Harvey Vogel, founder of Lone Star Percussion in Dallas, Texas, passed away at the age of 83 on August 1, 2019 following years of living with lymphoma and leukemia. Although he sold the business in 2000, he continued to keep in touch with his percussion colleagues, attending the annual percussion conventions when they were held in the Lone Star state.

Percussionists today are used to buying drums or cymbals with a click of a button, but four decades ago it was a challenge to find a pair of specialty mallets or signature sticks. Lone Star Percussion made those items available to percussionists all over the United States – and the world – and at discount prices, too!

In 1978, Vogel founded the iconic percussion mail-order business in a 400-square-foot storefront in far North Dallas with a tiny showroom just large enough to hold one display case. His daughter Lauren was an aspiring high school percussionist and he was tired of paying high prices for percussion instruments and accessories. Vogel thought that if he opened a small music store that specialized in percussion, he would be able to cut costs on the equipment he purchased for her, and share the savings with other percussionists.

At PASIC ’78, held that November in Tempe, Arizona, Vogel walked around the convention, distributing an unassuming 20-page “discount price list.” PASIC ’79 was the first time Lone Star Percussion exhibited at the annual percussion event. The Lone Star “catalog,” each semi-annual update printed in a different pastel color, was mailed to percussionists – students, teachers, and professionals – all over the country. Besides listing well-known brands of the late-70s, like Ludwig/Musser and Slingerland/Deagan, the catalog included emerging names (at that time) like Balter, Feldman, Firth, Gauger, Grover, and Hinger – smaller companies who filled a niche for specific types of implements, accessories, and instruments.

The store originally stocked just sticks and mallets, but soon the warehouse shelves were full of cymbals and drumheads. Large items, like marimbas and marching drums, were stored in the garage of his home a few blocks away!

In 1981, Vogel, along with Marty Hurley, then-percussion instructor for the Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps, developed a new model of a “High Volume (HV) Marching Snare Drum.” These drums were manufactured and sold by Ludwig Industries.

In 1982, the ever-expanding business relocated to northeast Dallas, and three years later moved across the street to its current 25,000-square-foot office/warehouse/showroom. Lone Star was known for its large inventory of heads, cymbals, marching and concert percussion instruments, and drumsets, as well as specialty items like taxi-horns and tuned claves.

Michael Balter, founder of Mike Balter Mallets and a member of the PAS Hall of Fame, remembered the first time he spoke to Vogel. “Many years ago I received a phone call from a guy in Dallas who said, ‘My name is Harvey Vogel and I am going to be your best customer!’ At the time I thought, ‘Who isthis guy?’

“Harvey was ‘old school’ in that he always wanted to talk with people,” Balter continued. “He would speak with customers, suppliers, and anyone who wanted to talk percussion. Those conversations led to lifelong relationships. In addition to building relationships, Harvey brought the ‘drum and percussion shop’ directly to your front door. Lone Star Percussion had everything in stock and ready to ship. Before there was the internet, there was Harvey. Rest in peace, my friend.”

“When I first received a phone call from Harvey Vogel in 1980, I had no idea that he would turn out to be one of our best, and longest-tenured, authorized dealers,” recalled Neil Grover, founder of Grover Pro Percussion. “Harvey was a smart, detail-oriented businessman; always tough, but fair. I learned by observing him and will forever be grateful for his friendship and guidance.”

“Harvey had one of the most innovative concepts in getting merchandise to drummers,” Vic Firth, former chairman and CEO of Vic Firth, Inc., told Drum Businessin a May 2001 article. “His stocking of inventory was complete. His pricing was always favorable, to the young player in particular. And his service was second to none in the industry. Mail-order was his primary source of doing business, and that was a new concept in 1978. His efficiency and effectiveness as a businessman were outstanding.”

Vogel believed that an educated, knowledgeable customer was the best kind to have and he supported that belief by sponsoring countless clinics around the North Texas area. Instead of having clinicians appear at the store, he “hosted” the events at numerous schools in the area so the artists could work directly with students. Harvey also sponsored numerous clinics at the University of Hawaii, located in Honolulu, one of his favorite vacation destinations.

He also funded many other clinics at PAS Days of Percussion and the annual convention. At PASIC ’85, held in Universal City, California, Lone Star Percussion was the principal sponsor of an evening concert by the North Texas State (now University of North Texas) Percussion Ensemble, under the direction of Dr. Robert Schietroma, which featured guest artists (and now members of the PAS Hall of Fame) Bob Becker, David Friedman, Andy Narell, and Leigh Howard Stevens.

“He had a toilet seat mounted on the wall in his officeat Lone Star Percussion, and if you lifted the cover, you could see who was ‘on his list’ for the week,” Stevens remembered with a laugh.

“But if you were a small emerging manufacturer,” continued Stevens, President of Marimba Productions and founder of Malletech, “and your picture wasn’t in the wall toilet, you could call and say, ‘Harvey, I’ve got a problem. Could you please place an order?’ He’d call you back an hour later with an order for several thousand dollars worth of merchandise… and then pay early!”

Born on March 16, 1936 in New York City, Harvey Vogel did not study music growing up, although he was always a fan of classical music, often buying 45 rpm records featuring well-known orchestras. He passed his love of classical music on to his daughters, Lauren and Nancy, each of whom played in both scholastic and professional orchestras over the years.

Harvey graduated from Seward Park High School in New York City in 1952 and then earned his undergraduate degree at Hunter College in the Bronx. He received his Master’s degree in Geography from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana in 1958. Vogel continued his graduate studies at Pennsylvania State University before moving to San Diego State University, where he was on the faculty in the geography department.

In 1963, Vogel moved to Texas, where he would live for over half a century. He worked for Texas Instruments, the Campbell Company of Dallas, and was an Associate on the Dallas Board of Realtors before he ventured into the music industry. Even without a formal music education, Vogel immersed himself in the world of percussion, learning about both the products and how to run a successful business.

“My father introduced me to the Percussive Arts Society in 1977 and I attended my first percussion convention [PASIC] in 1978,” recalled his daughter Lauren. “He even bought the Deagan bass marimba for me to play on during the PASIC ’78 Marimba Orchestra performance because no one else could pay for it. The greatest gifts he gave me were a love of music… and my extended ‘percussion family’.”

“Harvey was notorious in his criticism, and at times he could be a pain in the ass”! Firth told DBin 2001. “That’s a compliment coming from me, because I’m told I’m a pain in the ass allthe time! But it  was fun to talk to Harvey because he always had an interesting story to tell. I looked forward to our conversations,” the PAS Hall of Famer added. “They were always informative – and entertaining!”

“ ‘One of a kind’ is a cliche,” Stevens added, “but that phrase was made for Harvey Vogel. They don’t make ‘em that way any more.”

Harvey Vogel is survived by his daughter Lauren Vogel Weiss, a member of the PAS Board of Advisors, and his daughter Nancy Vogel Glick, along with grandchildren Andrew and Skyler Glick. He will be buried alongside his wife of 53 years, Joan Vogel, in Paramus, New Jersey.