There’ll Be No Next Time
Bocky and the Visions
Bocky and the Visions were the first Cleveland group to make records that got played on the radio. They started in Cleveland’s Little Italy in the late 50s. They were a doo-wop singing group with four singers … kind of like Dion and the Belmonts or the Four Seasons. The group consisted of lead singer, Bocky DiPasquale AKA “Bocky Boo” and background singers Sonny Peters, Jimmy Randazzo, and Arnie Immerman. They made some great records that came out on national labels like Big Top, Decca and Phillips initially recording in New York and later at Cleveland Recording.
Two Guys Walk into a Bar
One night in 1964 I was playing with my band, The Quantrells at Hire’s Lounge, a rock joint in Wickliffe. The Quantrells consisted of Denny Chandler, Don Comella, Bobby Maenza and myself.
Two guys walked into the place and changed my life. It was Tony Bodanza and Richie Green. They wanted me to quit my band and join them in Bocky and the Visions. The Visions were four singers that didn’t play instruments. I had heard The Visions’ records on the radio and seen their live show. I imagined what we could sound like with a full band and these phenomenal singers. At the time, my guitar player Denny Chandler, had just left the band to start the Pilgrims with Cleveland legend Glenn Schwartz. The timing was right. This was an offer I couldn’t refuse.
I gave The Quantrells notice. Tony, Richie and I added Don Schwartz on bass … and the new Bocky and the Visions started rehearsing.
We went immediately into Cleveland Recording and cut “Listen to the Beat of My Heart”, “I’m Not Worth It”, “Pickin’ Petals” and several other songs. I was 17 years old. It was my first experience in a recording studio and it was amazing. I never knew that the music was laid down first and the singing added later. By today’s standards, it was pretty primitive. It was a four-track studio which was state of the art at the time. All the music was recorded on ONE track! Which meant all the levels had to be perfect and if anyone made a mistake you had to start over. That left 3 tracks: one for lead vocal, one for background vocals, and one for overdubs. Then all four tracks would be mixed down to a mono mix. Ken Hamann was the engineer.
Bocky was an incredible showman and a great singer. He was an exciting frontman with a very professional stage presence. He was also a wild character who could be hilarious or just plain crazy. Also, he and I shared the same birthday. We bonded immediately.
Playing with The Rolling Stones
We did many great shows that summer but the biggest show we did was opening to The Rolling Stones in their first Cleveland appearance at Public Hall. The production was very primitive. No amps or drums were miked. The drums were set up on the floor – no riser. But, the British invasion was in full swing. After a few songs, some girls rushed the stage and one chick wrapped her arms around drummer, Charlie Watts and they both fell over backwards. The police stopped the show and threatened to send everybody home. But the show continued after the crowd settled down. All in all, it was a thrill for a teenager from Cleveland Heights to be part of this. I was a kid trying to be cool but secretly in awe of the spectacle. I took a bunch of pictures of the Stones from the wings with my Kodak Instamatic.
That summer we did one big show after another. We opened to The Dave Clark Five at Public Hall, The Animals at Cleveland Arena, The Beach Boys at Euclid Beach Ballroom, Chuck Berry, Lonnie Mack, The Dixie Cups, The Four Tops, The Shangri Las and others.
The shows, the recording sessions, and the whole experience was magical but there was one problem: no money. Our manager said all the shows were for “exposure.” Us four musicians said “Hey we have a good band. Let’s make some money.” We said goodbye to Bocky and The Visions and began gigging under the name Richie and The Fortunes.
Tell Me You’re Mine
I’m Not Worth It
Pickin’ Petals
Mojo Hanna
Hang on Girl
The Beat of My Heart
I Just Can’t Stand It Anymore
Awesome!
Thank you very much. You’re the BEST !
Jimmy Randazzo— I remember him singing a bit with The Twilighters but I can’t find anything in the ‘net about this. You have any history about this?
Hi Buddy,
I was led here by a good friend of mine John Vossos as we rekindled old memories of our own.
The first time I heard Johny was at the Blue Spruce, a small club just outside of town. I would have been all of 17 sneaking into this little bar to record them 1975 upon his return to his home town of North Bay, Ont. As faith would have it, I would be fortunate enough to have the pleasure to play with John in a local Band called Brickhouse five years later. John will always be one of my favorite vocalist, very reminiscent to that Michael McDonald tone, and and excellent sax player.
Great work you’ve done keeping part of your local musical history alive!!
Cheers,
Mark
Thanks for the good vibes Mark. Sorry I’m tardy in responding. John was one of a kind.
Buddy, DO you remember who else played opening for the Stones at that show in 1964?
Hey Buddy, Love this website! Such cool info. You should write a book, and do an interview at the MusicBox. So cool! Thanks!
So fun to read about it after all of the years.
Thanks so much for keeping the local music scene spirit alive Buddy. I will never forget seeing you in Charade.
One of the original singers in the group was Arnie Emerman, not Zimmerman as posted in the article.
Thanks for the posts, Steve, Larry, Spider, and Stephen. I appreciate your input . Rock on !
Bocky was my dad, I’m John Di:Pasquale, I miss him everyday but when we listen to his music it feels like he’s still around, LOVE you dad. I MISS YOU! You were evrything to me.