Born in
Estevan,
Saskatchewan, Mandel started playing the piano at four and picked up the guitar aged eight. Growing up in an
Orthodox Jewish household, he found his parents less than encouraging of his musical endeavors. Nevertheless, in 1964, at the age of 11, with his family having moved to
Toronto, he became immersed in the local music scene. Mandel made his first appearance on record courtesy of
Domenic Troiano (whose band he was in at the time). Troiano was invited to record on
Alice Cooper's first solo record and got Mandel to play keyboards on the record. This led to Alice Cooper inviting Mandel to join his live band. Mandel did this for four years (1977–1980) progressing from keyboards to lead guitar and finally ending up working as the musical director. whom Mandel states as being "...to this day, one of the most bad-ass rock and roll piano players around!" In 2013, Mandel worked with thrash band
Anthrax on the track "
Smokin'", originally by
Boston, ultimately released on Anthrax's album
Anthems, an EP principally featuring covers from some of the band's favorite acts of the 1970s, along with two versions of "Crawl", a song from their previous studio album. In 2024, Mandel released his first solo album,
Part-Time Rebel. == Selected discography ==