Because I have been privileged to have known many well known many rock drummers from the Sixties, I thought I'd share a few stories with you and a little history.

One of my favorite 60's rock drummers has always been Dino Danelli-whose real last name was and perhaps still is-Bottanelli. Dino was born in Jersey City, NJ, and ran away from home in his mid teens. He moved to Manhattan and lived into the dressing rooms above the old Metropole club on Broadway, where he was befriended by the staff, and particularly Gene Krupa and Cozy Cole, both of whom played there regularly. Cozy gathered bits and pieces of a drumset together and gave them to Dino, who got a few pointers from both jazz greats and started gigging around the city. There was plenty of a work for a young drummer back then. Dino sometimes played three to four gigs a day, traveling with his drums on the subway. He eventually moved to New Orleans in the early 60's where he played with an R&B band.

When he returned to NYC, Dino hooked up with Gene Cornish, Eddie Brigati and Felix Cavaliere, all of whom he knew from working the local scene. They formed The Rascals, and the rest is history. After The Rascals ended, Dino played with Fotomaker, Bulldog, Little Steven & The Disciples of Soul, and a ska band called Modo. He continues to work today with The New Rascals, which includes Gene Cornish and keyboard player Bill Pascali, among others, and reunited with all the original Rascals last April for a fundraising gig at Bob DeNiro's restaurant in NYC.

Dino has lived in the same studio apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattant for decades. He used to supplement his income by doing graphic design work, record production and management. Dino is a very private guy, but very likeable. He enjoys going out to clubs in NYC looking for young bands to produce, and has been working on a book about his life in The Rascals for quite a while now. He sent me part of the manuscript of this yet-unpublished book. I hope some publisher picks it up. It's pretty interesting. Lots of tales of sexual exploits with some women who are now famous; actresses, etc.

I always liked Dino's sense of flash and showmanship, as well as his jazz sensibilities, most of which he got from watching Sonny Payne, Count Basie's drummer, as well as Krupa and others.

The first time Dino and I met was in a restaurant in Manhattan. I tried conducting an interview there, but the noise level was too high and it became useless to continue. We hung around talking for a long time, and the waitress started giving us sh** for monopolizing the table for too long.

The next time was in Dino's apartment. He had just had it painted and it looked very stark with everything painted white. "I like that hospital look," Dino said.

Dino and I have kept in touch sporadically over the years.