David Stefanelli

Late 70's : I was in several high school bands and played all over Massachusetts. My band Zenophon was my favorite. Myself, Steve and Henry Cox and John Plaz  were the band. We were managed by Frank "Beaner"Azzolino, a school mate of ours who really helped us get some exposure while we were all just youngins. We kinda had a cool thing goin on with dances and outdoor shows for Somerfest which was a summer concert series that my city Somerville had going. After THOSE SCHOOLDAYS WE GRADUATED TO NIGHT CLUBS!!! I really learned the ropes playing mostly dives but then we moved onto the really cool dives which are now legendary!! Tons of fun!!!! I played THE RAT in Boston when I was still a child. Moved to a rehearsal space in Cambridge called The Complex. Met the guy's from the band Boston and every other cool band in the state. Thought I was cool. 

1981: Joined up as drummer for Robert Ellis Orrall. We played all original songs written by Robert and got to be part of the music scene. Played hip joints like The Rat, The Channel, Jaspers, Inman Sq. Men's Bar Ladies Invited. Learned to be a real nut and what real work was all about. 

1982: Got to play on my first album for Robert which was on RCA Records and produced by Joe Spaulding. Toured the south and opened for every act that we could.  Got hooked on Creole food. Made a video.  Saw it on MTV once. Played "Sloppy Joe's" in Key West for a week. Five guys, all the band gear, summertime, driving to FLORIDA  in one van.....eeek!)

1983: Recorded Robert's 2nd album in England with Stiff Records producer, Roger Bechirian at the famous Rockfield Studios in Monmoth Wales. Spawned a top 40 hit with one song from this record on RCA called 
"I Couldn't Say No." This was a duet with country star Carlene Carter (married to Nick Lowe at the time and is the daughter of June Carter Cash). Roger took me one afternoon to meet  Nick Lowe while in England and I got to play percussion on his song, "We Want Action" which ended up in the wonderful Rodney Dangerfield movie, Easy Money.
 I toured with Robert and opened for U2, The Kinks, David Johanson, Wall Of Vodoo, The Go Go's, The Furs, Bow Wow Wow, South Side Johnny, and more.... Got to play the Providence Civic Center, The Centrum and the beloved Orpheum Theater in Boston. Also started working as session drummer for local music houses mainly The Handsome Brothers.
Life is good.                              

At 15 yrs. old playing my Rogers kit. 
I still have it!  Sancta Maria Hall in Cambridge Ma. Dig the sacred photo protected in red behind me. Frankie Beaner got us this gig! ;)
 (1975)

The REO Band and South Side Johnny. Robert, Me, SS Johnny, Don Walden and one of my guitar 
heroes, Kook Lawry.
(1982)

Tim Archibald, Patty Barkas, Me, Brad Delp, Brian Maes, Mary Nikias and Barry Goudreau on tour with RTZ in Phoenix, Arizona.  (1993)     

Ron Wood, Me (In HEAVEN!), Sir Charlie 
Watts and Peter Wolf at a Stones concert. (1998) Thanks Wolf !

Doing the drum cues  while Peter Wolf does the "Raputa the Buta" rap at an outdoor show in Jersey. Some of the
best shows of my life...so far! (1995)



At yet another outdoor show with Peter Wolf and The House Party 5.
(1996)




1985 : I meet and jam with Peter Wolf of The J.Geils Band. I end up helping out with all his demos for the Come As You Are LP. I  meet Boston guitarist, Barry Goudreau and record and jam with his band, Orion The Hunter. I continue to fly back and forth to London 
working on albums for producer Roger Bechirian. (pinch me cause this is NOT real!) I then meet an amazing singer named Michael Troy and get to record drums for his demo. 
Life is so good that I am now nervous.

1986 : I get hired to fly to LA and record an album called "The California Raisins". The album is just a first of a series that will be done and produced by Ross Vannelli, who is Gino's younger brother. The infamous Buddy Miles 
(Jimi Hendrix) is the singer. The record goes gold and platinum!!! I end up going back to LA three more times to do Raisin Records
......check please?

 During this time I start playing  with Barry Goudreau on a permanent basis recording hundreds of tracks in his basement and searching for a singer. We used Fergie 
Frederickson from Toto. and then  Brad Delp 
from Boston. I continue to go back and forth from England working for Roger. I also play in a slew of local club bands during all of this.

87-94: I continue to play for as many bands as possible and end up playing in RTZ together with Barry, Brad, Tim Archibald and Brian Maes. We get signed to Giant Records and fly to LA to record the LP which is produced by Chris Lord-Alge. Brad Delp gets us all hooked on David Lynch's "Wild At Heart."  Giant records releases the song
"Until Your Love Comes Back Around" from our CD and it becomes atop 40 hit! We start to tour. RTZ ends up really huge in the south. We play a lot of great shows all over the US and end up playing a huge concert in Puerto Rico. 
So cool. So lucky.

94 - NOW!: I managed to stay in touch with Peter Wolf and one night I was at this jam in South Boston playing drums. Wolf showed up at about midnight and started to sing. There were some real crazy cats at this jam so it ended up being more fun than usual. During a break Wolf and I were chatting...he was telling me about some album things he was about to do. I asked him about playing live for a while and he kind of grimaced and lit up at the same time. In about a month, Peter Wolf and The Houseparty 5 were rehearsing in THE same room getting ready to go out and play. WHAT A BAND!!!!!! Johnny A. (guitar), Tim 
Archibald (bass), Brian Maes and Doug Dube 
(piano, Hammond) and me. WE PLAYED  EVERYWHERE and met ALL KINDS of people! These were great shows. Wolf was and is some super performer. We had Mick Jagger come to see us....Faye Dunaway  (I got to show off here a bit!!)....Dan Ackroyed....The E. Street Band....George Thorogood and more. We played with Bad Company, Cheap Trick and a bunch of other classic bands. I got to play drums on Wolf's "Long Line" album that he did for Warner Brothers. We toured Japan for 2 weeks to sell out crowds. What an  experience! It was like the best thing! It also made me see how wacked out our young American culture has become. In Japan, all ages and walks of life standing next to each other at these shows just enjoying the show and music.......no attitudes. What a great nation of people Japan has in my opinion...
and what  live shows they make!!!

Michael and I have been writing songs together since the 80's. Our reasons for getting The Beloved Few together in the first place was to have a vehicle to write and release our songs through. So far so good. We have got some great plans that we plan on pursuing.

Please stay tuned.