Raphael Tarallo played lead soprano with the Melrose Blackhawks for all 23 years of the corps’ history leading up to his induction in the Hall of Fame. He helped instruct when the corps started in 1979. Earlier, he played lead soprano with the Melrose New Jersey junior corps from 1955 to 1958, the Amboy Dukes junior corps from 1959 to 1962. After leaving the Blackhawks in 2004, he performed with Hawthorne Caballeros alumni drum corps from 2005 to 2010. He began playing with Melrose again in 2011. He played with other groups for fun and taught Jersey Coast Guard for three years. He also served for a time in the United States Army.
