Sept. 23, 1972: A little band from Lovejoy called Standing Room Only
From these modest beginnings sprang some serious, high-profile careers in music. Memo to the
Sept. 23, 1972
Standing Room Only
Teenagers Seek Return
Of Sunday Dances
“WE’VE GOTTEN
permission to use The Landmark every Sunday from 2 to 5:30,” Karen Meyer,
manager of the group Standing Room Only was saying over the telephone. “The
idea is to bring back Sunday afternoon teen dances.”
The Landmark is one of the main reasons why people from the
outside world venture into the Lovejoy section of Buffalo’s far East Side since
otherwise it’s a relatively quiet, self-contained residential district.
Actually, the club is just over the city line in Sloan. But
to get there, the visitors come seven nights a week past the neatly aging shops
on
* * *
LAST SATURDAY
Mike Viapiano and his wife Jean took their boys, Pete and Mitch, there to see
The National Trust, who do a rock revival set which is said to rival Big Wheelie
and The Hubcaps.
Now
there’s Sunday sun pushing against the Landmark’s red draperies and Mike is
back, acting as bouncer and genial general manager. Jean is over watching the
kids help themselves to free soft drinks (there’s no hard stuff this afternoon).
Paul
and Mitch are up on the bandstand where National Trust was, backing singer
Debbie Monaco in a spirited version of “Day By Day,” one of their best numbers.
* * *
“THE OWNER,
Ange Castricone, and I used to work together,” Mike says. “He played organ. I
played sax. He’s usually closed on Sunday afternoons, so one day I asked him if
he ever thought of opening it up for teenagers, kids 14 to 17 years old. He
said no and I said why don’t you give it a shot?”
That
was three months ago. Tomorrow will be their eleventh Sunday afternoon dance
and Mr. Castricone has given them permission to keep using the place, once a
bowling alley, indefinitely.
Brown-haired Karen Meyer, taking admission money at the door
(adults get in free), remarks that the dances are good for both the kids and
the group.
It gives them a place to go, mostly Lovejoy kids, but also a
few from Cheektowaga and even
“Anyone who saw them when they first started here and sees
them now can see how much more polished and assured they’ve gotten,” Karen
says.
They’re at their best in energetic numbers like the Rolling
Stones’ “Brown Sugar,” where a tight harmony and driving instruments stir up
all those inner feelings that make you want to get up and dance.
Keyboard player John Mattick and Pete Viapiano on lead guitar
lay out instrumentals with a skill that older musicians would admire. Pete’s
brother Mitch restrains his natural showiness (except in Santana’s “Soul
Sacrifice,” a bonanza for drummers anyway) and does a proper job.
* * *
DEBBIE’S SMOOTH
voice is right at home with the group’s commercial-rock expectations and more
experience is edging her toward more interesting vocals.
(Illegible, but has to be a mention of the other band member,
Pat Mallory …) on rhythm guitar or back-up singing (he’s their crooner as
well).
What the sound lacks is a bass guitar, although John and Pete
fill in with bass notes whenever they can. In most places, the bass isn’t
missed, but they’re looking around for a bass player anyway.
That would round out the ensemble Pete and Mitch began
building in their parents’ living room after they disbanded the trio they
practiced with last year.
* * *
FIRST IN was
Pat, one of Pete’s guitar students and fiancé of one of his cousins. They
played a Christmas party, the three of them, then Pete met John.
Though they’re both good players and live only three blocks
apart, the two of them didn’t get together until they were introduce by friends
one day in January. John didn’t have his electric piano back then, so he came
to practice with an electric accordion.
“You ever hear anybody play Santana on electric accordion?”
John asks.
Debbie had been (and still is) in a folk group called Just
Us. She was asked to join in March and Karen Meyer, who managed her folk group,
came with her. Bringing Debbie in was Pete and Mitch’s father’s idea.
“I told the boys,” he says, “you know that girl who sings for
9 o’clock Mass? You oughta get her for the group.”
“We felt at the time we needed something to balance,” says
Pete, the group’s musical mentor, “to give the group a little more finesse and
class.”
* * *
SINCE THEN
they’ve played
“We were doing ‘Piece of My Heart’ and Debbie’s mike went
dead,” Pete says. “We saw it afterwards and it was really funny. We were going
‘come on, come on’ and she couldn’t make a sound.”
The band winds up its Sunday afternoon closer, but there’s a
floor full of dancers and they don’t want to quit now. “More, more, more,
more,” they chant.
The group turns around, smiles at each other and cranks out
Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love,” Debbie’s singing lead and the dancers are
happy.
“It’s amazing,” Mike Viapiano nods, “the kids do that every Sunday.”
The box/sidebar
Parents Help, Too
There’s no shortage of encouragement from home for Standing
Room Only.
“The other parents aren’t only just behind it,” says Mike
(Vip) Viapiano, father of guitarist Pete Viapiano and his brother Mitch, the
drummer. “They do everything they can to help.”
* * *
MR. VIAPIANO
is a fulltime SRO booster himself. A musician (horn player and leader of a
commercial group called the VIP Trio), he’s always looking out for engagements
for his boys’ band.
“They played a high-society wedding reception in
* * *
THE GROUP lines
up like this:
Debbie Monaco, 17, vocals, senior at
Paul Viapiano, 16, lead guitar and vocals, junior at
Hutchinson Tech, teaches guitar.
Pat Mallory, 21, rhythm guitar and vocals, graduate of St.
Mary’s High School,
John Mattick, 16, piano and organ, junior at Bishop Fallon
(“That’s why my hair’s so short).
Mitch Viapiano, 14, drums, freshman at Burgard, newspaper
carrier.
“We call ourselves Standing Room Only because that’s the kind
of crowds we want to play for,” Paul says.
“That’s the kind of crowd I’d like to play for,” Mitch adds,
“in Carnegie Hall.”
* * * * *
IN THE PHOTO:
From left, Pat Mallory, Debbie Monaco, Paul Viapiano, John Mattick and Mitch
Viapiano.
* * * * *
FOOTNOTE: Can’t say whether any of these folks ever
got to play Carnegie Hall, but guitarist Paul Viapiano might have. He’s
certainly been on stage a lot at the
“I’ve been the principal guitarist/mandolinist with
the
“As guitarist for the Pantages and Ahmanson Theatres I
played the long-running productions of The Lion King, Wicked, The Book of
Mormon and Hamilton.
“Working with Phil Ramone on Frank Sinatra’s Duets
album, along with Barbra Streisand led to two more projects with him for B. B.
King and Barry Manilow. Phil had a special way in the studio as a producer and
all the stories you’ve heard about him are true. He knew how to make musicians
comfortable and get the best performances from them.”
Paul’s brother Mitch stayed in Buffalo and was a
technician at Russo’s Auto Service, the go-to car care oasis for office
workers downtown. There’s a photo of his work station on Facebook. He died last
December at the age of 62.
Keyboardist John Mattick also could have found his way
to Carnegie Hall, but he's seen bigger stages and larger crowds. After getting a bachelor’s
degree at Berklee College of Music, he spent four years as a sideman with the
Righteous Brothers, then joined Alabama – yes, that Alabama – as keyboardist in 1989. He was with them for nine
years. Since 2013, he’s been managing partner for Crew 22 Music, a production
and songwriting team in
As for Debbie Monaco, I have a hunch that she’s
Deborah Monaco Wojciechowski, who became purchasing director for the Catholic
Health System in 2007 after 30 years with Graphic Controls, where she was
purchasing manager. Her LinkedIn page also notes that she earned a bachelor’s degree
from
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