The song Moby Dick is automatically playing in the background.

Turn on your speakers or plug in headphones to hear it while you read.

Photo above, from The Battle of The Bands - taken by Pete Anello

Make sure you have your speakers on, or are wearing headphones Pete and I always considered this night to have been one of the happiest moments of our life. We had been together as a band for a year or two and we were very tight, constant practice and song adjustment forged us into a unit that was incapable of making a mistake.

To this day there is still controversy over the eventual outcome.

PART I (introduction)

Normally, a Battle of the Bands wouldn't have phased us. We were really good ... and we knew it. But this battle was a different story. It became very important to us, it became a must win endeavor, it became an obsession that resulted in endless practice, in all weather and whenever we had a free moment.

Because this Battle was for all the marbles. It would determine who was the number 1 or number 2 band in Farmingdale ... it would give bragging rights and potentially many gigs at parties and dances. Because, for this battle we were up against a band that was composed of each of our individual, musical-counterpart nemesis' -- Louie Vecchio, John Gatto and Jimmy Martino!

Louie Vecchio vs. Pete on Drums (Both class of '74)

Louie was the acknowledged #1 drummer in Farmingdale HS, Pete considered #2.

Louie had cemented his rating in Jr, High one night while in the band Il lama (also with Gatto), during a Saturday night dance in the Weldon E. Howitt Jr, High gym, they were immortalized (and subsequently banned from playing) when they did the "Fish Cheer" from Woodstock. If you don't know it it starts"gimmie an "F", gimmie a "U", etc until the crowd complies, then shout "What's that spell?" "What's that spell?", etc. When parents found out that their little darlings had been chanting the "ef" word, they wanted to close Weldon E. Howitt Jr. High down.

Until the battle, That was the defining musical moment in Farmingdale history; and Louie and Gatto were GODS!

John "the cat" Gatto vs. Elliot on Guitar (both class of '73)

Gatto & Elmo were considered equally #1 guitarists

Gatto was the more structured, technical player (and beloved of Fish Cheer fame)

Elmo had more soul, could jam better than Clapton, and had both a better        guitar AND a WALL of Marshalls)

Jimmy Marino vs. me, Dave Brimlow, on Bass (Jimmy class of '73, I was class of '74)

Jimmy was the best Bass player ... period, I was considered #2 and had no allusions or aspirations to attempt gong against him one on one (besides, he was class of '73, I would eventually be #1 by default anyway) - so I decided I wouldn't do a solo and we took Cactus' song Oleo out of the set list. I felt that I would show my ability in our "Squeeze My Lemon" Blues Jam.

That all said, our strategic mission was twofold:

a.) be the better Band overall, and win the contest

b.) Let Pete go up against Louie ... mano-a-mano ... and challenge him for the #1 drummer spot

We practiced every day after school from 4:30 until @ 11:30, in the attic of Pete's garage. It was sweltering in the summer and bitterly cold in the winter, but that meant nothing to us. Because when the neighbor would call the cops, Pete's father schmoozed them, the let us continue ... he hated his neighbor and we were the best revenge. Ah bada-bing!

Since Pete was so determined to be better than Louie that night; Elliot and I would push his playing almost beyond belief. We would play songs that had long drum solos -- one after the other (Moby Dick then right into Soul Sacrifice) -- and just before the songs would end, we would jump right back into the verse prior to the solo and make him do it again. He got so good, that for fun he would play wipe out with his feet on the double bass drums.

So far as I can remember this was our set list:

Immigrant Song (Led Zeppelin)

Parchment Farm (Cactus)

Crossroads (Cream)

Blues Jam (based on Led Zeppelin's Squeeze My Lemon)

Come On Up (The Young Rascals)

Rock & Roll Medley (based on Going Home - 10 Years After)

Rocky Mountain Way (Joe Walsh)

Moby Dick (Led Zeppelin) Pete's 45 minute drum solo

We also pulled out all the stops for equipment.

Eliot had his awesome 1967 Gibson SG Standard through a 200 watt Marshall head, one Marshall cabinet w 4-10" speakers and another with 8-10"s (as Pete called it, with a fake French accent - "Mar Shell Cabi Nette?")

