Benny Mardones, Eddie Day, and Steve Spurling
- Mark Opsasnick
- Apr 18
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 20
Mark Opsasnick’s incredibly researched book, Rock the Potomac, is chock-full of stories and biographies of the people and groups who were part of the history of rock ‘n roll and country music in the DMV. “Rock the Patuxent” provides excerpts from the book that highlight the greater Laurel area.
Benny Mardones
Benny Mardones was born in Cleveland, Ohio, raised in the Howard County community of Savage, and graduated from Howard High School in Ellicott City in 1964. After a stint in the United States Navy, he gravitated toward the Washington, D.C. rock and roll scene.
In 1970 Mardones approached the band Boa while they were performing at Nu-Mac’s in Georgetown and asked if he could become their lead vocalist. Shortly after joining the group, they changed their name to Troy, and Mardones, as one of two lead singers in the band, assumed the stage name Benny Troy. Based out of Silver Spring, Troy’s lineup consisted of singers Benny Troy and Danny Goers, guitarist Dave Alexander, bassist Dale Marcks, keyboardist John Macuci, and drummer Ronnie Fulkersin.
Troy based out of a night club called My Mother’s Place at 18th and M Streets, NW, in Washington, D.C. for most of 1970 and into 1971. They also ventured into the area’s teen dance territory, performing at such venues as the Tucker Road Community Center (Fort Washington) and gave performances at a variety of USO shows at area military bases and installations, such as Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Troy’s repertoire consisted of originals and covers of such artists as Ten Years After, Three Dog Night, Traffic, Joe Cocker and others of that vein. The band released one single: “Stand and Be Counted” backed with “Then Go” in 1970.
After Troy disbanded in 1971, Mardones went to New York City, embarked on a solo career as a pop singer, and eventually signed with Polydor Records. He scored with one major hit single, “Into the Night” in 1980, which peaked at number 11 on the “Billboard Hot 100” pop music chart. It was re-recorded and re-released and then charted again in 1989, reaching number 20 on the “Billboard Hot 100” chart. That particular song rates as one of only 10 singles in Billboard history to make their pop music chart on two separate occasions.
Eddie Day
Singer Eddie Day hails from New Carrollton, attended Parkdale High School, and in the late 1970s joined the Laurel-based heavy metal band Deuce, whose roster at the time was filled out by lead guitarist Marty Friedman, rhythm guitarist Tom Gattis, bassist Steve Leter, and drummer Billy Giddings.
In 1980, Day handled lead vocals for a heavy metal band from Northern Virginia called Overlord, and then, in 1981 he joined Maxx, a hard-rocking outfit which included lead guitarist Terry “T.I.” Gleason and covered such bands and musicians as Pat Travers, Judas Priest, and Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush. Day next sang in another Northern Virginia heavy metal band called Darius, which headlined in Virginia at night clubs such as Louie’s Rock City (Bailey’s Crossroads), the Wild West (Springfield) and the Fancy Dancer (Alexandria); and in Maryland at the Outside Inn (Rockville).
After a short stay in Hollywood, California, Day returned to the Washington, D.C. area in late 1982 and sang for a rock and roll band called Action. A call from his former Deuce bandmate Marty Friedman led Day to venture to Hawaii in January 1984 and take over lead vocals for the heavy metal band, Hawaii. He sang on the band’s second and third albums, Loud Wild and Heavy (1984) and The Natives are Restless (1985). In the summer of 1985, Friedman and Day returned to Prince George’s County and regrouped Hawaii. Day remained the band’s lead vocalist until its breakup in 1987.
After a long hiatus, Day returned to the local music scene in 1992 as lead singer of the Beltsville-based rock and roll band Idlewild, which regularly appeared at the Paragon in College Park. In 1993 he became a founding member of the Rockin’ Bones, a popular rockabilly band whose current lineup consists of Day, rhythm guitarist Kent Lopez, bassist Paul Cleary, drummer Mark Lucas, and either Robert Frahm or Bruce Katsu on lead guitar.
Steve Spurling
Bassist Steve Spurling grew up in Bethesda and, in the middle 1960s, after graduating from Walter Johnson High School, played in a succession of local rock and roll bands, including the Duquesnes, the Nooks, the Lords of London, the English Muffins, the Mods, and Seventh Seal.
Later in the 1960s, Spurling played in such Washington, D.C. rock and roll bands as the Mount Pleasant Street Blues Band at Cousin Nick’s, and Ray Rock and the Revlons at the Crosstown Restaurant. He also performed locally with R&B singer Big Al Downing, and with rock and roll acts such as Little Joe and the Impossibles and Frank Bilotti and the Heartbreakers. In addition, he spent time as the house band bassist at such Maryland night clubs as the Americana in Odenton and the DairyLand Restaurant in Jessup, where he backed up a number of headliners.
In the early 1970s, Spurling played bass for the C&W outfit Danny Denver and the Soundmasters, whose band at the time included blues rock guitarist Roy Buchanan. He performed with Denver’s band at such Maryland night clubs as the Frontier (Waldorf), the CrossRoads (Bladensburg) and the TD Lounge (Laurel). During this time, he also worked engagements in Maryland with rock and roll bands such as the Superiors (featuring singer-keyboardist Joe Bayliss) at Uncle Billy’s (North Beach), and Link Wray and His Ray Men at the Gentleman II (Baltimore). Another engagement saw him work with a multi-styled pop group called the First National Band (featuring singer Johnny Staggs) at Club 175 (Jessup).
Spurling rounded out the 1970s playing bass in such area C&W bands as Construction, Trilogy, Grapevine, and Vic Decker and Virginia Country. After another stint with Danny Denver at the TD Lounge in Laurel in 1982, he retired from the local music scene.
Rock the Potomac is available at booklocker.com/books/10190.html.
Mark Opsasnick was born in Washington, D.C. and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Maryland. To date he has authored nine books and innumerable articles on popular culture, rock and roll music, and unexplained phenomena. He resides in Prince George’s County and gives talks and presentations on local music history, in addition to emceeing and hosting live music shows throughout the Delmarva region.
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