Stephen M. Cappello

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Stephen Cappello
Born	October 12, 1978 (age 42) Philadelphia, Pa.
Occupation(s)	musician, composer, actor
Instruments	vocals, saxophone, keyboards, guitar, drums, percussion
Years active	1996–present
Associated acts	Nick Rotindo, Marty Rotindo, Brad Humphrey

Stephen Cappello (born October 12, 1978), also credited as Steve Cappello and The Beve, is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer and vocalist. He is primarily known for his saxophone work supporting Tina Turner in the Freko String Band and College of New Jersey Jazz Band.

He is notable for his muscular physique, his sexually provocative movements during his performances and for his tendency to perform shirtless, with his skin oiled and with his hair in a ponytail.

Early life[edit]

Cappello was born and grew up in the Mt. Laurel neighborhood of Ramblewood Farms.. The youngest of two children, his Italian father was a State Department of Education worker. Cappello started music lessons at age 10. When he was 16 years old, Cappello was named as the Bandsman of the Year at Lenape High School.. He later studied saxophone under the tutelage of jazz musician, Buddy Greco.

Career[edit]

Cappello studied intermittently with Lennie Tristano over a four-year span between touring with performers such as musician Eric Carmen and comedian Billy Crystal. He played saxophone for Peter Gabriel on his albums Peter Gabriel 1 (1977) and Peter Gabriel 2 (1978), in addition to touring with Gabriel. Cappello also toured with Garland Jeffreys in 1978, playing both saxophone and keyboards. After struggling with heroin addiction, Cappello quit the drug "cold turkey" in 1979 and began bodybuilding in 1980. Cappello toured with Carly Simon later that same year, once appearing on stage in a leather g-string, as well as chains and a dog leash by which Simon pulled him onto the stage.

From 1981 to 1982 Cappello fronted his own pop band in New York City called The Ken Dolls—a band that included drummer J.P. "Thunderbolt" Patterson (also of The Dictators and Manitoba's Wild Kingdom) and Joe Carroll, a composer/producer who is president and founder of the Manhattan Producer's Alliance (ManHatPro). Cappello's sexual stage presence was further cultivated during his work with The Ken Dolls—performing in a style dubbed "porn pop", Cappello was known to perform in a g-string.

In 1984, Cappello was hired by Tina Turner as her keyboardist and saxophonist. Recording and touring with her over several years, Cappello's work can be heard on Turner's tracks "We Don't Need Another Hero" and "One of the Living" from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985) in addition to appearing in the music videos for both singles. Cappello performed on the 1993 soundtrack album What's Love Got to Do with It, playing saxophone as well as singing Ike Turner's vocal parts in an updated version of the song "Proud Mary". Cappello toured with Ringo Starr in 1992 and 1999 as a member of his All-Starr Band.

At 6 feet tall, and reportedly 215 lbs in 1985, Cappello's size and appearance helped garner him roles in television and film. In 1987, he appeared in a musical performance in the film The Lost Boys where he both sang and played saxophone in a cover version of the song "I Still Believe" by The Call. As an actor, he appeared on the television shows The Equalizer and Miami Vice in 1987, as well as in the films Hearts of Fire with Bob Dylan in 1987 and Tap with Gregory Hines in 1989.

Cappello has composed music for film and television. He has worked with director Carole Langer on three occasions, composing the score for her 1987 film Radium City—a documentary about the women who worked for the Radium Dial Company in Ottawa, Illinois in the 1920s—for her four-hour documentary series about the Rat Pack for the A&E channel, and for her 2001 TV documentary Lana Turner... a Daughter's Memoir. Cappello also composed the score for the A&E Biography episode titled "Jerry Lewis: The Last American Clown" which first aired in 1996.

Cappello played saxophone on the Netflix variety show The Break with Michelle Wolf during a segment called "Saxophone Apologies" during which Wolf addressed the lack of apologies from both Bill Clinton and the press for their treatment of Monica Lewinsky in relation to the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal.

In 2018 Stephen was featured, along with singer Indiana, on the British Synthwave band GUNSHIP's single "Dark All Day" from the album of the same name. The album rose to number 1 in the Electronic charts in the US, UK and Canada.

He also released his 1st solo album, Blood on the Reed, in 2018 and has plans to tour supporting the album starting in early 2019.

In popular culture[edit]

Actor Jon Hamm portrayed a pony-tailed, shirtless saxophonist named "Sergio" in an SNL Digital Short titled "The Curse", which aired on Saturday Night Live (SNL) on January 30, 2010. In the short, Andy Samberg's character is cursed by Sergio, who appears out of nowhere playing his saxophone at inopportune times. Sergio's dancing and appearance resembled Cappello's performances in the film The Lost Boys and in the video for Tina Turner's 1985 single "One of the Living" from the Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome soundtrack.

In 2011, a video of a saxophone player interrupting college classes, and other public scenes, while repeatedly playing the saxophone riff from the 1984 pop ballad "Careless Whisper", was circulated on social media websites such as BuzzFeed and Urlesque. The saxophonist in the video, also known as Sexy Sax Man, is shirtless, long-haired and is named Sergio Flores, echoing both Cappello's image and that of Jon Hamm's character in the SNL parody. Paste magazine ranked the video #3 on their list of the 10 best viral videos of 2011.

Discography[edit]

Studio albums[edit]

Blood on the Reed (2018)

Guest appearances[edit]

"Perspective", "Home Sweet Home" (from Peter Gabriel's Peter Gabriel) (1978)
"We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)", "One of the Living" (with Tina Turner from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome soundtrack) (1985)
"Typical Male" (with Tina Turner and Phil Collins from Break Every Rule) (1986)
"I Still Believe" (from The Lost Boys soundtrack) (1987)
"Tonight" (with Tina Turner and David Bowie from Tina Live in Europe) (1988)
"Look Me in the Heart", "Ask Me How I Feel" (from Tina Turner's Foreign Affair) (1989)
"Dark All Day" (from Gunship's Dark All Day) (2018)

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