I started playing guitar when I was about eleven years old. My Dad thought that I was beginning to hang around with the wrong crowd, so he encouraged me to take up an instrument. I chose the guitar out of my other possible choices of accordion or piano. Apparently drums was a definite no no. Once I began taking lessons, I never had to be told to practice. This become my teaching philosophy when I began to teach others to play. If they had to be motivated to practice, then chances were good they weren't interested enough in the instrument to become accomplished with it. I took lessons at Benson's Studio of Music, owned and operated by the late Bernie Benson. My guitar teacher was Sam Messina. He was an excellent teacher and I become his protégé'. I was always slated to do the toughest songs at recitals. I would take lessons on a Saturday morning, and when he was through with the balance of his pupils, he would stop over at the house for coffee and we would sit around strumming. One day I walked in to take my lesson, and there was a substitute. He said Sam was no longer teaching. Totally in shock I called Sam up and he told me that he was at a point with me where I was beginning to teach him things. It was time for me to move on to someone else. So, I gave this new teacher a shot. It didn't work out. Though I could have learned much from this man, the fact that he was insistent on the placement of my thumb turned me off to his teaching and I ended my lessons at that point.
The Gents:
Prior to my first real band experience I was jamming with a young sax player
while still in high school. He wasn't very good but at least it was someone to
jam with. Then one day an old friend of mine from my elementary school days,
Dave Key, called me up and when he found out I played guitar he told me he
played drums and had a couple guitar playing brothers that lived on his street
and wanted me to stop down and jam. One was to be a bass player but hadn't got
his bass yet and the other was a rhythm player. As I didn't have a car, they
picked me up at my house and I was introduced to John and Bob Wysocky. Well the
first jam hit iff quite well, even woth Bob playing a strat instead of a bass.
Once he got the bass though, it sounded even better. Well to make a long story
short, the band got better and we played Edison Tech assemblies and the Edison
tech Follies. I was friends with all the upper class at Tech. My parents and the
Wysocky parents fully supported the band, carting us around to places like
Hornell to perform. I remember getting all kinds of letters from the a few girls
from Hornell ( what a trip) and actually dated one for some time.I still
remember her name, Faith. I can't remember how, why or when we stopped
performing together. I do know that Dave tried out for another band.
Interestingly enough John got back in touch with me and shared the picture of us
back then. He also told me Dave had passed away of cancer. John , Bob and I
still remain in touch with each other.
The Last Rites:
I believe my next encounter with music happened later in High School when a
classmate of mine, Karl LaPorta mentioned he played the Piano and that his Dad
was a Piano teacher. I can't remember how we got the band together but we wound
up with Tom Romeo and Joe Balcerak on bass guitar and Karl's cousin Gary LaPorta
on lead vocals. We first started out in a garage. Things didn't work and and Tom
and Joe were replaced by Carlos falcon and Joe Altobelli. Karl's other cousin
Pat Matroniano and Steve Czubara were the band's roadies. We began practicing at
Gary's house and soon his Dad (Henry) and Karl's Dad (Joe) gained a huge
interest in the band. We named ourselves "The Last Rites" and wore monk's robes
as a gimmick (http://sweet-lou.com/last.htm) . The robes
didn't last too long. The era was around the Hullabaloo time and we performed at
the Rochester Hullabaloo club. We played high schools, including Edison Tech,
parties, and functions. We became the U of R's top requested band and played
Frat parties (Beer blasts) just about every weekend. Henry and Joe were the
bands managers, and my Dad kept our van in good shape for all those out of town
gigs. We also played RIT frat parties, Bristol Mountain Ski Lodge and we were
voted Rochester's top band in Action Magazine. The band was so good, Wilmer
Alexander of Wilmer and the Dukes stopped by and told us he had gone to all the
frat house and we were the best band he heard. He asked to sit in and he did
"Soul Man" with us and at almost one AM in the morning, everyone came alive
again. These were such good times of friendships, music, girlfriends and being a
part of something very good. As always time makes problems I eventually left the
band at about the same time my parents bought their home in Gates. I was working
full time and I thought my life was heading in a different direction. I got
married and moved to Greece, Karl got married, and I lost touch with all of them
until Karl bought a house next to my parents. At some point in time we were
destined to get together again, later in this story you will find that out.
