Biography
Robert Antoni and Vincent Furnier share an unusual history: each fronted a 1960s outfit named Nazz and adopted colorful stage personas, with Furnier becoming Alice Cooper while Antoni performed as Stewkey, the lead singer and keyboardist. The name itself reached Antoni through two sources. Richard “Lord” Buckley, the 1950s and ’60s preacher-rapper, repeatedly announced that “the Nazz” was on the way, referring to the Nazarene. The Yardbirds’ B-side “The Nazz Are Blue,” paired with “Shapes of Things,” supplied an additional spark.
Born in New London, Connecticut, on 17 November 1947, Antoni began singing at eight or nine and first took up an instrument at fourteen, absorbing the Beatles, the Who, Cream, the Move, and the broader British Invasion. Radio shaped his wide-ranging tastes. His initial group, the Mods, formed when he was thirteen; he played both keyboards and guitar. Subsequent bands included Public Nuisance and the gentler, folk-tinged Elizabeth before he joined Todd Rundgren in the lasting incarnation of Nazz.
In February 1967, Antoni was driving toward a Florida spring-break engagement when his car failed in Philadelphia. That mishap kept him local and led him into Elizabeth. While performing with that band at the Second of Autumn club, he met Woody’s Truck Stop, whose guitarist, Rundgren, hoped to assemble a flashier, Beatles-and-Who-inspired unit. Antoni embraced the concept. John Lennon became his principal vocal and personal influence, an impact he still credits with teaching him much about himself. Nazz shared stages with Albert King, the Bee Gees, the J. Geils Band, Big Brother & the Holding Company, and Spirit, and appeared at the 1969 Texas International Pop Festival alongside Janis Joplin, Canned Heat, Led Zeppelin, and Sam & Dave.
The group issued two albums; the second had originally been conceived as a double set. Creative friction surfaced when Rundgren embraced Laura Nyro’s style, management raised performance fees sharply, and expectations grew that Nazz would be marketed as “the American Beatles.” Those pressures ended the band after roughly two years.
The second album, Nazz Nazz, contained several tracks originally sung by Rundgren. The label later persuaded Antoni to replace those vocals. He and the drummer resisted placing the more melodic material on what they viewed as a rock album, and they also doubted the group’s touring schedule could support a double release. When Nazz reached Texas, its management collapsed. Carson Van Osten and Thom Mooney headed for California; Rundgren departed as well. Antoni remained in Houston, deliberately distancing himself from New York’s music industry. Years afterward he viewed the decision as an error, yet the same circumstances placed him in front of the three musicians who would soon form the core of Cheap Trick before Robin Zander arrived.
Rick Nielsen telephoned, inviting Antoni and Mooney to join an existing band called Fuse that already included bassist Tom Petersson; Rundgren had supplied Nielsen with Antoni’s number through his father. The ensemble lasted six or seven months, performing as Fuse or Nazz according to the territory. While playing in Wisconsin, Petersson informed Antoni that a third Nazz album had appeared. The news stunned him; he later described feeling “a hole in his soul” upon learning that unreleased masters had been issued without his consent. The rumor that he deliberately overdubbed Rundgren’s vocals to erase them is unfounded. The album’s release prompted Antoni to resume touring. “Hello It’s Me” reached the charts while he was nineteen, soon turning twenty. Fuse evolved into Sick Man of Europe after Bun E. Carlos replaced Mooney, completing the eventual Cheap Trick lineup of Nielsen, Petersson, Carlos, and Antoni.
The band traveled east seeking a recording deal, then moved to Illinois. Antoni married; when his wife became pregnant he withdrew from music between roughly 1975 and 1995 to raise three children who later gave him five granddaughters. He worked as a limousine driver and bartender during those years.
In the early 2000s, Moogy Klingman contacted him about a combined Nazz–Utopia tribute to Rundgren titled Nazztopia. The resulting DVD was recorded on 2 October 2002 at New York’s Triad club. Antoni then assembled a new Nazz with New Jersey musicians. The five-piece configuration—guitarist Otto Capobianco, bassist Larry Fisher (formerly with Sebastian Bach), keyboardist-vocalist Rich Carley, and drummer Mark Montoro—has been dubbed Nazz 5.0. They released the album Hello It’s Crazy Me, accompanied by a promotional DVD containing live footage of “Open My Eyes” and music-and-slide presentations of “Hello It’s Me” and “Wildwood Blues.” Performances alongside the Orlons, Charlie Gracie, Essra Mohawk, Rick Derringer, and the Soul Survivors helped reintroduce Antoni and his band to audiences.
Born in New London, Connecticut, on 17 November 1947, Antoni began singing at eight or nine and first took up an instrument at fourteen, absorbing the Beatles, the Who, Cream, the Move, and the broader British Invasion. Radio shaped his wide-ranging tastes. His initial group, the Mods, formed when he was thirteen; he played both keyboards and guitar. Subsequent bands included Public Nuisance and the gentler, folk-tinged Elizabeth before he joined Todd Rundgren in the lasting incarnation of Nazz.
In February 1967, Antoni was driving toward a Florida spring-break engagement when his car failed in Philadelphia. That mishap kept him local and led him into Elizabeth. While performing with that band at the Second of Autumn club, he met Woody’s Truck Stop, whose guitarist, Rundgren, hoped to assemble a flashier, Beatles-and-Who-inspired unit. Antoni embraced the concept. John Lennon became his principal vocal and personal influence, an impact he still credits with teaching him much about himself. Nazz shared stages with Albert King, the Bee Gees, the J. Geils Band, Big Brother & the Holding Company, and Spirit, and appeared at the 1969 Texas International Pop Festival alongside Janis Joplin, Canned Heat, Led Zeppelin, and Sam & Dave.
The group issued two albums; the second had originally been conceived as a double set. Creative friction surfaced when Rundgren embraced Laura Nyro’s style, management raised performance fees sharply, and expectations grew that Nazz would be marketed as “the American Beatles.” Those pressures ended the band after roughly two years.
The second album, Nazz Nazz, contained several tracks originally sung by Rundgren. The label later persuaded Antoni to replace those vocals. He and the drummer resisted placing the more melodic material on what they viewed as a rock album, and they also doubted the group’s touring schedule could support a double release. When Nazz reached Texas, its management collapsed. Carson Van Osten and Thom Mooney headed for California; Rundgren departed as well. Antoni remained in Houston, deliberately distancing himself from New York’s music industry. Years afterward he viewed the decision as an error, yet the same circumstances placed him in front of the three musicians who would soon form the core of Cheap Trick before Robin Zander arrived.
Rick Nielsen telephoned, inviting Antoni and Mooney to join an existing band called Fuse that already included bassist Tom Petersson; Rundgren had supplied Nielsen with Antoni’s number through his father. The ensemble lasted six or seven months, performing as Fuse or Nazz according to the territory. While playing in Wisconsin, Petersson informed Antoni that a third Nazz album had appeared. The news stunned him; he later described feeling “a hole in his soul” upon learning that unreleased masters had been issued without his consent. The rumor that he deliberately overdubbed Rundgren’s vocals to erase them is unfounded. The album’s release prompted Antoni to resume touring. “Hello It’s Me” reached the charts while he was nineteen, soon turning twenty. Fuse evolved into Sick Man of Europe after Bun E. Carlos replaced Mooney, completing the eventual Cheap Trick lineup of Nielsen, Petersson, Carlos, and Antoni.
The band traveled east seeking a recording deal, then moved to Illinois. Antoni married; when his wife became pregnant he withdrew from music between roughly 1975 and 1995 to raise three children who later gave him five granddaughters. He worked as a limousine driver and bartender during those years.
In the early 2000s, Moogy Klingman contacted him about a combined Nazz–Utopia tribute to Rundgren titled Nazztopia. The resulting DVD was recorded on 2 October 2002 at New York’s Triad club. Antoni then assembled a new Nazz with New Jersey musicians. The five-piece configuration—guitarist Otto Capobianco, bassist Larry Fisher (formerly with Sebastian Bach), keyboardist-vocalist Rich Carley, and drummer Mark Montoro—has been dubbed Nazz 5.0. They released the album Hello It’s Crazy Me, accompanied by a promotional DVD containing live footage of “Open My Eyes” and music-and-slide presentations of “Hello It’s Me” and “Wildwood Blues.” Performances alongside the Orlons, Charlie Gracie, Essra Mohawk, Rick Derringer, and the Soul Survivors helped reintroduce Antoni and his band to audiences.
Albums
Singles