Dino Danelli had an amazing creative career. He was born in Jersey City to an Italian American family and by the time he was 17 he had played drums for jazz legend Lionel Hampton then took the train south and ended up playing soul, blues and R & B in New Orleans. He found a band that he liked, convinced them to come back to Jersey and played around a bit still searching for the right mix.

In 1964, at the height of The Beatles, he found Eddie Brigati, then Felix Cavaliere and Canadian blue-eyed Gene Cornish who came to form the Young Rascals after composing some new material, they did one of their first gigs at the Choo Choo Club in Garfield, New Jersey. The Rascals were a lightning hot Rock and Roll band that cranked out hit after top charting hit.