Sad to hear that Dino Danelli, the explosive drummer of the Young Rascals, has passed away. What an incredible drummer he was! The Young Rascals (later just The Rascals) had an amazing string of hit records in the mid- to late 1960s, and the drumming was always superb on those recordings. But if you have seen any of the videos of the Young Rascals’ television appearances on Ed Sullivan, etc., then you KNOW. Dino was something absolutely amazing, unique. The dude played drums like a tightly wound, properly trained version of Keith Moon. Explosive, but controlled. The guy was hypnotic to watch. Just an absolute monster behind the kit!
When I had my teenage band the Untamed Youth, our organ player Sammy Rager had a VHS tape of Young Rascals TV appearances. We used to watch it before our gigs to get pumped up and excited! That was the thing about Dino–man, he could get you RAVING MAD about their music! All of us musicians should take a little bit of Dino with us whenever we play to an audience.
I wish I could have met him and picked his brain. RIP Dino Danelli!
Check out his break in between songs in this clip right at 2:00. Incredible!! Dino was a MONSTER drummer:
