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Hot Dog Death
By Lou DiGiorno ’ 88
And so , gentlemen and ladies , from the decade that brought you flannels , flattops and five-disc changers , it is my pleasure to present what has been called “ as pure a ‘ 90s Fordham Prep experience as one can imagine ” — Hot Dog Death .
The iconic HDD logo .
Just after Midwinter Break , I walked into the staff room to find Mr . Craig Dwyer ’ 98 regaling a tableful of our colleagues with tales of his own Prep days .
It was a classic Dwyer routine : the one with a Milanese clown in a Mussolini mask swinging from a trapeze in his nonna ’ s basement , a peregrine falcon carrying off a Yorkshire terrier during a Metropolitan Day outing , and a crazy lady on the corner of Van Nest Avenue whose ’ 46 Nash had sat unmoved in her driveway since the Carter Administration .
The assembled audience for Mr . Dwyer ’ s shtick included principal Joe Petriello ’ 98 , Mr . Brian Sullivan ’ 96 , Mr . T J O ’ Sullivan ’ 98 and Mr . Anthony DiFato ’ 99 . Messrs . Verlezza and Ward of the Math Department were on hand — Classes of 1994 and 1992 respectively . Mr . Jeff Butkowski ’ 99 was at the coffeemaker and Admissions Director Brad Serton ’ 95 was leaning up against the fridge . Newcomer to the Engagement Office , Mr . Mike Balestra ’ 94 , strolled in mid-story . And sitting away from the crowd down at the far of the lounge , Mr . Nelson Ritter ’ 96 was quietly poring over Biblical commentaries and / or golf scoresheets .
“ Hey , school historian ,” Mr . Dwyer addressed me , wrapping up his monologue . “ Why don ’ t you ever write about the ’ 90s ?”
“ What do you mean ?” I came back at him , “ I wrote that article on the 1890 construction of Hughes Hall only a few months ago !”
Ten pairs of eyes — including my boss ’ — narrowed and fixed their gaze . [ Yes , I know there were 11 of them , but Mr . Ritter never looked up ; he just faux-cleared his throat in disapproval .]
Point taken .
The idea that would become the most notable , quasi-ironic , bilingual , rock and ( thrash / death ) metal band in school history was conceived in the Commons in the fall of 1991 , at a table under the no-longer-existent back windows that looked out over the pit and girders that would soon be the Leonard Theatre . It was the regular lunch spot for a group of friends who shared both a good sense of humor and a great love of music . More than just rock and metal enthusiasts , these boys from the Class of 1992 had some fairly refined musical skills : Rob Cramer on guitar ; Thom Cavuto onbass and Albert Tria on drums . Under Cramer ’ s leadership , the trio of instrumentalists would add a fourth , and with the addition of the over-the-top , metal-inspired vocal stylings of Dave Varenne , HDD was born .
The name ? Well when your main goal is to form a band that takes itself far less seriously than — let ’ s say — Spinal Tap , it ’ s easy to see how Hot Dog Death just rolls off the tongue . Publicity ? An artist as well as musician , Cavuto handled the promotional imagery — including the iconic HDD logo — that in the words of a one long-time devotee , “ would come to define the decade .” [ Well , not really . But it did make the flyer .] Roadies ? There never were any , but there was a mocumentary of sorts shot by none other than the original ( Friend of Hot Dog Death ) fellow member of the Class of ’ 92 , Steve Iervolino . Interestingly , Iervolino has made a career of covering , editing and producing entertainment news . One wonders if his timeless teenage work on HDD : Behind the Music made it onto his CV .
Practices continued throughout the fall of their senior year — mostly at Cramer ’ s house in Tuckahoe — in preparation for their big Commons première [ is there even such a thing as a heavy metal accent grave ?] on the evening of November 8th at the FP Battle of the Bands . Also performing that night were the alt-rock Bad Yams and the lyrically acrobatic rap of Sam Walker ’ 92 .
HDD was loud . With their unrelenting percussion , aggressive riffs and artfully growled vocals , the boys were an immediate hit . Their set included a metallicafied version of the Troggs ’ “ Wild Thing ,” a couple of
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