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By Scott Schwartz
Collection Overview
Title: Della Perrone Photographs, 1945-2015
ID: 12/9/140
Primary Creator: Perrone, Della
Extent: 3.5 cubic feet
Arrangement: Organized in three series: Series 1, Music Photography, which is organized in two subseries: Sub-series 1: Studio Photography and Promotional Work, and Sub-series 2, Stage and Candid Photography; Series 2, Family Photography; and Series 3, Audiovisual Materials.
Date Acquired: 12/22/2014. More info below under Accruals.
Subjects: Music, Popular Music--Illinois--Urbana-Champaign, Rock Music, Rock musicians United States
Languages: English
Scope and Contents of the Materials
Consists of photographs, negatives, and film slides documenting Della Perrone's candid and studio photography with several Champaign-Urbana musicians in the 1980s, such as Adrian Belew, The Bears, The Rave, The Martyrs, Steps, Nick Rudd and Turning Curious, Nix 86, and The Elvis Brothers, as well as national acts including The Ramones, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, and U2. Outside her studio, Perrone captured performances at local venues including Mabel's, University of Illinois Auditorium, Virginia Theatre, Chico's, Panama Red's and the Aragon Ballroom. A selection of these photographs were displayed during the exhibition "Live from the Crossroads: A Snapshot of Urbana-Champaign's Local Music Scene 1981-1986" that was held at the University of Illinois' Sousa Archives and Center for American Music between 2013 and 2014. The collection also includes audiovisual recordings from the 1980s, and family photographs and negatives from the 1920s-1940s.
Biographical Note
Della Perrone's career as a photographer is closely tied to the Urbana-Champaign community where she grew up, and is tied closely to its vital local music scene. Perrone's maternal grandparents, mother, father, and two uncles were photography enthusiasts for decades and made frequent use of their cameras to capture family events and other activities within their community. When Della was in her early 20's she purchased her first camera in the summer of 1980, a CanonAT1, and continued the family's photographic legacy. Perrone first photographed the Elvis Brothers at Chico's on September 26, 1981, and the members of the band immediately felt that her photographs captured the essence of their music ensemble at the time. According to Perrone, her photographic approach was a match to the band. The following month, the Elvis Brothers asked her to take promotional photos of them, and on October 22, Della set up her first studio shoot in her home. Between 1981 and 1989, Perrone photographed live concerts of local bands and national acts performing in such Urbana-Champaign venues as Chico's, Mabel's, and the University Auditorium, as well as other performance spaces throughout the Midwest. The musicians and music groups she photographed included Adrian Belew and the Bears, John Kellogg and Combo Audio, Captain Rat, George Faber, The Rave/Invaders, Smokehouse, Mystery Dots, B-Lovers, the Vertebrats, Nix 86, U2, the Ramones, Jason & the Scorchers, Robin Trower, Stevie Ray Vaughan, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Brian Setzer, and Wendy O. Williams. Throughout these years, Perrone's photographs artfully capture the on-stage, and sometimes back-stage, and off-stage exploits of these groups' performances and provide a vivid illustration of Urbana-Champaign's dynamic music scene.
Subject/Index Terms
Administrative Information
Repository:
The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music
Accruals:
Additional items were acquired on January 23, 2015; March 13, 2015; October 5, 2016; and March 7, 2019.
Acquisition Source:
Della Perrone
Acquisition Method:
Gift
Box and Folder Listing
Browse by Series:
[Series 1: Professional Photography],
[
Series 2: Family Photography],
[
Series 3: Audiovisual Materials],
[
All]
- Series 1: Professional Photography
- Sub-Series 1: Studio Photography and Promotional Work
- Box 3
- Folder 1: The Bears mounted studio photographs, 1980s
- Folder 2: The Bears studio photographs and promotional materials, 1986
- Folder 3: The Elvis Brothers studio photographs, 1980s
- Folder 4: The Elvis Brothers mounted studio photographs
- Folder 5: The Martyrs mounted studio photographs, 1980s
- Folder 6: Nix 86 studio photographs, 1980s
- Folder 7: The Rave studio photographs, 1980s
- Folder 8: Nick Rudd and the Big Maybe studio photographs and promo materials, 1986-1988
- Folder 9: Schoolyard Truce studio photographs and poster, 1980s
- Folder 10: Smokehouse studio photographs, undated
- Folder 11: Steps studio photographs, 1980s
- Folder 12: Della Perrone self-portrait, ca. 1980s
- Folder 13: Strange Parade studio photographs, ca. 1980s
- Box 4
- Folder 1: Anvil Chorus mounted studio photographs, ca. 1980s
- Folder 2: Andy Baylor, A Clockwork Orange session, ca. 1980s
- Folder 5: Elvis Brothers promotional materials, ca. 1980s
- Includes newsclippings, handwritten notes, and a button.
- Folder 9: Matt Brandabur and Chris Courtney from The Shells, with Della, ca. 1980s
- Includes Matt Brandabur, formerly of The Vertebrats.
