The Ravens: History

The Ravens History: 1985-86
by John Anthony

After the 1978 breakup, I never expected to play again as The Ravens. But as fate would have it, Joe Gracia was coming east on a business trip in February, 1985. He contacted Jeff and I, and we mended our broken fences as fast as we'd knocked them down. We decided to all get together and have a Ravens reunion.

The original Ravens, Jeff, Richie, Joe and I, got together at Jeff's house in New Milford one evening. All except Bruce, whom we'd lost track of. We hauled in our dusty gear and played as many of songs as we could remember.

The four of us hadn't all played together for 17 years, so we were pleasantly surprised that we still had that spark. We video taped it for our posterity. Once in a while it's fun to look at that tape and reminisce.

As it turns out Jeff and Richie were in a group called Spectrum. Richie had a new prosthetic that enabled him to be on his feet without the discomfort the old one produced. After our reunion Joe headed back to Wisconsin.

Jeff, Richie and I were flying high from the fun we had playing together again and decided to get together one more time. This time George D'Aiuto joined us as a guitar player and singer. George, Barry and I had played together in a wedding band called Starfyre a few years earlier and George fit right in with us.

We played at the Hayloft in New Milford and did some weddings and parties. This incarnation of The Ravens lasted about a year and a half. Over time George and Jeff expressed interests in other styles of music. It became difficult to move forward together with interests that were spreading out. Richie left the group early in 1986 and a few months later I did as well. George and Jeff went on and formed a band with a heavy metal sound.

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