Fever:
Fever was originally founded in 1973. The first Fever group consisted of three
neighborhood guys from Gates, NY, (Randy Wolf - drums, Mark Malvaso - rhythm
guitar, and Charlie Tripani - lead guitar). Mark and Charlie left Fever around
1976. Mark was off to college and Charlie wanted to go off on a cross country
road trip to explore the US. John & Randy, not wanting to disappoint the many
Fever followers and to continue the group’s success, began to look for new
members.
My part in it all began when Randy, who worked alongside my neighbor Ted,
mentioned he had a band and needed a lead guitarist. Ted piped up and said, "hey
my neighbor plays guitar, I heard him". Randy called me up one night and I told him I
would audition for them in Chili. When the audition night came, I really didn't like
driving all the way back out to Chili from Victor so I begged off and told him I
decided I wasn't interested. A couple of weeks later John, Randy and their
respective girlfriends knocked on my door and said something like this; "well,
you won't come to our place to audition, so here we are". At that point I was in
one of my guitar / band retirement phases. I had had a few of those up to that
time in my life. I really wasn't interested in getting back in the biz. I
was working full time in downtown Rochester as a instrumentation designer but the
seed was planted at that point. After playing the intro and guitar sections to
Johnny B. Goode, and enjoying a round of coffee and conversation, I passed the
audition with flying colors and was now a member of the group. Practice began
out in the Chili and Gates areas of Rochester. This was a bitch since my
family was living in Victor, NY, about 50 miles away. Fever at this point was a
three person band with John on bass and lead vocals, Randy on drums, and me on
lead guitar. We needed a fourth to round out the group. One day I showed up a
bit late for practice. Playing an orange Gretsch guitar, Fever welcomed Neil
Ross! Neil became the fourth Fever member adding his huge knowledge of unique
chords and rhythm and harmonies to the band. Unbelievably, no one can quite
remember how Danny Liposhak came along. But I believe since I knew him at Edison
Tech, I invited him to our last rehearsal before our first big gig. He performed
for that gig and never missed a beat, or should we say a note on his sax. Danny
added so much to the band rounding out our unique sound. He was a quiet
person, but when he donned that sax, it was all pure sound not to mention his joking around
brought people to their knees.
Fever performed at bars such the Ugly Mug in Chili, Dudley DoRite's in
Rochester, and The Landing in Fairport, and in the Geneva, Bristol, and Conesus
areas. Performing out in Farmington one night at the Barn, I saved Johnny's life by catching
him before he fell backward off a railing three floors down to the concrete parking lot. Sitting on the
railing outside, he leaner too far back and couldn't catch his balance. I
instinctively grabbed him and pulled him forward. I guessed that I didn't
want to play the rest of the evening without him. Everyone in the band got along
very well and I think over time we just drifted apart and the band broke up as
most bands do. As I remember, Neil was first to leave as he became a police
officer in Buffalo NY and had to go out of town to train. We couldn't find anyone to replace
him with the same charisma and so the band drifted apart. I went on to perform
in what was to become Rochester's top group in 1979, VEGAS. All Fever members
are looking forward to our October reunions; we hope that you can join us too. I
still have contact with Neil, John, Danny and Randy.
Vegas:
The original Vegas had 5 members in it and became Rochester's number one band
for over three years. The original members besides myself were
Lex Byers, vocals, Rich Fiordeliso - keyboards,
Chris Defazio - bass, and Nick Russo- drums. This
group had waiting lines outside the clubs to watch us perform. We performed 3
sets each night. The first two sets were devoted to current music, and the last
set was devoted to a special 60's performer. Our tribute sets included The
Rascals, Three Dog Night, Jay and the Americans, and of course, the Beatles.
