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1927 – 2016
The tie, exactly: Remo Delmo Belli was born June 22, 1927, in Mishawaka, and grew up here — in his own words, given to Modern Drummer in March 2016, weeks before his death: "I grew up in Mishawaka, Indiana." An uncle played trumpet at one of the city's Italian clubs — the same club-band world that produced the Candoli brothers in this section — and Belli took up the drums at twelve and was playing professionally at sixteen.
The course: Belli served in the Navy as the Second World War ended, then made his living as a professional jazz drummer in Los Angeles, backing the singer Anita O'Day among others, and opened the Drum City shop in Hollywood. The invention that carries his name came out of the shop's practical problem — calfskin heads failed in bad weather — and out of a collaboration with the chemist Sam Muchnick: a drumhead of Mylar polyester film, consistent in every climate. Belli founded Remo Inc. in 1957 to make it, and the Weather King head became the industry standard; Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa were among its early endorsers. In 1961 the company built the largest bass drum on record for Disneyland, a feat Guinness carried. In his later years Belli worked with his wife, Dr. Ami Belli, on music-and-wellness programs, and he stood among the founding supporters of the Percussive Arts Society.
The end: Belli died April 25, 2016, at Pasadena, California, of pneumonia, aged 88; one trade thread carried April 26, and the conflict is noted at that weight. The Businesses leg owns Mishawaka's companies; the man who changed what every drum in the world is skinned with was born and raised on these streets, and he is this section's.
Sources:
- Modern Drummer, March 2016 interview ("I grew up in Mishawaka, Indiana"; the Italian club uncle; drums at twelve)
- Pollstar / Associated Press obituary, April 2016 (birth and death dates; Drum City; the Mylar head; Remo Inc., 1957)
- NAMM oral history program, Belli interview; Drum Corps International remembrance