Sam D’Amico is flanked by Hoshino’s Ed O’Donnell to the left and Neil Buckley to the right.
After being in the drum shop business since 1974, Philly drum retailer Sam D’Amico reluctantly announced it was finally time to retire. “Sam D’Amico had brought so many people to the joys of drumming, we felt that we couldn’t let this moment go by,” said Paul Specht, communications director for Hoshino, the Tama distributor. “Not only that, Sammy’s been a Tama dealer at least since September of 1977, so he certainly deserved a tribute for hitting the three decade mark with Tama.”
To mark the occasion, Hoshino’s new national sales manager for independent dealers, Ed O’Donnell (who studied drums with Sammy’s cousin, Nick D’Amico), Hoshino sales rep Neil Buckley, and Specht went to Moyamensing Avenue in South Philly, land of cheese steaks, the Italian market, and double-parked cars. On April 5, 2008, Hoshino and Tama Drums let D’Amico know how much they appreciated not just his business with Tama, but how much he had done for the Philadelphia drum community.
