'The Roar of L'Amour'

DEE SNYDER MEETS VITO BRATTA - I was there

Taken from a Facebook post

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Some of you know before Vito was in White Lion, he was in a popular cover bands called Dreamer.

But before that he was in a local SI band called Storm.

In 1980/81 (3/4 years before started aa DJ at L'Amour), I went to see Twisted Sister at The Rock Palace in SI and saw Vito there.

I didn't know him but knew of him from always seeing him either at The Factory or The Rock Palace.

Twisted comes on and Vito is standing in front of me about 10-15 feet from the stage.

He was alone and wasn't talking to anybody and just watching the band.

He was very much a loner, even then.

I mentioned to my friend to watch Dee points him out.

Dee used to have a part in the show where he would rap and go off on a member in the audience that stood out for not reacting.

I got to know Vito pretty well about a year (or so) later and found out he really wasn't the way he was coming across.

He wasn't the type to headbang or chant back to a band.

Midway through the set I caught Dee looking towards our area and he fixated on Vito and I knew it was on.

After the song, he starts doing mic work and putting over the crowd and then says ...

"except for this one fuckin guy that is just standing there refusing to react"

He then proceeded to rip into Vito and asked him how long it took to "iron his hair" to his shirt.

It was so brutal, I felt bad for Vito (even though I didn't really know him).

Place went nuts, Dee killed it and I remember seeing Vito just take it and not react.

I wondered if he was stuck up or shy and about a year later found out.

I was working at The Factory at this time and got to know Vito pretty well.

Heck I even hooked them up with the drummer that replaced Glen Evans in Dreamer.

Vito was just very introverted and not stuck up, but it came across that way.

He wasn't a party guy or the type to draw focus to himself.

He was aloof.

I remember White Lion opening for Ace (RIP) in Poughkeepsie and hanging out in a motel room and Vito saying to me "you always were fun to be around".

That stood out to me because here is a guy on the way to rock stardom and still figuring out how to enjoy it.

He was actually a lot of fun that night and I remember thinking "he got this"

Thinking back, I wonder if Dee ever found out he spent 5 minutes goofing on someone who would also become famous?

Yes, Vito was the "iron the hair to his shirt" guy for one night in 1980 ...

Actually, we called him that for a year after, but don't tell Vito

PS: I found out recently that Vito discussed the evening. he said Dee saw him outside and they had a good talk about it.

Chuck Kaye

Ah Yes Indeed

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