I borrowed George Blind's 1969 Gibson EBO bass through my 200 watt Kustom w 2-15"s that I bought from Jimmy Martino), slaved into a 100 watt Traynor bass head and a 15" bass reflex cabinet.

Usually Eliot sang all songs, but for the battle Pete sang the immigrant Song and I sang harmony with Eliot on our suprise song ... Come On Up. This was a suprise because in 1971 most "cool" bands played "Jam" songs, heavily instrument oriented. But, Come On Up was a "Pop" song by The Young Rascals. It was just a song, no guitar solos, no jamming. But it was a very cool song.

We were loaded for bear and on a mission for Pete.

PART II     (the battle - Louie's been bugging me to finish this)

I don't remember how the order of bands was selected, but we were thrilled to be 3rd and last because we knew our set would be the fresh in the minds of non-partisan voters. Louie was 2nd and the poor "throw-in" band was first - no one knew who they were.

The first band did give a valiant effort and played to their best ability. I only remember them doing a very credible version of The James Gang's "Funk49".

Then Louie's band. Man they were great! They had a little surprise of their own. They did an awesome version of The Allman Brothers' "You Don't Love Me". And Jimmy Martino did a bass solo that I still remember to this day. Louie, as always, was solid, confident and perfect. They were literally one unit. Musically as tight, precise and together as a band can be.

I was freaked. They totally rattled me. Particularly Jimmy's solo. How could I compete against that? Did our set have too much jamming? Could Eliot sing as good as Gatto?

But, Eliot was ... well, Eliot. He is not someone who can be rattled and not someone who questions his own ability. And, Pete was in a zone that nothing would snap him out of. This was his night. We had practiced for this harder and more focused than we had done anything in our lives. And we had pushed Pete beyond his own expectations.

They both calmed me down somewhat. I remember Eliot telling me not to worry about Jimmy's solo. That what I did on the blues jam was better than a solo and that I would blow Jimmy away. Pete told me that we had a better set because our songs were better and showcased our individual playing better (of course not in those words, but this is a family web site .. hee, hee).

It was now our turn; I was never more nervous in my life.

I will never forget the first few moments. As I put on my bass, the world was surreal. I felt outside of myself, as if I was just along for the ride while someone else was doing the motions of strapping on the bass, plugging the curly cord into the amps and turning them on. I don't know if I am explain the feeling right, let me go to that moment:

hypersensitive of everything.

the crowd, a cacophony of male/female voices,

indistinguishable words and voices, a buzz varying in volume

occasional spikes of laughter,

Eliot tuning up,

Pete testing his two bass drum pedals,

a faint whiff of wax from the gym floors, sharp and acrid,

slipping the strap over my head, the weight of the bass as on my shoulder.

look up ... Pete then Eliot, no smiles, serious.

Eliot nods.

watch his mouth

One... two...

a split second explosion of panic flares in my chest and spreads over my body...

...three!

As one we hit the powerful, driving, opening notes of The Immigrent Song.

no time for panic.

no time for thought, smells, noises.

there is only the song

focused, only playing

drive the notes in sync with Pete's drums

Pete's voice is screaming from the P.A. speakers

we are one...

we are powerful...

we are invincible!

It only took the first few note for me to lose all worries. The Immigrant Song is a very powerful, yet easy to play song. When we finished the crowd went wild and I knew deep in my soul, right in that moment, that we had won. All that practice had made playing so easy, so effortless. There was nothing to fear.

Eliot shined on Parchmen Farm and Crossroads. Showcasing his great playing.

I outdid myself on the blues jam. Looking back, knowing what I know now, it is indeed a bass player's showcase. Back then, bass solos were heavy and hard rock oriented. But, what I did was timeless. Bass players today could still play the same way and be praised by anyone no matter their musical preference. And if you heard the old bass solos today, you would recognize them as dated and not suited to any music other than '60s jam rock. Listen to Zeppelin's "Squeeze My Lemon" and you will get an idea of what I mean.

Our suprise song, Come On Up, was a big hit and we got an enormous ovation        for it. The Rock & Roll medley was loosely based on "Going Home" by Ten Years After, and we all had our moments with it.

But now came the moment. This was what it was about. This was just for Pete, Eliot and I were merely along for the ride. The time for his solo. Moby Dick. No serious faces now. We had ear to ear grins. Pete put on a Frank Sinatra type hat and said, "let's do it."