Along with the featured set, we played classics from Grand Funk, Gene Pitney,
the Righteous Brothers, the list goes on and on. We also performed a 50's show
towards the end of Rich's and my tenure. This show was funny in all respects.
Never quite polishing the songs as we should have, we spent more time doing
slapstick humor with alias names and delinquent behavior. What made us popular
was not just the music, but our charisma both onstage and off. We never held
ourselves higher than the audience. We were always a part of the audience even
while we were performing. Vegas was formed by a Kodak contract employee who
continually hounded me to play guitar for him. Currently on a musical "break"
from Fever, I was quite satisfied just living my life as a non musician with my
family. But this guy wouldn't let up. I won't mention his name here because I do
not want to say anything bad about anyone. Life is too short for that. However
after weeks and weeks of his harping I finally called his bluff. He had already
recruited Rich on organ, even though this guy said he played organ. That was a
lie, and I guess I should have realized what he was then. He actually put all
the members of Vegas together minus Lex. He was to be the singer. He bought all
this new fancy equipment. But when came the day of our first practice. He
COULDN'T sing! But damn, the music sounded great. We even impressed the wives
that came down for the practice. To make a long story short, we, as the real
musicians, had to let this guy go. It wasn't an easy job... for no one really
likes to hurt someone else (yeah right!) . He had done a lot of work in bringing
us together, but with him as a singer, we weren't going anywhere but the
basement. He was canned, and Lex, a singer who Rich had gigged with many times
before, was brought down. And so..... it went from there. After our debut,
within two weeks, you couldn't even get into the club. We had all the works,
spotlight, roadies, light show, etc. The band was number one in Rochester for
three years straight. Rich and I left Vegas in 1982. It had come to the point
where Lex, Chris and Nick wanted to go on the road, and Rich and I didn't. We
both worked at Kodak and were bringing home a good paycheck. By that time I was
pretty well burned out. Playing six nights a week, going through a separation
and working fifty hours a week in the Engineering dept at Eastman Kodak finally
took it's toll. Rich and I resigned from the group. This was akin to a divorce
of type. Rich and I spent many moments together reflecting back on the toll the
band took on us, and where we stood now we no longer were a part of Vegas.
Things had changed immensely for me at this point. I was separated, close to
losing my job, and very close to a nervous breakdown. But Rich and I never lost
touch with each other. We had become close friends as we still continue to be.
We still perform together as he and nick are members in Three's Company.
Cover Story:
Park Avenue was a group that got together right after I left Vegas. The group
was me on lead Guitar and vocals, Joe Polizzi on vocals, Joe Pelliccia on bass
and vocals, Kevin Knapp on keys guitar and vocals, and Mike Giugno on percussion
and vocals. The band created a practice tape on 5/24/87 which sowed what a lick
ass group this was. You can listen to the practice session here complete with
talking, etc cover Story.mp3
Park Ave:
Park Avenue was a group that Kevin Knapp and I put together during the time
period between the original Vegas and Lex Byers & Vegas.The group consisted of
myself on Guitar and vocals, Kevin Knapp on the Hammond and Keys, Guitar and
vocals, Frank Holderfeld on Drums, Shelly Knapp on vocals, and Joe Coleman
on Bass and vocals. I left the group due to internal conflicts. The band had a
lot of potential with four vocalists and excellent musicianship. Kevin and I got
back together again after a short while and put together R*Gang around 1988
which became a very popular and requested band.
