DICK
RICHARDS BOCCELLI
Comets drummer, Ocean City resident Dick Boccelli
dies at 95
VINCENT JACKSON Staff Writer
Press of Atlantic City
Jul 13, 2019
Dick Boccelli was inducted into the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame in 2012 as a member of Bill Haley’s Comets.
[Dick Boccelli, known as Dick Richards when he was
the drummer for Bill Haley and the Comets, is pictured in a photo at his Ocean
City home, Tuesday, May 21, 2019.]
[ Dick Boccelli, known as Dick Richards when he was
the drummer for Bill Haley and the Comets, in this undated photo, Tuesday, May
21, 2019. ]
Dick Boccelli was the drummer for Bill Haley and His
Comets but sometimes stepped out from the drum kit to sing. ‘That picture could
have been taken in Wildwood,’ he said of the undated photo. Boccelli, 95, of
Ocean City, is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Dick Boccelli, who
performed under the name Dick Richards as a member of one of the world’s first
rock ‘n’ roll bands, died at 95 Friday morning in Ocean City, according to his
oldest daughter, Beverly Walker.
Boccelli, who had lived in Ocean City since the
1960s, was the drummer for Bill Haley and His Comets when they recorded Haley’s
most famous singles, “Rock Around the Clock” and “Shake, Rattle and Roll.”
“He just enjoyed everything he did with gutso,”
Walker said. “Dad was lot of fun. He was really a great guy. ... Dad had the
most amazing spirit.”
Your Morning Kickstart is delivered to your inbox 7
a.m. daily. Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest in news, entertainment,
weather, and sports.
Boccelli helped make musical history during Memorial
Day weekend in 1954 when “Rock Around the Clock” was played for the first time
live at the now defunct Hotel Hofbrau in Wildwood.
Ocean City-based Rock and Rock Hall of Famer looks
back on historic Wildwood gig.
For Dick Boccelli, the drummer for Bill Haley and
His Comets, the group’s Memorial Day weekend….
“We knew what to do, just lay the beat down. That’s
all. We didn’t do anything else but give the people what they want,” said
Boccelli during an interview with The Press two months ago. “They (the girls)
really got into it.”
Besides playing the song live during gigs, Boccelli
sang background vocals during the recording session. The tune’s
success was fueled by its inclusion in the Glenn Ford movie “The Blackboard
Jungle,” which opened in March 1955.
Boccelli joined the Comets in 1953 and left the
group at the end of 1955 with bassist Marshall Lytle and saxophonist Joey
Ambrose to start their own band, the Jodimars, which lasted from 1955
to 1958.
During Boccelli’s time in the Comets, he appeared in
the Universal Pictures 1954 short black-and-white film “Round Up of Rhythm,”
which marked the first appearance by a rock band on film.
With the group, Boccelli appeared on “The Sammy Kaye
Show,” “The Milton Berle Show” and, most importantly, “The Ed Sullivan Show.”
The Comets did the first live rock ‘n’ roll performance on a major TV show when
they appeared on Sullivan’s program live from Connecticut.
The Comets were also known for being the first
American rock ‘n’ roll band to play in Europe and for having the first
million-selling rock ‘n’ roll single with their cover of “Shake, Rattle and
Roll,” according to bassist Walter “Wally” Bucks, who played with Boccelli in
his last band, the Ready Rockers.
Boccelli wasn’t just a rock drummer. He also acted.
He did local theater, including with the Ocean City Players during the 1960s.
During the 1970s and 1980s, he was on Broadway, appearing in “The Ritz” with
Rita Moreno and F. Murray Abraham.
Boccelli appeared on the now-defunct soap opera “The
Edge of Night” in 1980, the movie “Shakedown” with Peter Weller and Sam Elliott
in 1988, “My Blue Heaven” with Steve Martin and Rick Moranis in 1990 and the
now-defunct HBO TV series “Oz” during the 1998-99 season.
The original members of the Comets who played with
Haley reunited in 1989 and played until 2014. They entertained at the Ocean
City Music Pier, the Wildwoods Convention Center, (the Flander’s Hotel in Ocean
City), and the now-defunct Bubba Mac Shack in Somers Point and
Mohegan Sun in Connecticut.
Besides the Comets, Boccelli formed his own rock ‘n’
roll trio known as the Ready Rockers with Bucks, 56, of Linwood, and guitarist
Tom Gargan, 61, of Ocean City. The trio played at the Ocean City Free Public
Library and other places in Cape May and Atlantic counties from 2013 until
September.
Besides the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in
2012, Boccelli also was honored with a mural of Haley and the Comets in 2014 on
a building at Oak and Pacific avenues in Wildwood. There is also a plaque
commemorating “Rock Around the Clock” where the Hofbrau once stood.
Bucks said Boccelli told him one day playing drums
and music kept him alive.
“He was a classy person with a great outlook and
a positive attitude. He was always laughing. He was a true gentleman,” Bucks
said. “Music was truly his life. It was his inspiration.”
Comets
drummer, Ocean City resident Dick Boccelli dies at 95
Rock and
Roll Hall of Famer Dick Boccelli, who performed under the name Dick Richards as
a m…
A
memorial service for Richard Marley “Dick” Boccelli, former drummer for Bill
Haley and His Comets, will be held from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. Aug. 7 at Greate Bay
Country Club in Somers Point.
Boccelli,
who used the name Dick Richards professionally, died at age 95 on July 12 at
the Shores at Wesley Manor in Ocean City. He was a successful musician and
actor for 60 years and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012
as a member of the Comets.
Boccelli
was on the drums when the Comets played “Rock Around the Clock” live for the
first time Memorial Day weekend 1954 at the now defunct Hotel Hofbrau in
Wildwood.
In 1963,
Boccelli’s family moved to Ocean City, where he acted in local theater.
Besides
playing with the revived Original Bill Haley’s Comets in 1987, Boccelli also
founded his own group, the Ready Rockers, who performed in Atlantic and Cape
May counties until he succumbed to illness in March.
On Aug.
7, friends, family and the general public will have the opportunity to
reminisce and talk about Boccelli from 3:30 to 6 p.m. The main service will be
held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the country club at 901 Mays Landing Road.
No comments:
Post a Comment