Doug Stegmeyer
Rock | 2014Douglas Alan Stegmeyer was born in 1951 in Flushing. He grew up in a musical family—his father was an accomplished musician, his mother a contemporary singer and piano player. Stegmeyer took up bass guitar at the age of 14, and when he graduated from Syosset High School, he joined the band Topper with friends Russell Javors and Liberty DeVitto, and they became one of the hottest club bands on Long Island. In the meantime, on the west coast, Long Islander Billy Joel was looking for a new band with a New York sound. A mutual friend suggested that Joel reach out to Stegmeyer. In 1974, Stegmeyer flew out to California and joined Joel on bass for the Streetlife Serenade tour. After the tour finished, Stegmeyer suggested that Joel give a listen to DeVitto, who was getting a reputation as a top drummer in New York. Joel returned home, gave both DeVitto and Javors an audition, and Topper became the Billy Joel Band. Stegmeyer and the guys would stay with Joel until 1988, playing on all his hit albums. In between touring and recording with Joel, Stegmeyer worked with Karen Carpenter, Phoebe Snow, Hall & Oates, Paul Simon, and Debbie Gibson, among many others. In 1988, he opened his own recording studio in Centerport. Stegmeyer, a proud Long Islander who loved to boat and fish, died in 1995.