Video: Speed Demon. A novelette composed in the 1970’s by Mickey Bisilia, performed by Joseph Natoli. Download the pdf music file kindly donated by Joseph Natoli at: Speed Demon

Since March 19, 2022 would have been Mickey Bisilia’s 104th birthday, and it is also my namesake day of St. Joseph in the Catholic religion, I was asked to write this article for this month’s edition of AccordionUSA.com which I am happy to do. So who was Mickey Bisilia you say? Well, that’s exactly why I am writing this article, because Mickey didn’t receive a lot of fame or attention in his life musically, but he was such an important teacher, musician, arranger, composer, and accordionist that many people should know his name and his accomplishments. In that context, I thought I would honor him by posting his bio, one of his own articles from 1957, and an original piece of his called “Speed Demon” which is a really charming and attractive novelette piece he wrote back in the 1970s. Mickey wrote many of those types of pieces which are for sale on my website (inquiries at janpressmusic@yahoo.com).

There is a wonderful quote from the German writer Berthold Auerbach. He said “Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”

I thought, no quote could be more appropriate when remembering Mickey Bisilia, because music was his entire life. In fact, it was so important to him, that it sustained him throughout many years of poor health. Many times we came close to losing Mickey during his multiplied illnesses, yet each and every time he would return to his music after a bout of illness, and he would bounce back to life almost miraculously. Music was to Mickey like water to a dying plant. It washed away the dust and the worries of his everyday life. With each and every health crisis, it was the one thing that rejuvenated him, kept him fighting, and kept him alive.

However, even though music sustained Mickey’s life, he was also able to use music as a tool to nurture and touch the lives of each and every one of his students. For he was one of those rare selfless teachers who taught for the sheer joy of watching a student grow and blossom into something special. Mickey would often write spectacular arrangements and compositions for his students, that any studio arranger would charge hundreds or thousands of dollars for, yet these things were always included in the cost of a lesson. In fact, it is a miracle to me that in this day and age when the value of anything is inevitably reduced to dollars and cents, Mickey was always using a different kind of calculator. His calculator had no number keys at all. You see, his calculator keys contained words like “dedication”, “selflessness”, “excellence”, “respect”, and “hard work”, all multiplied by the “love” key, producing the final output of many many enriched lives.

Mind you, Mickey was a “what you see is what you get kind of guy,” and he could sometimes become pretty acerbic if he knew you were getting lazy and not putting in the same time and dedication towards the relationship that he had. If you hadn’t practiced a particular week, he would often invite you to go home, take your money with you, and ask you not to come back until you were serious about making some progress. But I know I can speak for all his students that no offense was ever taken. We may have been embarrassed that he exposed us, but once you were “busted” by Mickey, it made you want to go home and never disappoint him again. Because we all knew that these antics were his attempts at polishing his stones into brilliant diamonds.

But remember, even though I speak about the importance of music in Mickey’s life and in the lives of those he touched, he taught us all even more meaningful values that extend into our everyday lives and have become a critical and integral part of who we are as human beings. Mickey taught us all the ideas of selflessness, the pursuit of excellence, cherishing the important things in life, but most importantly, the refusal to fail and the refusal to give up.

Mickey was like that special uncle or grandparent who always understood, never criticized me, and always supported everything and anything I did. And he always, always believed in me. He was my teacher, my mentor, my friend, and my 2nd father. His actions made me understand how much he respected and loved me unconditionally, and I hope he realized how much of those same feelings I felt for him.

View further interesting history at Mickey Bisilia