Why rocker Bob Campanell keeps rolling after 40 years
By Charlie Wood — Ocean City Sentinel — Thursday, August 10th 2006

“Hey, what happened to my clappers?” he hollers out, guitar slung over his shoulders.

The big crowd in a dancing mood at a Friday night Somers Point beach concert, responds with hands in the air, clapping, dancing and singing along as Bob Campanell and his band play “Brown Eyed Girl.” Campanell, a Jersey Shore musical legend, has been doing this sort of thing for the past 40 years or so, dating back to 1965 when his band played for an eighth grade dance at the Mary Voltz school in Runnemede. “That was our first paying gig and we made $5 apiece,” he says. “We’ve been doing it ever since.”

In 1970, the band, at that time known as Dragonwyck, moved to Wildwood and from there went a few miles north to Bayshores in Somers Point. “We’d play a couple of sets at Bayshores and then go over to Dunes Till Dawn and play from midnight to six in the morning,” says Campanell. “The place was packed at three to four in the morning.”

By 1975, Bob Campanell was playing the Stone Pony with his new band The Shakes.

“We were the house band and we opened for acts like Cheap Trick, Meatloaf and Sam & Dave,” he says. “It was common to have Bruce (Springsteen) on stage with me. That was right after “Born to Run.” Bruce was great. Our drummer used to play in the E Street Band, so Bruce would come by to see him. My band used to play softball games against Bruce’s band.

A recent interview in the Asbury Park Press with Jon Bon Jovi asked the pop singer which groups influenced his early musical style. Bon Jovi replied: Lance Larson. The Bangs. The Shakes.

Campanell hasn’t changed his music much over the years. He’s written a lot of the music his band performs and the rest has come from other musicians. “We never did top 40 stuff,” he says. “We always did stuff we liked. I try to sing a variety of stuff- country, R&B, soul and even Sinatra. I like the old classics and my own stuff and that’s nice to be able to say. There’s always a reason for every song we do. Each one means something to us. A few songs we do get tired of, but people like to hear them.”

After 25 years with The Shakes, in 2000, Campanell decided it was time to try something new. “The Shakes were old friends of mine but I saw it being the same thing year after year. I’m not thinking about changing what we do, but I wanted to do my own stuff and I wanted to do some spiritual music,” says Campanell.

Campanell says many of the songs he wrote as a young men in the 1970’s, seem to be just as relevant to young people today. “Young people seem to connect with those songs,” he says. “There’s some soul searching, some introspection.” Like most other young people in the decades of the 60’s and 70’s, he was searching for a direction in his life. “ I don’t really want to go into the details, but I came face to face with God and it changed my life,” he says. “ He gave me a wonderful wife and children. I’m not special. My message is ‘He did it for me, He’ll do it for you.’ It’s kept me on an even path ever since I gave my life to the Lord.”

Campanell has chosen to spend his life as a singer, entertaining people. He has four sons, ranging in age from 12 to 21 and they all play music, quite often with their Dad. He now performs either as a solo act or with his band that includes Danny Eyer on lead guitar, Tommy Staszewski on drums and Tony DiMattia on Bass. “ I love people and I love audience participation,” he says. “Music will take you everywhere. You’re involved with special events in peoples’ lives- weddings, anniversaries. “I consider myself blessed to play music and show people a good time,” he adds. “My voice is a God-given gift. I don’t take credit for a voice that was given to me. Everybody’s got something. You’ve just got to find it. You’ve got to find a way to keep your passion, otherwise it becomes a drag. It doesn’t matter what you do. That’s our contribution to society and to me that’s important, even if you effect just one person.”


Performance Schedule
Bob Campanell keeps a busy schedule along the Jersey Shore during the summer. Every Tuesday he is at the Tuckahoe Inn from 6-10 p.m. as a solo act. On Wednesdays he performs solo at Macs from 9-midnight. On Saturday from 8:30 -11:30 he performs as a solo act at Henny’s Restaurant in Stone Harbor. Every Sunday night Bob Campanell and his band perform From 6-10 p.m. at the Tuckahoe Inn’s outdoor Backbay Café. For complete list of engagements