The Pittsburgh Club Scene

In the 1970's the music scene in Pittsburgh and the surrounding "Tri-State" area was alive and well! There were many original bands of diverse musical styles and dozens of first rate "cover" bands working in the niteclubs and theaters of the area. It was in these clubs, most notably "The Decade", "Mancini's", "Stage One", "LaStella's", "Hardy's Pub", "The Aquanaut", "The Staircase", "The Zodiac Club", "The Fox Cafe", "2001" and the "Mustang", that I began my professional career. Pittsburgh was graced with 3 major concert venues, the acoustically perfect "Stanley Theater", the "Syria Mosque" (sadly now destroyed) and the "Civic Arena". From the mid '60's to the mid '70's nearly every major Rock act in the world performed in one of these halls. The man responsible for bringing the majority of these shows to Pittsburgh was concert promoter extraordinaire Pat DiCeaser. I paid, snuck or talked my way into as many of these shows as possible and as a young man interested in breaking into the music business, seeing great concerts every week was both a learning experience and a major inspiration.

I was drawn to music, like so many others, by the "British Invasion" bands; "The Beatles", The Rolling Stones" and later "Cream", "Led Zeppelin", "Deep Purple" ect. Their music as well as music from emerging American artists like "The Allman Brothers" and "Johnny Winters" made up the bulk of our cover song list at the time. From '68 to '74 I played in 5 or 6 local bands always looking for the right combination of musicians. The goal at the time was to have a great band, pack the clubs and try to make a few bucks (not much different than my current goals!). In 1974 I met a singer/songwriter from Stubenville, Ohio named Bob Parrissi. Bob was the frontman for a regionally successful band named "Wild Cherry". The band was on the A-list of local rock bands and I was constantly impressed with Bob's vocal ability. Though very popular in the tri-state area the band was disbanding and Bob had decided to stay in Ohio and manage a restaurant. Trying to land a gig for myself I called Bob and asked him to call if he decided to reform the band. A few months later he called to say he was putting "Wild Cherry" back together and asked me to join and help him find a rhythym section...