- Folder 11: Newsclippings and promotional materials, 1981-1987
- Includes clippings and articles for Adrian Belew and The Bears, Captain Rat and the Blind Rivets, Nix 86, The Rave, Stiff Kitty, and The Vertebrats.
- Box 5
- Folder 2: The Bears contact sheets and negatives, 1985
- Folder 3: Nick Rudd photographs and negative, ca. 1986
- Folder 4: Mark Rubel photographs and negatives, ca. 1981
- Folder 5: John Richardson photographs and negatives, ca. 1980s
- Folder 6: The Rave photographs, contact sheets, and negatives, 1981
- Folder 7: Turning Curious studio photographs, ca. 1980s
- Box 6
- Folder 1: The Elvis Brothers mounted photographs, undated
- Folder 2: The Bears matted photographs, undated
- Folder 3: The Elvis Brothers mounted poster, authographed, ca. 1980s
- Folder 4: The Martyrs poster, ca. 1980s
- Folder 5: Nix 86 mounted photographs, ca. 1980s
- Folder 6: The Rave mounted photograph, ca. 1980s
- Folder 7: Turning Curious matted photograph, ca. 1980s
- Box 7
- Folder 1: Studio/Promotional Negatives, ca. 1980s
- Includes negatives of: Combo Audio, Cyclorama, 1/26-27/1982; Combo Audio, 1/1982; EB's Outdoor-night, 11/6/1985; Turing Curious, ca. 1980s; Elvis Brother Video Shoot, Afternoon Session, ca. 1980s; Elvis Brothers, Studio 4 and 5, 5/18/82; The Birds, ca. 1980s
- Folder 2: Elvis Brothers Studio Slides, 1981
- Folder 10: Elvis Brothers negatives and contact sheets, studio, May 18, 1982
- Folder 13: Elvis Brothers contact sheets, studio, ca. 1980s
- Folder 14: Elvis Brothers contact sheets, Virginia Theater, ca. 1980s
- Studio work shot in the lobby of the Virginia Theater.
- Box 14
- Folder 1: Studio photographs, ca. 1980s
- Includes images of Turning Curious, The Bears, and The Elvis Brothers.
- Folder 2: Studio negatives, ca. 1980s
- Includes negatives of The Elvis Brothers.
- Folder 3: The Elvis Brothers at the train station - matted photo, ca. 1980s
- Folder 4: Color slides - Elvis Brothers at Urbana Cinema, March 31, 1982
- Sub-Series 2: Stage and Candid Photography
- Box 1, folders 1 through 18 contain photographs that were on display during the exhibition "Live from the Crossroads: A Snapshot of Urbana-Champaign's Local Music Scene 1981-1986" that was held at the University of Illinois' Sousa Archives and Center for American Music between 2013 and 2014.
- Box 1
- Folder 1: Adrian Belew's Volleyball Game, 1985
- 2 prints
- Folder 2: Adrian Belew, Indianapolis, 2011
- Folder 3: Adrian Belew, Mabel's, 1985
- Folder 4: U2, University Auditorium, 1982
- Folder 5: The Bears, Mabel's, 1986
- Folder 6: Tom Broeske, University Auditorium, 1982
- Folder 7: Stevie Ray Vaughan, Virginia Theatre, 1986
- Folder 8: Joey Ramone, University Auditorium, 1981
- Folder 9: Ramones crowd, University Auditorium, 1981
- Folder 10: Dee Dee Ramone, University Auditorium, 1981
- Folder 11: The Elvis Brothers, Chico's, 1981
- Folder 12: Rob and Brad Elvis, Studio One, 1981
- Folder 13: The Elvis Brothers, promotional photographs, 1981
- Two prints
- Folder 14: Graham Elvis and friend, Cinema Theater, 1982
- Folder 15: Brad Elvis, Panama Red's, 1982
- Folder 16: Elvis Brothers, Aragon Ballroom, 1982
- Folder 17: The Elvis Brothers, Virginia Theater, 1982
- Folder 18: The Elvis Brothers with Tom and Frank Merlo, Chico's, 1985
- Folder 19: Faith Scarbrough of Seventeen Sisters at the High Dive, 2013
- Folder 20: Kathy Harden performing with the Impalas at the Urbana Sweetcorn Festival, 2013
- Folder 21: Brandon Washington with Beat Kitchen at the High Dive, 2014
- Folder 22: Kelly McMorris of Sun Stereo at the Canopy Club, 2014
- Folder 23: Christine Marie Janak of Sun Stereo at the Urbana Sweetcorn Festival, 2014
- Folder 24: Brad Elvis performing with the Romantics at US Cellular Coliseum, 2015
- Folder 25: Brittany Howard of the Alabama Shakes at the Virginia Theater, 2015
- Box 2
- Folder 1: The Bears stage and candid photographs, undated
- Folder 2: Captain Rat and the Blind Rivets stage photographs, undated
- Folder 3: The Clash stage photographs, 1982
- Folder 4: The Elvis Brothers stage and candid photographs, negatives, and contact sheets, 1982-1984
- Includes shows at Mabel's in Champaign, IL and at Confetti's in Peoria, IL.
