When drummer Larry Luttinger was a teenager, he’d hoof it from Liverpool High School directly to Rick Scappichio’s house on 3 Jay Path in Bayberry to jam and rehearse.
“I did that every day for years,” Larry said last week. “We were in so many bands together.”
Scappichio, 62, who died last week in California, was well-known locally as the keyboardist for the Stomping Suede Greasers for whom Luttinger played drums.
“I am so totally devastated,” Luttinger said from his Sun Harbor home. “Rick and I were brothers in life and in music. I was close to him and his entire family.”
Scappichio, who was an avid cyclist and triathlete, reportedly died in his sleep from cardiac arrest.
Bayberry boy makes good
His friend, former Liverpool Public Library Director Jean Armour Polly, said Rick had relocated to the Los Angeles area many years ago. “He was performing under the name of Cary Carloff,” she wrote in an email. “He had a long string of credits in the film industry.”
Luttinger agreed that the Bayberry boy had risen to the show-biz bigtime. “He’s one of the major musical expat success stories out of Syracuse from the baby boomer era,” Larry said. “I just can’t believe this — it’s very surreal.”
As Cary Carloff, Rick Scappichio wrote music for movies such as “Confessions of an Action Star.” He released a solo LP, “American Driveway Vinyl,” under the Carloff name.
Baldwinsville rocker Todd Hobin, who performed with Rick in both the Greasers and The Alligators, will miss his former bandmate. “We all have very fond memories of him,” Todd emailed. “Very sad news indeed.”
In one of his earlier assignments as a free-lance tunesmith on the West Coast, Scappichio helped compose and produce the theme song for the Syracuse Chiefs baseball club, “Cheer, Cheer, Cheer for The Chiefs!”
A memorial was conducted Oct. 24, at Pancho’s, a Manhattan Beach nightclub at which he often performed. Another remembrance will be scheduled locally, perhaps after winter comes and goes.
The Strangers revived
Following a rousing reunion of two legendary Liverpool rock and roll bands, The Strangers and Carnage, last June as part of Dinosaur Radio’s concert series “The History of Syracuse Rock ’n’ Roll…Then and Now,” the backing band for the Strangers decided to keep the name alive and carry on its musical legacy.
The reformed group — featuring Frank Rhodes on guitar and vocals, Ronnie Dark on guitar and vocals, Jimmy Laratta on drums and vocals, Mike Ranger on bass and original Stranger Bob Lindberg on keyboards and vocals — will showcase classic 1960s sounds as well as a smattering of power pop and classic rock.
The “new” Strangers plug in for the first time from 8 p.m. to midnight Friday, Oct. 30, at Dublin’s Pub, 7990 Oswego Road (Route 57), in Clay; 622-0200.
Bandleader news
Though laid low by a serious cancer diagnosis, local vocalist Dan Elliott maintains his usual positive attitude. During this difficult year, he had to cancel dozens of bookings for The Monterays and The Belmonts. For many years Dan, whose real name is Daniel Rubado, served as lead singer for the Glenn Miller Orchestra.
Meanwhile, with his wife, Anita, by his side, venerable bandleader Mario DeSantis celebrated his 87th birthday on Oct. 15, at Julie’s Place, at Regency Towers in Syracuse. He established the still-active Mario DeSantis Orchestra in 1947.
Halloween ‘Horrors’
Hats off to theatrical plant designer Liam Fitzpatrick, who lives in Liverpool, for creating a giant shrub capable of talking and swallowing people whole for CNY Playhouse’s marvelously monstrous musical, “Little Shop of Horrors,” running through Halloween at Shoppingtown DeWitt. Liam is a talented actor who starred last year in “Catch Me If You Can.” His partner, keyboardist Abel Searor, also a Liverpool resident, ably leads the musical’s four-piece pit band.
Town of Salina Second Ward Councilor Jim Magnarelli appears in the show as the florist, Mushnik, and employs realistic Yiddish inflections to create his kvetching character.
“Little Shop of Horrors” runs at 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Oct. 29, 30 and 31. Tickets cost $22 and $25; 885-8960; cnyplayhouse.com.
Geese in the street
Twice this month while driving, I had to brake suddenly to avoid killing Canada geese which had been walking in the road.
The latest near-mishap occurred Saturday afternoon, Oct. 17, as I motored east on Lower First Street heading from Nichols toward Heid’s. A column of marching geese jaywalked across the street, from the old Municipal Parking lot to Washington Park.
You know what they say about bird brains, and these fat fowls do nothing to challenge that stereotype. If I hadn’t reacted quickly, two or three of them would’ve been crushed under my Buick’s tires.
As I passed the feathery fiends, in fact, they glanced at me with a stare so blank it screamed, “We not only stink — we’re stupid!”
Drive carefully. Those dirty birds are straying into the streets en masse. They remain universally ignorant of traffic laws yet brainlessly lay claim to the right of way!
Get ready to hit the brakes or your goose is cooked.
The columnist can be contacted at [email protected].
