Early Seventies

It all began on Columbus Day, in 1971. Ray and Kenny Schwarz got together with fellow school chum, Bob Kinney from St. Anthony's High School, in Bob's room in Smithtown. Ken had talked to Bob often about getting together and playing. They needed a drummer and Ray said he'd learn to play a few beats. From this one meeting, a new era began. Bob, Ray, and Kenny continued to play but, they realized that they had to get a bass player if they wanted to play regular jobs. They asked Arthur Marblestone if he would like to play bass. Like Ray, Arthur knew nothing of the bass and said he'd do it if Kenny and Bob would teach him. Thus the band was born.
The boys continued playing together and picked up a repertoire of songs that consisted mostly of songs from the Rolling Stones (especially the live album Get Yer Ya Yas Out). They added a few songs from top current groups like the Beatles (Yes, they were still together), and the Allman Brothers. When they got a call to enter the battle of the bands, they needed a name. They decided on Marblestone. From the battle of the bands, they did high school dances, benefits, and parties. Their first club job was a place called Sherwood Forest in Levittown. After playing off and on at different dances and clubs, Marblestone got a steady job at the Rusty Nail in Massapequa run by the Birch family. This led to other jobs in other clubs. It was about this time that Ray and Kenny joined the St. John's Rugby team and started getting the team members to come down and see them. The Rugby players would drive all the way to Massapequa to see the band. Some of the guys still come down today. Around 1974, Arthur Marblestone left the band and took his name with him. Joe Paresi, another St. Anthony's alumnus, replaced Arthur. This began a long relationship with the Schwarz brothers that lasted until 1991. Joe gave the band a wider range of variety and added another voice to the band. The band changed their name to Revival ( or as Frank Jesse Parker would say "Rivial") and continued on their rock n roll adventure.
While still attending St. John's University, the Schwarz brothers befriended Ray Potenza, a marketing major at the college. The brothers prompted Ray to use his marketing background and become the band's agent. This relationship has lasted even till today. Ray got busy booking the band at various St. John's beer blasts and dances. The year 1975 marked the beginning of the hated Disco Era and the infamous Glitter Rock Age. While musicians dressed in sparkled apparel and two piece suits, the Schwarz brothers continued to dress the way of the grungy street rockers. Their agent gave them the name, the Scuz Brothers, and it has stuck to this day. (It must be noted that their agent was a member of that decadent and despicable Disco group.) The band's biggest break came in 1975, when Ray Potenza got them an audition date at Solomon Grundy's Pub in Rockville Centre. Brendan Black , the Pub's manager and another At. Anthony's graduate, liked the band and hired them on a regular basis. Drawing from their St. John's and Cortland base, the band picked up in popularity and spread out to other clubs such as the OBIs ( Oak Beach Inn), Solomon Grundy's clipper, and Beau Brummels.

Late Seventies

The Summer of 1976 was an important time because the first Khazadum Rock Festival was held in the Hamptons. This enabled the band to feature some of their musical friends, These people sat in with band and displayed their musical talents. It was also during that year that Bob Kinney bought the Schwarz brothers a Christmas present, the Bruce Springsteen album "Born to Run." He said, "Listen to this album, we got to do this guy."This would change the direction of the band for years to come. Still Sticking with their Rolling Stones and Southern Rock songs, the band developed an interest in the music of the Jersey Shore.
To expand in this direction they decided to add keyboards to their ensemble. In 1977, they hired Billy Murphy to play keyboards and changed the name of the band to ROCKS. The keyboards, especially the piano, helped the band perform songs they couldn't do before and added another spectra to the band's sound. The band inserted Bruce Springsteen material to their set lists and developed a larger following. ROCKS also decided to improve their stage appearance and sound. They added lights to their stage show and hired various people to do their sound. Ed (Punk Rock) DeLucie manned the light board. ROCKS's first job was at Niven's Pub in Port Washington. A major transitional year for ROCKS was 1979. Billy Murphy and Bob Kinney left the band. Searching far and wide, the boys found Nicky Mietro and Eric (Tanky) Milcetic as replacements. With Nicky on keyboards ( especially the Hammond B-3 organ and synthesizer) and Eric on guitar, sax, and flute, ROCKS developed a completely different sound. They concentrated mostly on the Springsteen , Southside Johnny, Doors, Tom Petty, and the Rolling Stones music. It was around this time that Eddie DeLucie handed the lighting job to his brother Bob (Dawg).

Early Eighties

Because of their success at Solomon Grundy's, ROCKS began to play in larger clubs. In the Summer of 1980, they played at the Boardy Barn with the Meade Brothers. One night ROCKS and the Meade Brothers outdrew all other bands that were playing in the Hamptons that particular night. they also began playing Solomon Grundy's Frigate, Scotland Yard in Manhattan, and Wilson's Garage in the Hamptons. Another transitional year occurred in 1983. Nicky Mietro left the band and this led to the return of Bill Murphy. Later that year, Eric Milcetic left the band and was replaced by Paul Levoti. Paul added a more modern versatility to the band as the music world was entering the New Wave Era. While keeping the Stones and Springsteen material, ROCKS added U2 and Billy Idol songs to their repertoire. The club scene also changed. The Boardy Barn ceased having bands and Solomon Grundy's closed. ROCKS started playing at the Dublin Pub in New Hyde Park ( Dublin Pub even advertised ROCKS as the band that outdrinks the clientele.), the Oak Tree Inn and Shooters in the Hamptons, and the Hunter Village Inn in upstate New York. Out of all these places, the most memorable was the Beach House in Long Beach.