- Folder 5: The Elvis Brothers mounted stage photographs, ca. 1980s
- Folder 6: Fabulous Thunderbirds stage photographs, undated
- Folder 7: Fabulous Thunderbirds mounted stage photographs, undated
- Folder 8: The Ramones stage photographs, ca. 1980s
- Folder 9: The Rave stage photographs, undated
- Folder 10: Brian Setzer stage photographs, undated
- Folder 11: Stevie Ray Vaughan and the Double Trouble at the Virginia, ca. 1980s
- Folder 12: U2 stage photographs, ca. 1980s
- Box 4
- Folder 3: Combo Audio/Tom Broeske stage and candid photographs, ca. 1980s
- Folder 4: The Edge stage photographs, ca. 1980s
- The Edge included Dody Cosmedy, TIm Donaldson, and Tim Frazier.
- Folder 6: J. Geils Band/Peter Wolf mounted stage photographs, ca. 1980s
- Folder 7: Nix 86 record label showcase, Chicago, ca. 1980s
- Folder 8: Rich Denhart, sound engineer, ca. 1980s
- Includes black and white 8x10, sound board at Mabel's; black and white photo, sound board at Private Audio; black and white 3x5, backstage at The Clash.
- Folder 10: Turning Curious and The dB's, candid photograph, ca. 1980s
- Box 5
- Folder 1: Adrian Belew, Twang Bar Tour, Mabel's, August 29, 1983
- Box 7
- Folder 3: Stage/Candid Negatives (1 of 2), ca. 1980s
- Includes negatives of: Faber, Culmination, 10/5/81; WPGU, Faber, Combo Audio AGFA 400, 8/30/81; WPGU, Captain Rat, the Rivettes, George Faber, Iford 400, 8/30/81; George Faber (Mabel's), AGFA 400, 10/5/81; George Faber (Mabel's)/Elvis Brothers (Rafaelle's), HP5 800, 10/15/81; George Faber (Mabel's), HD5 1250, 10/5/81; George Faber (Mabel's), HP5 1250, 10/5/81; George Faber, Culmination; WPGU, Captain Rat, Faber, Combo Audio, AGFA 400, 8/30/81; Captain Rat, HP5 7600, 12/81; Faber (Mabel's), Faber/Elvis Brothers, 10/18/81
- Folder 4: Stage/Candid Negatives (2 of 2), ca. 1980s
- Includes negatives of Mrs. Gates B-Day, Volleyball, Tod, 9/3-11/1985; Adrian Belew, 8/29/1983; Belew, Mabel's, 8/29/1983; Georgia Satellites/King, 2/2/1982; Georgia Satellites, Mabel's, 1982; Elvis Brothers, The Clash, Aragon, 8/12/1982; Mystery Dots, 12/23/1983; Jason & the Scorchers, ca. 1980s; Wendy O' Williams, ca. 1980s; Wendy O'Williams, Robin Traver, Mabel's, ca. 1980s; Robin Traver, ca. 1980s; Champaign, Bradley's, 1985; Chicos, 7/4/1982; Combo Audio, infrared, undiluted, 4/1982; Stevie Ray, Virginia, Bears, 2/1986
- Folder 5: Elvis Brothers Stage Slides, ca. 1980s
- Folder 6: Contact Sheets, ca. 1980s
- Folder 7: Smokehouse Stage Slides, 1987
- Folder 8: Elvis Brothers negatives and contact sheets, Mabel's, Feb. 12, 1982
- Folder 9: Elvis Brothers negatives and contact sheets, Mabel's, Feb. 28, 1982
- Folder 11: Elvis Brothers negatives and contact sheet, Pia's, March 1984
- Folder 12: Elvis Brothers contact sheets, stage, ca. 1980s
- Folder 15: Candid negatives - West Side Park, Champaign, IL, ca. 1981
- Includes negatives of Angus Thomas (bassist for Combo Audio), wife Shari Douglas and daughter Sunea; John Kellogg of Combo Audio (with baseball bat); Adrian Belew and oldest son Ernie; Rich Denhart; Phil Strang; and either Tim Vear or Cliff Mayhew.
- Box 14
- Folder 5: Preston Hubbard of The Fabulous Thunderbirds - matted photo, undated
- Folder 6: Color slides, ca. 1980s
- Includes Elvis Brothers, Della Perrone, and group shots.
- Folder 7: Contact sheets, ca. 1980s
- Includes The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Elvis Brothers, Della Perrone, and group shots.
- Folder 8: Performance photos, ca. 1980s
- Includes The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and The Elvis Brothers.
- Folder 9: Performance negatives, ca. 1980s
- Includes the Elvis Brothers, Combo Audio, The Bears, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Last Gentlemen, Brian Setzer, Adrian Belew, Captain Rat and the Blind Rivets, J. Geils Band, and The Ramones; and venues such as The Virginia Theater, Mabel's, Chico's, and Foellinger Auditorium.
- Folder 10: Candid photographs and negatives - holiday parties, ca. 1980s
Browse by Series:
[Series 1: Professional Photography],
[
Series 2: Family Photography],
[
Series 3: Audiovisual Materials],
[
All]
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