Quick Facts
Biography
Joe Stefko is an American former rock drummer and a book publisher.
Career
In 1976—1977, Stefko was in John Cale's band. Stefko, a vegetarian, left the group after Cale chopped the chicken with a meat cleaver on stage in Croydon, South London, on April 24, 1977. Mike Visceglia, Cale's bassist also left for the same reason.
In the late 1970s, Stefko toured with Meat Loaf during the Bat Out of Hell album days. He then went on to play with the renewed group The Turtles in the early 1980s.
In his career, Stefko has collaborated with many other celebrated musicians, including Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler and Jim Steinman.
Stefko later founded Charnel House, a book publisher of limited editions of old books in Catskill, New York. He got interested in books and literature when he played with the Turtles. He commented, "Other bands had drug dealers coming to their dressing rooms, and we had book dealers coming to ours." For his business, he acquired the P.O. Box 666 in Catskill, New York.
He has published books by such well-known authors as Christopher Moore, Stephen King, Tim Powers, and Dean Koontz.