Comets Drummer, Ocean City Resident Dick Boccelli Reportedly Dies

OCEAN CITY, NJ — Dick Boccelli, an Ocean City resident and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, died Friday morning, according to The Press of Atlantic City. He was 95.

Boccelli, more commonly known as Dick Richards, drummed for Bill Haley & His Comets on famous singles such as "Rock Around the Clock" and "Shake, Rattle and Roll." He had lived in Ocean City since the 1960s.

Haley's band changed their name to Bill Haley & His Comets in 1952. Richards joined the band around that time. In 1953, they released "Rock Around the Clock," a song that helped bring rock and roll to mainstream culture.

Richards helped make music history during Memorial Day weekend of 1954. "Rock Around the Clock" was performed for the first time live at the now defunct Hotel Hofbrau in Wildwood, according to The Press.

The drummer reunited with former bandmates in 1987. The Comets featured members from 1954-55. This version of the group has been called "Bill Haleys Original Comets." They featured Richards (drums), Marshall Lytle (bass), Joey Ambrose (sax), Johnny Grande (piano), and Franny Beecher (guitar).

He played several times in Ocean City, even in his 90s. Richards performed and was honored in Ocean City's Mr. Mature America Pageant in 2015. He performed with his group, The Ready Rockers.

The Ready Rockers played a benefit concert in 2014 for The Betsy Young Memorial Fund at the Moorlyn Family Theatre. The memorial fund is named for Richards's daughter, an Ocean City Intermediate School music teacher who died of cancer in 2011.

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