Who is Roger C. Reale?
Rhode Island native. Songwriter. "Poet Laureate of the Nutmeg State." Roger has been playing music in Connecticut for 30 years. For 25 of those years he has been a friend and occasional collaborator of The Reducers. These pages are an unofficial attempt to document the excellent catalog of music that he has created.
I am by no strech of the imagination an expert on his musical career. However, due to the references to Roger on my web site for The Reducers I get email on a pretty regular basis asking for help in locating a copy of his Rue Morgue LP or if I know what Roger is up to. If you can fill in any of many gaps on these pages please let me know.
Roger's official web site for his current band, The Manchurians, can be found at Bandcamp.
I've divided Roger's career into the following sections:
Big Sound
After signing with Trod Nossel Studios on their "Big Sound" label, Roger played bass on most of the tracks on "Bionic Gold", a 1977 album of cover versions of songs originally produced by Phil Spector, performed by various Big Sound artists. Roger also sang one of the tracks, "Da Doo Ron Ron." He also played bass on some tracks on a 1978 Big Sound LP by The Yankees, featuring his future songwriting partner Jon Tiven.
Roger C. Reale & Rue Morgue
This band consisted of Roger on bass and lead vocals, G.E. Smith on guitar, and Hilly Michaels on drums. After the release of their first LP, G.E. left the band to take a gig with Dan Hartman who was touring in support of his big hit, "Instant Replay". Rue Morgue returned to the Trod Nossel studios with Jimmy MacAllister and Mick Ronson on guitar. Some tracks were recorded but none were completed or released.
The Roger C. Reale Band
Following the break-up of Rue Morgue, Roger formed the RCR Band. Their output is limited to an excellent 3-song 7" EP titled "Clout", released in 1981 featuring Suburban Joe on drums and Tim Stawarz on guitar.
The Reducers with Roger C. Reale
Roger recorded a 3-song 12" EP with The Reducers titled "Wake The Neighbors", released in 1987.
Late 80's through 1995 and beyond
During this period Roger was writing songs for other artists. He also recorded a CD's worth of songs in 1995 which were never released. He continues to collaborate on songwriting with other artists.
The Manchurians
Formed in 1999, The Manchurians are Roger, his son Mat Reale on drums and Mike Roth on guitar. The band has released their first CD, "All For One", in 2001 and followed that up with five more CDs.