Lex Byers and Vegas:
In the mid 1980's timeframe, Lex was putting together a new Vegas. I had
redeemed myself at Kodak and after becoming one of the top CAD operators in the
Facilities engineering group and eventually moving out into Data Communications
Engineering, I felt I could perform with them again as long as it didn't get to
be back to the six nights a week grind. Rich and I both rejoined the group,
which then at it's creation offered besides myself on guitar, Rich Fiordeliso on
keyboards, Randy Wolf on percussion, Mack Kendrick on Bass, Steve Kotzin on
Trombone, Rick Austin on Sax, and Lex Byers of course on vocals. This was the
group that made the studio tape of which I will eventually put on this site. The
group made some changes down the line, replacing Randy with John Pascarella on
drums and vocals, Mack, with Gary Terwilliger on Bass, Doc Davis replacing Steve
Kotzin on Trombone, and adding Jimmy Squirrel on trumpet to round the group out
to an eight piece, dynamic sounding music extravaganza. This cranked for a
couple of years and then a couple of things happened., Lex became the
vocalist in a blues group called the Coupe Devilles. This seemed to create some
mixed feelings within Vegas. We lost Jimmy and replaced him with a beginner. We
Lost John. When it got back to playing five nights a week I then tendered
my resignation, giving the group ample time to replace me. Since he replaced me
with Tom and John C. from his Coup Devilles, he fired Rich. Nice jester on his
part huh? But as Chris would say, that's the Biz. Basically, the Coupes beof my
friends fcame
Vegas and Vegas became the Coupes, performing with either name for a while. Now,
Vegas is just a fleeting memory. Enjoy the clips, it was a great sounding band.
Unfortunately Mack has passed. RIP Mack.
R*Gang:
My last Rochester band before I relocated to Virginia. To read the whole story
click on http://sweet-lou.com/favorite.htm
VIRGINIA:
The Wise Guys:
The band was originally formed as a classic rock band with myself on guitar, Tom
Arbisi on Bass, Ken ( Last Name) on keyboards and Kim Beamer on drums. Then one
day I walked onto practice and Kim had added two more guitarists, and two female
vocalists and now we were doing Country. Good bye. Kim tried hard to get
me back. Wasn't interested.
Sunday's Drive:
Myself, Tom Arbisi, and Joe Hasselvander on drums. Power trio played a few gigs.
Didn't last long.
Glass Onion Band:
Spent twenty years off and on from about 2002 to 2007 with Tom Arbisi on bass and lead vocals
, Tom Ansink and other various people on drums, Eddie Collins on the Hammond C3,
keyboards, and mouth harp. The band was great! Eddy added so much to us. But
then he relocated to Florida for a job ( been there done that) and Jarli Brors
took his place on guitar. Billy Rupprect was iin the band at the end of my stay
with the band just before I relocated back to Rochester. Glass Onion eventually went acoustic with me as a sub, www.glassonionbandva.net
Cover Up:
I performed with Cover Up for about six months. Had some good times. Decided it
wasn't worth the effort of driving 140 miles round trip to make fifty dollars.
We played some great tunes, had a super guitarist and we really rocked the
place. Sadly to say the other guitarist who was the band leader passed
away a few years after I left Virginia. The drummer, bassist, sound man also
passed away.
ROCHESTER:
Coming back to Rochester in 2014 after not playing guitar for a few
months I started a band with Len Colantoni. We named it The Bad Grampas. However
it conflicted with another band I was trying to get in to "The Pop Show Band"
with my long time friend Nick Russo. Neither band worked out and the Grampas
continued without me for quite a few years during which time I was the
bassist for Happy Daze.
I am currently the guitarist in "Three Hits and a Miss" with Nick Russo, Rich
Fiordeliso and Brenda Weber "
Sadly to say I am the only living member of the Virginia band "Cover Up"
My friends from that band sadly have passed away as well as a couple friends
here in Rochester. Covid has pretty much killed the entertainment business. Some
good news, Most of the original members and road crew of the LAST RITES get
together once in a while for a lunch at Rockys. All members except Joe were
present.
This page was last updated on 04/10/2024