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Celebrity Owned Rogers STYX Drum Set - John Panazzo

Celebrity Owned Rogers STYX Drum Set - John Panazzo

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This 6 pc Rogers white marine pearl double bass set was owned by original Styx drummer John Panozzo in the 1970s, & is a slice of rock history.

The sizes: twin 14"x24" & 14"x24"  bass drums /8"x12" tom / twin 10"x14" & 10"x14" toms / 16"x16" Floor Tom

If you google "John Panozzo Rogers Drums", you will find a black & white photo of John playing this set.

The interesting story of the chance discovery and reunion of an early 1970s Rogers Fullerton Swivomatic era white marine pearl double bass drum set, owned and played by original Styx drummer, John Panazzo, with legendary rock giants - Styx.

About five years ago, my brother Brian was doing some shopping before Christmas, and stopped at a small family owned car wash near our parents home to buy them gift cards so they could get their salty cars cleaned and detailed. While at the cash register, he noticed a cork board and thought to himself, "you don't see too many free-for-all community cork boards anymore", which prompted him to pin our business card on it. Fast forward to three years later, the phone rings, and a gent that lives not five minutes from us asks if we have any interest in buying some Rogers toms. He goes on to explain that he got our card a few years back at a car wash, and had been meaning to call. He had just been cleaning out a drawer when he rediscovered our card, prompting the call years later. So, Brian jumped in the drum-getter van, and in the blink of an eye was at the gentlemen’s home. To his surprise, he immediately noticed that all the road cases had "Styx" stenciled on them, as well as stickers (which turned out to be a Styx crew member's name and address who is listed in the liner notes of a Styx record) still attached. It turned out that the gentleman's friend was buddies with John Panozzo, and he purchased them from him in the 1970s after John started using Premier drums (which he used for a brief time before switching to Tama). Needless to say, Brian immediately realized that the situation was much cooler than simply finding a couple of early 70s Rogers toms. After viewing three suspended toms and a floor tom, Brian inquired as to where the bass drums were, to which the man explained that he left them at a friends house over twenty-five years ago and lost track of them. Of coarse Brian then asked if there was any way to check if the friend might still have them, and the man said he has not spoken to his friend in many years, but would try to make contact. After purchasing the toms from the gentleman, Brian explained to him how incredible it would be to reunite John's Rogers set used with Styx. After delicately following up several times over the next month, the man called a friend of a friend, and located a working phone # on his long lost buddy. He came to find out that his friend still had both of the bass drums, but had moved to Iowa (we reside in Chicago, IL in a neighborhood not too far from where the band Styx originated). We couldn't believe we tracked down the location of the missing bass drums, and immediately inquired if he would be willing to help facilitate reuniting the bass drums with the rest of the set. He seemed very interested, and we tried and tried to plan it out, but alas he could not find the time, so the dream remained exactly that, just a dream. A few months pass, and we receive a call from the gentleman saying he planned a special trip, drove from Chicago to Iowa to reunite with his friend, and had just returned with the rest of the set! It turned out he indeed still had both bass drums with the Styx cases. Needless to say, we were ecstatic and they made their way back to us.

Little by little, we began cleaning and detailing the set, and finished just in time to display it at the 25th Anniversary Chicago Drum Show in 2015. We had it on display at the entrance of the show for all to see. Todd Sucherman, who replaced John in Styx in 1995, stopped by our display during the show. It was a cool experience to meet him and have him check it out. After viewing the drums, the black and white picture from the web, and the “Styx” stenciled tour cases with documented Styx crew members name on a flight label, he was convinced of the lineage and authenticity. I mean, come on - this is something you just can't make up!

As one might expect, this outfit tunes up like a champ, and the twin 24" bass drums are thunderous. It is a surreal experience to sit behind this set and rock a beat. We feel very fortunate to have been able to reunite these drums and bring them back to life again. John Panazzo's untimely passing left some very large shoes to fill. He is remembered fondly as an incredible drummer and indelible fixture in rock history by millions of fans world wide. Based on our research, we believe this is the only American made drum set ever used and played with Styx, one of the largest and most important rock bands to ever take stage.

*Of interesting note: There are stage set-up notes with arrows written inside the shells for the drum tech to follow. They indicate which drums went where for the set-up process. You can tell from the pictures that the bass drums lived in a different environment for a while, as the white marine pearl have taken on a different shade.

Please call us with any questions or to make an appointment to view.

*All orders will require a signature at time of delivery unless discussed prior to purchase.  

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