Sandy Gennaro | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Santo Michael Gennaro |
| Also known as | Sandy Gennaro |
| Born | July 3, 1951 Manhattan, New York, U.S. |
| Instrument(s) | Drums |
| Years active | 1970s–present |
| Formerly of | Blackjack |
Santo Michael "Sandy" Gennaro (born July 3, 1951 in Manhattan, New York) [1] is an American rock drummer, author, musician, public speaker and mentor. He has recorded and toured with many musical artists including Blackjack, The Monkees, Pat Travers, Cyndi Lauper and Joan Jett.
Born "Santo Gennaro" in Little Italy, (Manhattan's Lower East Side), Gennaro grew up on Staten Island, New York. [2] At the age of 3 he showed interest in a toy drum and later at age 13 he played a friend's snare drum, which prompted him to buy his first drum set. At age 14 he joined his first band "The Black and Blues". Gennaro took private lessons and by 16 he was touring the New York/New Jersey/Pennsylvania circuit, playing high school dances, parties and minor musical events. At 18, Gennaro toured the Midwest playing night clubs and bars in a Cover band. In 1976, Gennaro moved to California and joined rock quartet Blackjack, featuring Michael Bolton, guitarist Bruce Kulick and bassist Jimmy Haslip. Blackjack recorded two albums and toured with Peter Frampton which eventually led Gennaro to record his first hit single with the New York-based singer Benny Mardones, "Into the Night" and LP Never Run, Never Hide . This was the beginning of Gennaro's association with the Pat Travers Band and afterwards his connection with singer/songwriter Cyndi Lauper, whose debut album She's So Unusual became a multi-platinum hit. Lauper hired Gennaro for the Fun Tour as well as other national and international tours and he appears on the concert video for the singer's single "Money Changes Everything". From here Gennaro went on to record and tour with Bo Diddley, Joan Jett and Johnny Winter.
Gennaro's recording career includes Blackjack, Pat Travers, Cyndi Lauper, Robin Gibb, Craaft, Joan Jett, Junkyard Angels, and the Monkees.
Gennaro toured with Craaft, a metal band from Germany [3] throughout Europe/UK as the opening band for Queen during mid-1986. He participated on every The Monkees reunion tour from 1987 until the death of Davy Jones in 2012. [4] Genarro was also the featured drummer on the second and third Annual Dick Wagner Memorial Concert in 2016 and 2017 respectively. 'Remember The Child" [5] at The Fillmore Detroit commemorating the late guitarist/singer/songwriter Dick Wagner. Wagner's music which was performed by many artists including Wagner's son Robert Wagner, Jean Beauvoir, Grammy Award-winning pianist and singer from the Waterboys Paul Brown, guitarist Micki Free, Derek St. Holmes, Joe Bass, Hal Patino, Maryann Cotton, Jimmie "Bones" Trombly, guitarist Kenny Olson, Peter Keys, David Winans II, Muruga Booker, Dennis Dunaway, The Frost, Laurie Beebe Lewis Johnny "Bee" Badanjek and other supporting musicians. The third annual "Remember the Child Concert" held in Detroit, Michigan at the MotorCity Casino Hotel in The Sound Board performance venue also featured Suzi Quatro Mark Farner, Kip Winger and many returning artists from the previous year. [6] Proceeds benefited Children's Miracle Network Hospitals supporting music therapy.
Gennaro has served as a counselor and teacher at David Fishof's Rock 'n Roll Fantasy Camp since 2007 and continues to mentor musicians through this program. [7] Gennaro taught at The Collective [8] in New York City for 27 years where he created the Music Business program, teaching private lessons and master classes before moving to Nashville.