For those who don't know the song, Moby Dick is an instrumental with a drum solo in the middle, then the music starts again, and the ending has stops in it that the drums fill in wildly then ... BAM ... it ends.

Part III (Pete's solo, the outcome, and the controversy)

Basically, Elmo and I never heard or saw Pete's solo that night.

As soon as we reached the point in the song where his solo begins, we took off our instruments, put our amps on standby, walked out of the gym, jumped into Mark Milnes' vette, and drove to the pizza parlor on Boundary Avenue & Broadway.

.... About half hour later, we decided to get back to the gym.

From outside we could hear Pete's drums. After almost 40 minutes, he was still smokin' and the crowd was diggin' every minute of it!

We walked in to huge cheers, picked up our guitars and at a nod from Elmo ... BAM ... as one, we jumped into the ending phases of the song - which after 40 minutes pushes the drummer even harder (push the slider below almost to the end to hear the ending phase).

As soon as we hit the last note, the crowd roared and were on their feet for Pete.

I immediately went into the bass line of Soul Sacrifice (another 40 minute drum solo song) Pete threw his sticks at me.

Eliot said "Pete Triola on Drums. Dave Brimlow on Bass, I'm Eliot Jacobs, good night"

We walked off with the crowd still going wild for Pete.

I remember as we were hugging each other, Jimmy Martino came over to us to congratulate our set. I don't remember his exact words, but he said something to the effect that, "You guys just won this battle."

I congratulated him as well and said I was disappointed that I didn't get a chance to do a bass solo, and how much I liked his. This I'll never forget ... he, said, "What you did on that blues jam was better than any solo anyone could play and that it was better than the solo he did."  To this day I respect his saying that; he didn't have to, and that's what made me realize it wasn't hollow platitudes.

John and Louie also shook our hands and said, "We sounded good".

There was an intermission while they counted the votes for the winner. There were close to 300 tickets, and they set up a table in the cafeteria to count them (I remember seeing three people doing it.)

I went out for a smoke and a few bee... ah, sodas, with my girlfriend, Marie, my brother Lopez and some other friends.

A little while later someone called us in to speak with the event committee. As soon as we walked in, they said that someone, (an old girlfriend of mine, Barbara De bona and a few of her friends) had been collecting tickets from people, asking if they weren't going to vote could she have the tickets. Apparently, she had "stuffed" the ballot box with our number. Therefore, we were disqualified.

It was like someone hit me in the chest with a sledgehammer. Pete and Eliot were livid and we were all shouting. I asked them to remove any of the tickets that had the same handwriting, or to have the audience decide with applause. We had nothing to do with the stuffing and we should not be penalized because of it.

But they wouldn't relent.

We had been disqualified for something we had nothing to do with.

A little while later, back in the gym, one of the event people walks up to a mic and says, "We have the results of the voting ... the winner is band #2".

No mention that we were disqualified, no mention that the winner was therefore a given, because Band #1 was not even in the same league as us.

I saw Louie jumping up and down and hugging Jimmy. In a daze, I walked over and shook their hands and congratulated them. Then walked back to our area to help break down our equipment.

Pete and Elliot were throwing and slamming things and totally lost and livid.

Again, Jim Martino came over and told us we were robbed and that we won the event. Louie and John came over to shake our hands, Pete just walked away. He wasn't mad at them personally. He was just too disappointed because we had put so much of ourselves into it. I think it was more important to Pete and me than everyone else involved.

A month later the band broke up. A month after that I quit bass and started playing guitar, and yet a month after that Pete quit Drums and started playing guitar.

As it turned out it was for the best. I went on to a successful 5 year career as a session guitarist in Manhattan, and Pete        became one of the finest all around guitarists I know.

Pete and I played together in a really fun band again, from 1976 - 1978.

With:

Joe Cattano on Drums

Al Quinn on Keyboards

Steve Lopez on Bass

Jim Boppe on Vocals

In November, 2003, Pete and I were talking about what happens when we die and if we can go back to great moments in our lives. We both agreed that regardless of the outcome, the Battle was one of our greatest moments and that, some day, when it was our time, we would meet again to just sit in the gym that night and watch ourselves play ...

... Please wait until I get there, too, Pete. ---- Dave Brimlow, NJ, 2004