others.
No less a drum legend than Carmine Appice once told this reporter that it was Dino Danelli, with his stick-twirling, his heightened sense of drama, his flair for entertaining and how he would stand up to add flourishes and accentuating bravado to the point where you couldn’t take your eyes off him, that made Dino THE MAN.