Gennaro has been a Keynote Speaker and Mentor with Vistage Worldwide since 2015. [9] On July 21, 2023, Gennaro will be inducted into the RockGodz Hall of Fame in Nashville, TN alongside Mike Curb, Vanilla Fudge, Pat Travers, Steve Popovich, Bob Bender, Todd Sharp, and Tom Zutaut. [10]
Gennaro wrote several articles for Modern Drummer magazine. [11] [12] [13] He is also the creator of "Drum Basics" [14] and "Contemporary Rock Styles for the Drums." [15] His writing is featured in the October 2016 issue of Drumhead Magazine (owned by Jonathan Mover) issue #057, page 70 "The Top 10 Straight 8th and 16th note Grooves Every Drummer Should know....And Why" [16] [17] Sandy Gennaro's book "Beat The Odds" was co written with Steve Olivas and released in May of 2022. The 219 page book addresses business management, the music industry and Sandy's personal life experience as a drummer and public speaker. [18]
On May 12, 1990, Gennaro married Shari Lynn Athey in North Carolina. [19] Gennaro currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee, where he continues to teach, write, record, perform and travel for music and speaking engagements.
Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Her career has spanned over 40 years. Her album She's So Unusual (1983) was the first debut album by a female artist to achieve four top-five hits on the Billboard Hot 100—"Girls Just Want to Have Fun", "Time After Time", "She Bop", and "All Through the Night"—and earned Lauper the Best New Artist award at the 27th Annual Grammy Awards in 1985. Her success continued with the soundtrack for the motion picture The Goonies (1985) and her second record True Colors (1986). This album included the number-one single "True Colors" and "Change of Heart", which peaked at number three. In 1989, Lauper saw success with "I Drove All Night" and in 1993, had her first dance club hit with "That's What I Think".
Blue Angel were an American band, that featured Cyndi Lauper before her rise to fame as a solo singer. The lineup also included John Turi on keyboards and saxophone, Arthur "Rockin' A" Neilson (guitar), Lee Brovitz and Johnny Morelli (drums). Lauper and Turi wrote the bulk of their material, and the group also covered pop standards, such as Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil's "I'm Gonna Be Strong". Blue Angel were briefly popular on the New York club scene.
John Henry Bonham was an English musician who was the drummer of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Noted for his speed, power, fast single-footed kick drumming, distinctive sound, and feel for groove, he is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential drummers in music history.
Sterling Campbell is an American drummer and songwriter who has worked with numerous high-profile acts, including the B-52s, Duran Duran, Soul Asylum, Cyndi Lauper, Nena, Grayson Hugh, Spandau Ballet, Gustavo Cerati and David Bowie.
Patrick Henry Travers is a Canadian rock guitarist, singer and songwriter who began his recording career in the mid-1970s.
Tracy Ann Wormworth is an American bass guitarist.
Blackjack was an American rock band, active from 1979–1980, featuring Michael Bolton, Bruce Kulick, Sandy Gennaro and Jimmy Haslip. The band was short-lived, released two albums, the self-titled Blackjack in 1979 and Worlds Apart in 1980, and embarked on a small US nationwide tour.
Robert Rondinelli is an American rock drummer best known for his work with the hard rock/heavy metal bands Blue Öyster Cult, Rainbow, Quiet Riot, Black Sabbath, The Lizards, The Handful, and Rondinelli. In July 2013, Rondinelli was announced as the new drummer for the Axel Rudi Pell band, replacing previous drummer Mike Terrana. Rondinelli has played on subsequent albums and tours, and remains with the band.
Anton Fig, known as "The Thunder from Down Under", is a South African session drummer, perhaps best known as the drummer and second-in-command for Paul Shaffer and the World's Most Dangerous Band. David Letterman, for whom the band served as house band on his late-night talk shows, often referred to Fig as "Anton Zip" or "Buddy Rich Jr." Fig is also well known for his work with Kiss, Ace Frehley and Joe Bonamassa.
Adam Bomb is an American guitarist who worked with artists like TKO, Black 'N Blue, Steel Pulse, John Paul Jones, and Michael Monroe. His stage name is a play on the name Atom Bomb.