Late Eighties

In 1986, Bill Murphy left the band again. ROCKS decided to go as a quartet and move Bob (Dawg) DeLucie to sound. Paul took over keyboard duties as well as playing guitar and sax. He became the ROCKS everything man. The band started playing new places like Dakota Rose in Amityville, Pig n Whistle in Bayville, Canterbury Ales in Oyster Bay, the Breffni in Sunnyside, the Red Lion in Greenwich Village, Cat Ballou in the Hamptons and a few times at Dublin Pub.

Early Nineties

When the nineties rolled in, the music world changed and so did ROCKS. Bob (Dawg) DeLucie had to give up his job with ROCKS. In 1992, Paul Levoti left the band. After 17 years of rock n roll service, Joe Paresi departed. Through the help of Lil Ray Potenza, ROCKS was able to find Bob ("the Cliff") Heaning for the guitar . The Schwarz brothers contacted old sound man Charlie (the Craw) Koeppel and he became the new bass player. Tommy (Mombo) Attonito took over the hard job of replacing the legend of the Dawg. Adding a new direction and personality, the new members brought ROCKS into the nineties with a new zest for playing. Rock n Roll changed once again and so did ROCKS and its environment. ROCKS moved into new areas of music such as the Stone Temple Pilots, Eric Clapton, and the Gin Blossoms.
The band started to play at clubs that varied in size and attitude. They also concentrated on playing in the Long Island area, with a few trips to Manhattan and Queens. Some of the new places were: Skippers Pub in Northport, Molly Bloom's in Smithtown, Mustang Sally's in West Islip, Napper Tandy's in Centereach, the Vegas Sports Cafe in Copaigue, Lily Flanagan's in Islip, the Diggs II Pub in Long Beach, Classic's in Levittown, and Flemings in Manhattan. They also returned to the Red Lion in Manhattan. The Schwarz brothers' old rugby coach, Alan Whalen, owned this establishment. Every time ROCKS played at the Red Lion the place was packed to the rafters. Another change occurred when Mombo, who built up quite a legend of his own, had to leave the band. Charlie's brother Mike fitfully replaced him. Mike sits in with the band on bass once and a while.
Moving into different areas of music, ROCKS has also moved into different clubs. Some of the prominent places are Classic's in Levittown and Katie Maye's in Long Beach. But the focal point of 1995 was the return of ROCKS to their original stomping grounds, Solomon Grundy's Pub in Rockville Centre. There still is the annual Crawstock Music festival, hosted by the Craw brothers, where musicians that don't normally get to play have a chance to show their chops. ROCKS usually make a guest appearance at the festival. ROCKS also played at the Branding Iron in Wantagh, owned by Debbie Carrara a long time friend of the band, and the Pitz Stop in Belmore.
The highlight of 1994 was the ROCKS Reunion held in Valley Stream on June 4. Old and new friends gathered to hear present and former ROCKS members play a benefit for Little Village School. ROCKS dipped into their rock n roll grab bag and played songs from their 23 year existence. The ROCKS Reunion band consisted of : Bob Kinney, Joe Paresi, Paul Levoti, Charlie Koeppel, Kenny Schwarz, Bob Heaning, and Ray Schwarz. The band was assisted by Tommy Dell, Zoot Frank, and over a hundred colored girls. The real reunion was at the soundboard where Mombo, the Dawg and Mike all hung out. The most interesting part of the night was the sound of the Scuz horn section ( Zoot and Paul).

Late Nineties

Around the summer of 1995, the town of Bayville on the north shore of Long Island, asked ROCKS to perform at one of their summer concert series. The event was a rousing success consisting of about 200 people listening to sounds of ROCKS at West Harbor beach in Bayville. This tradition has continued to the present summer of 1999 where over 400 people have attended the festival. People from all over, Long Island, New York, and New Jersey, and all different ages come to the concert every year. In 1998, the Craw decided to take a different route and was replaced by his brother Mike. Mike dutifully filled the position for two years. The good thing about this was that Mombo returned to the soundboard.
Thankgiving of 1998 brought about another reunion. Buck and Nan Sweeney held the first Solomon Grundy's reunion and asked the boys to play. All the old bartenders, waitresses, and bouncers returned for this occasion. Needing a bass player, ROCKS asked their friend Joe Paresi to help them out. The event was a great success and it could become an annual occurrence. Rocks played at an event sponsored by their friend Tommy Daum and brought the Craw and Bob Kinney to play the party. In July of 1999 ROCKS played the Branding Iron and their annual Bayville concert with Mikey.

Early 21st Century

Since you can't keep a good thing down, ROCKS came back from their sabbatical in the fall of 1999. Their first date back was the Solomon Grundy's Reunion at Rockwell's in Rockville Centre on Thanksgiving weekend. Callahan's in East Meadow was the setting of the next date and all that came down felt the band never sounded better. The band also played at the Irish Cottage in Massapequa Park, Otto's in Freeport, Classic's in Levittown, and their annual Bayville concert.
In 2005, ROCKS went through another transition as Mike Koeppel left the band. He was replaced by John Raguso who was no stranger to ROCKS. John filled in quite often in the mid eighties, so when he became available the band was more than happy to welcome him into the group. There was also another special event when Bob Kinney, the original ROCKS guitarist, filled in for a few nights. Oh, how things come around full-circle.
Besides the Irish Cottage, ROCKS has played at Callahan's in East Meadow and Sal's Place in Plainview. The band still does their yearly concert in Bayville and the Tommy Daum blast.

Thoughts

After 34 years of playing, the fire hasn't gone out. If everyone that was or still is involved with the band, either playing or listening thinks out it, we have some pretty good memories. Through the band, people have: developed lasting friendships, found a spouse, partook in some crazy adventures, encountered wild parties, and been in some strange places. Everyone came away with something they can hold on to. It's not only the band members but the people that were part of the scene that created the aura. Maybe Elvis, who is looking down on us, can do us one more favor. Ask the head Rocker from above, to let this go on a little while longer.