Home Organ Boom
Rob Meads recalls his father purchasing a Lowrey Organ and how he could think of nothing he would rather do than have a career making music! As a teenager, Rob was hired by legendary music retailer Swanny Swanson in Minnesota to play an organ in a grocery store, which was a big hit. Rob was trained...
Al Slivinski was in the third grade when a salesman visited his school with the pitch “you too can be an accordion player!” Al developed great techniques on the accordion that served him well when he began playing the organ in high school, which he continued throughout college. He sold pianos and...
Tom Thompson first heard an organ in a small church as a child and knew at that moment that somehow, someway, that instrument would be a part of his life. He was right! His first job in the industry was dusting organs and pianos in a small store, where he was able to play on all the latest models....
Sonny Wittkopp studied business in college and landed a job as a bookkeeper for a local music store in Washington state. This experience generated a great passion for the music industry which resulted in Sonny opening the Hammond Organ Studios of Spokane in 1962. The store grew along with the home...
Wayne Seppala was playing organ for shoppers at the Montgomery Wards in San Diego before he was a teenager. When the store stopped selling organs, he landed a job at Ozzie’s Music where he met his future wife, Cheryl. Together they opened their own store just a year after getting married in 1977. ...
Cheryl Seppala has given the gift of music to countless students in her organ store over her career. She has never lost that spark in her eye that has encouraged her students to stay with the lessons and enjoy the benefits of making music. She began teaching when she was a teenager at Ozzie’s Music...
Carlo Lucarelli graduated with an electronics engineering degree in 1963 and after three years with GTE in Milano, he joined the music products industry first working with Farfisa Organs. Farfisa was located in the Ancona area of Italy and Carlo worked there until 1976. At that time, he joined...
Dick Papalia witnessed a need for organ and piano owners in his neighborhood to have their instruments serviced in the early years of the home organ boom of the 1960s. As a result, in 1968, with the help of the Baldwin Piano Company, Dick established his music store. The store was originally called...
Kevin Hague is the Managing Director and founder of Australasian Music Supplies. He started his wholesale business in 1978 and grew it to become one of the biggest in the country. Australasian Music Supplies, known as AMS, all started when Kevin began importing the Zachary Organ from New Zealand...
Glenn Dodson played bass for a band he started with his schoolmates called Purple Haze. The band was high class, right down to their purple shirts! It was a fun experience that provided an entry into the music industry when Glenn took a “real job” at CBS Musical Instruments to supplement his...