Steve Jordan is an American musical director, producer, songwriter, and musician. Currently, he is the drummer for The Rolling Stones. During the 1970s and 1980s, he was a member of the bands for the television shows Saturday Night Live and Late Night with David Letterman.
Sandy West was an American singer, drummer and songwriter. She was one of the founding members of The Runaways, the first teenage all-girl hard rock band to record and achieve widespread commercial success in the 1970s.
I Love Rock 'n Roll is the second studio album by Joan Jett and the first with her backing band the Blackhearts. The album was recorded during the summer of 1981 and was released on November 18 of that year. Soon after the first recording sessions at Soundworks Studios, original Blackheart guitarist Eric Ambel was replaced by Ricky Byrd. It is Jett's most commercially successful album to date with over a million copies sold, largely due to the success of the title track, which was released as a single soon after the album was released.
Patrick Muzingo is an American drummer. He started playing the drums at the age of 12. Coming from Los Angeles, California he grew up with a supportive family that boasted other musicians. Growing up in the 1970s and 80s brought the drummer into some amazing situations. Looking back Muzingo experienced the 1st wave of Pool skating, was one of the original Eagle Rock ramp crew, witnessed many genres of music in its infancy including the 1st wave of Punk rock and the late 1980s signing spree of rock bands in Los Angeles.
Never Run, Never Hide is an album released in 1980 by pop-rock singer-songwriter Benny Mardones. It included his only major hit, "Into the Night", which peaked at number 11 in 1980, and re-charted nine years later, in 1989.
Thommy Price is an American musician. He has played drums in a number of bands, including Scandal, Billy Idol, Blue Öyster Cult, and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and is an in-demand session drummer.
Radio Active is an album released by Pat Travers on Polydor Records in 1981. Radio Active was Pat Travers' first release after the highly successful Crash and Burn. However, Pat Thrall and Tommy Aldridge had already left the band. Travers and Cowling forged on with former Blackjack drummer Sandy Gennaro, but the album barely made it into the Top 40. It was quite different from Travers' previous work, with more emphasis on keyboards than heavy guitars. Disappointed with the lack of sales, Polygram dropped Travers from their roster. Travers' successfully sued Polydor for breach of contract which he won which allowed him to record two future albums on the label.
Allan Schwartzberg is an American musician and record producer. He has been a member of the rock band Mountain, Peter Gabriel's first solo band, toured with Brecker Brothers' Dreams, B. J. Thomas, Linda Ronstadt, Stan Getz band, and the Pat Travers band. He has experienced success as a prolific session musician, through recordings made from the 1970s through today. He has also played on multi genre hits such as Gloria Gaynor "Never Can Say Goodbye", considered the first disco record, James Brown's "Funky President", Harry Chapin's "Cat's in the Cradle", Tony Orlando & Dawn's Tie A Yellow Ribbon, Peter Gabriel's "Solsbury Hill", The Spinners' "Workin' My Way Back to You", the Star Wars theme, and Rod Stewart's Great American Songbook series including the hit "What A Wonderful World". He has played with musicians and singers including John Lennon, Diana Ross, Jimi Hendrix, Alice Cooper, Kiss, Frank Sinatra, Roxy Music, Robert Palmer, Grace Slick, Roberta Flack, Barry Manilow, Harry Chapin, Barbra Streisand, Deodato, Frankie Valli, and Roger Daltrey. He was also a frequent musician guest with Paul Shaffer's David Letterman Show band.
Sean Tyla was an English rock guitarist, keyboardist, vocalist and songwriter, sometimes known as the "Godfather of Boogie". Best known for his work with Ducks Deluxe and Tyla Gang, he also played with Help Yourself, Joan Jett, and Deke Leonard, and appeared solo.
Blackjack is the eponymous debut album of the American rock band Blackjack. The album was recorded shortly after the band's formation in early 1979 at Criteria Studios in Miami and released on Polydor Records on June 18, 1979.
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