Domenic “Donnie” Troiano passed away peacefully in his home on Wednesday, May 25 at age 59, after a courageous seven month battle with prostate cancer. Born in Modugno, Italy, Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductee Domenic Troiano began his musical career replacing Robbie Robertson (one of his early influences) in Ronnie Hawkins’ band. ~Later he became a member of various bands, including the Mandala and the James Gang – the latter replacing the departing Joe Walsh. Troiano then struck out on his own and released his first, self-titled, solo album in 1972. By the mid ‘70s, Domenic’s profile was raised to another level when he became a member of the famed rock group, The Guess Who. When they disbanded Troiano began to dabble in diverse genres such as jazz and funk. These influences began to show in his subsequent solo releases in the late ‘70s.
More recently, Domenic had concentrated his efforts on composing for film and television, while still making guest appearances as a session player for other artists. He handled music supervision for films and TV, including the CBS series “Night Heat,” “Diamonds” and “Hot Shots,” among many others. In demand for session work in both Toronto and Los Angeles in the ’80s, Troiano appeared then on recordings by Steely Dan, Diana Ross, Joe Cocker and David Clayton-Thomas. He was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1996.
A funeral is planned for Monday in north Toronto. Further information is available upon request.
He will be missed greatly by all of his family and many friends.
May 27th, 2005 at 2:55 am
RIP, he was one of the greatest guitarists Canada will ever have, there are a few songs that put a tear in my eye when I hear it, some of them are sad, while others are just so good, he was one of the most under-rated guitarists Canada will ever have, I especially like Three Dog Night’s cover of his old band’s (the ORIGINAL Bush) song “I Can Hear you Calling”, it’s an amazing song, it’s on iTunes in the States, but too bad it’s not in Canada, I was watching CTV News net only a few minutes earlier, it had a short clip of him, but it’s nice to see him getting some recognition, it’s one of the biggest entertainment news headlines in Canada at the moment, no wonder, Dom is one of the greatest musicians Canada will ever have.
A band from Winnipeg did a cover of Dancin’ Fool for a Guess Who tribute album, it’s one of the best covers I’ve ever heard, it makes me appreciate the song much more than I ever did.
May 27th, 2005 at 2:57 am
hmm i goofed up a bit for html
here’s the link to a clip of the 30 second sample of the cover of dancin’ fool, it’s by a band called “The Morons”: http://transistor66.com/GWH/MO.mp3
May 27th, 2005 at 3:13 am
Marcus, it sounds like your uncle was a great person who achieved a lot in his life. Being able to celebrate someone’s life is an important part of grieving, and as long as you keep your precious memories of your uncle in your heart then his spirit will live on to do good things.
God bless you and your family during this difficult time.