Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

RUSS DiBELLA is a leisure-pursuit writer and musician with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications / Journalism from Glassboro State College (now Rowan University). As an avid reader and writer who has written everything from inspired works of poetry, prose and song lyrics to the more unyielding requirements of professional documents and freelance feature articles (with a concentration on concert reviews) during the past twenty-five years, he offers this first book as a culmination of all his writing experiences to date. Professionally, DiBella has been in outside sales for nearly twenty years and resides in Southern New Jersey with his wife and twin daughters.

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From The Inside

AuthorHouse

Contents

Introduction...............................................................................ix1: Discovery...............................................................................12: A World of Drums........................................................................93: It All Began With Boston................................................................154: Front & Center with Cheap Trick.........................................................215: Genesis: A New Perspective..............................................................276: A Quiet Riot in California..............................................................337: The Mission ... and Other Assorted Stuff................................................378: REO Speedwagon / Survivor:Making Connections............................................419: Musical Chairs..........................................................................4710: Live Aid: History in the Making........................................................5711: 2nd Annual MTV Video Music Awards......................................................7112: Bon Jovi: Incoming!....................................................................7913: Local Shots: 1980s Philly..............................................................8114: John Mellencamp: Backstage Moments.....................................................9715: A Van Halen Soundcheck.................................................................10116: A Return to Rush.......................................................................10917: Journey / Def Leppard..................................................................12118: The David Lee Roth Radio Show..........................................................12719: Rush: The Trilogy......................................................................13320: Coming `Round Again....................................................................14321: Taking It to the Next Level............................................................14922: Dave Matthews Band.....................................................................15323: Tim McGraw / Jason Aldean:Country Gentlemen............................................15724: Maidens, Pearls and Chicago Doobies....................................................16125: A Mötley Festival of Singers, Songwriters, Priests and Eagles.....................17126: Toby Keith / Montgomery Gentry.........................................................18527: Kid Rock / Lynyrd Skynyrd:Southern-Fried Rock..........................................18928: Journey / Heart / Cheap Trick: Stage Right.............................................19329: Putting Down the Sticks................................................................20330: Bruce Springsteen:The Spectrum Revisited...............................................20731: No Doubt...............................................................................21332: Jimmy Buffett: Margarainyville.........................................................21533: A Pause for Perspective................................................................21934: Def Leppard / Poison / Cheap Trick:Stage Right II......................................22335: August and (almost) Everything After...................................................23136: A KISS Soundcheck......................................................................24337: AC/DC: The Final Act...................................................................24938: Rush: Une Autre! Un Rappel! Encore!....................................................253Conclusion.................................................................................259Acknowledgements...........................................................................263Final Fun Facts............................................................................267References.................................................................................271

Chapter One

Age is a matter of feeling, not of years — George William Curtis

Forty came surprisingly early to me, at least insofar as how good I felt both physically and mentally. Not that I necessarily knew what it should feel like nor did I believe I was any less mature than a man my age should be — my penchant for Sunday comics and animated sitcoms notwithstanding. I've always been dedicated to my responsibilities as husband, father and professional and maintain an otherwise plausibly adult attitude toward life in general. But with respect to music, my interest in the ancillary aspects of the artists has remained as fervent as when I first dropped a needle on an album back in middle school.

Early on in those teenage years a fair amount of discretionary time was available to indulge and easily become immersed in newly revealed interests. What was once uninhibited childhood curiosity about all things new (because all things were new) soon became teenage inquisitiveness; more mature and somewhat more focused. Moments of self-defining exploration and discovery began to take shape and, in some cases, take hold. And when one of those interests gripped me compellingly I became engaged to the extent that even cursory glance would have elicited a reasonable assumption of endurance; perhaps even of lifelong measure.

And just as I found my passion so, too, did a number of friends realize their own. Although some have maintained to varying degrees the intensity felt in those early days, a few even having uncovered new and lasting diversions along the way, many others seem to have all too easily relinquished their initial enthusiasm as though mere infatuation. Regardless of category, interests that once seemed as concentrated as mine were casually dismissed by most as they made their way into adulthood.

But that was obviously not the case with me; my interest in learning about music actually having increased and broadened over the years as my curiosity about the details continued and eventually led to other more interactive pursuits. Age may have crept up on me but it was clearly not a factor in my love of all things music. And with regard to all that would follow it would appear as though I had yet to graduate from those hallowed halls of youth. Yet here I am chronologically — and seemingly suddenly — more than three times older.

As Sherwin B. Nuland states in The Art of Aging: A Doctor's Prescription for Well-Being: "So gradual a progression is the onset of our aging that we one day find it to be fully upon us."

As a supplement to this realization it's my belief that growing older does not necessarily mean growing up. Though we ultimately have no choice about the former (if we're fortunate), we can still be respected and contributing members of society while suspending the latter — within reason, of course.

I recall a moment from my mid-twenties as I was scanning the pages of Rolling Stone magazine at a local convenience store. A former high school acquaintance I hadn't seen since graduation walked in and quickly recognized me. Seeing the magazine in my hands and knowing my musical background he shook his head scornfully while asking in a derisory tone, "You still read those things?" Though I knew his question was...