Vini Lopez

Vincent "Vini" "Mad Dog" Lopez (born January 22, 1949, Neptune Township, New Jersey) is an American drummer. Between 1968 and 1974 Lopez backed Bruce Springsteen in several bands, including Steel Mill and the E Street Band. He also played on Springsteen\'s first two albums, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. and The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle. After leaving the E Street Band, Lopez went on to play drums with numerous Jersey Shore bands, including The Lord Gunner Group. Since 2004 he has led his own band, Steel Mill Retro, which has performed and recorded original Springsteen songs from the Steel Mill era, as well as serve as mentor to emerging artists such as The Ries Brothers.\n', ' In April 2014, Lopez was inducted by Bruce Springsteen into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the E Street Band and is now an ambassador for the Rock Hall.[citation needed]\n', ' Lopez grew up in Neptune Township, New Jersey where he attended Neptune High School with both Garry Tallent and Southside Johnny. From 1956 to 1962 he played the soprano valve bugle in a Drum and Bugle Corps. Then as a teenager he taught himself the drums and began playing with Buzzy Lubinsky, a drummer/DJ based in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Lubinsky\'s father was Herman Lubinsky, owner of Savoy Records in Newark. Lubinsky would subsequently act as a mentor for the young Lopez. From 1964, with encouragement from Lubinsky, he began to try out for local bands. After a failed audition for The Storytellers, a band which included Bill Chinnock and Danny Federici, he successfully auditioned for The Blazers led by Sonny Kenn. They subsequently became Sonny & The Sounds and then Sonny & The Starfires. After graduating from high school in 1967, he continued to play with several local bands. These included the Downtown Tangiers Band, with Federici, Chinnock and Garry Tallent and Moment of Truth with Tallent, Tom Worieo, and Ricky DeSarno (guitars).\n', ' DeSarno and Lopez would become regular collaborators after Lopez left the E Street Band.\n', 'In 1970 Lopez worked at Carvers boatyard in Point Pleasant, New Jersey.\n', '