RIP Vinnie Scoglio 12/13/83 - 8/9/08

We hung out with Don, Jess, Vinnie, Joey & Richard (all members of The Traumas) when they stayed at the Chelsea Hotel back in April.  They were all really cool and totally loved the hotel and were excited to be able to afford to stay at this awesome place.  I think that the only thing that would have made them happier would have been to get the opportunity to play a gig in NYC.  (They were in town to attend a concert.) They even gave us a copy of their recent CD which really rocks and reminds us of The Ramones.  We were saddened to learn from Don that Vinnie recently died.  Most of the time that we were hanging out with the group Vinnie was busy writing in his song book, but he seemed like a really great guy and he wanted to know a lot about the hotel. 
Don had this to say about Vinnie:  "Even though Vinnie didn't have much to say and was writing in his journal/songbook most of the time, he didn't miss a word and was happy to meet a fellow writer that was living as a writer in a hotel that 90 percent of the music/books/poems and art that we are into have graced. We never got to play a show in NYC yet we kept true to ourselves and the Chelsea spirit and things were really taking off. He was older than his 24 years and must have been dealing with some heavy stuff however the Vinnie I knew was a quick wit, with a great since of humor and a very ironic world view. He was our Lou Reed, Jim Morrison, Iggy Pop and John Lennon all rolled into one thing that was not a copy but a channel for what music should be and that all the "IT" bands of today seem to have lost...or never had. While I subscibe to the don't mourn the loss, celebrate the life ideal, I can't help feel such loss for a great friend and a very talented writer/songwriter."

(Photo: The Traumas in their room at the Chelsea Hotel earlier this year.)