The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars (156 page)

Zapata’s murder was the thirty-third recorded during an appalling year for Seattle homicides, but having left almost no evidence, the perpetrator eluded the authorities for almost a decade. The singer’s death sent a huge shockwave around the area’s thriving music community, and a string of fundraising events featuring huge Seattle bands Nirvana (for whom The Gits had often opened), Pearl Jam and Soundgarden drew much money but no further clues. Meanwhile, fellow locally based female musicians such as Bikini Kill, 7 Year Bitch and former Runaways/Blackhearts singer Joan Jett started Home Alive, a self-defence programme for women. Finally, trace evidence matched saliva retrieved from Zapata’s body to the DNA profile of 50-year-old Cuban immigrant Jesus C Mezquia, a transient construction worker and fisherman. Mezquia was a serial criminal with a history of violence towards women – and at the time of his apprehension had recently served a sentence in his home state of Florida for a separate felony. A verdict of first-degree murder was finally passed on 25 March 2004, and Mezquia was sentenced to thirty-six years in prison – effectively the remainder of his life. While the sentence at last brought justice, Zapata’s former boyfriend Robert Jenkins described the emptiness still felt by all those connected to Mia Zapata: ‘It brings something – but nothing like closure.’ Recordings of Mia Zapata’s remarkable voice and lyricism, of which none of the original band had ever been aware, came to light, preserved on tape, in the late nineties. These have now been issued on the compilation
Seafish Louisville.

In interview, detective Richard Gagnan had described to Seattle radio station KUOW the prescience felt by him and his colleagues when flying to Miami to follow up the Florida lead. The flight tag – which he has kept to this day – read simply ‘MIA’.

For information on Home Alive, visit
www.homealive.org

‘Mia was the best of our family. She had a complete and total social conscience - she cared about people.’

Richard Zapata, Mia’s father

Friday 30

Don Myrick

(Chicago, Illinois, 6 April 1948)

Earth, Wind & Fire

(The Phenix Horns)

Although overshadowed by figureheads Maurice White and Philip Bailey, saxophonist Don Myrick was nonetheless an integral part of Earth, Wind & Fire – the giant Chicago-formed funk/R & B amalgamation that shot to stardom in the early seventies. Myrick had previously played with White in a jazz unit called, imaginatively, The Jazzmen (later The Pharaohs). His Phenix Horns [sic] – Rahmlee Davis, Michael Harris and Louis Satterfield (who died in 2004) – became EWF’s back-up in 1975, the group presenting spectacular live shows to promote their music. One such concert performance was captured on
Gratitude
(1975); at this point, White, Bailey and co had achieved their first peak with ‘Shining Star’, a US number one and perhaps EWF’s finest moment. Myrick – who stayed with EWF for seven years – developed a broader reputation within the industry and added his sax solos to the work of mainstream artists like Phil Collins, The Emotions, Heaven 17 and Deniece Williams.

It is often reported that Don Myrick was murdered: the fact is that he was shot accidentally by an LAPD officer searching for drugs. The officer had a warrant to search Myrick’s apartment, but was too fast to react when he saw what he thought was a pistol in the musician’s hand. There had been considerable drug paraphernalia on the premises – but the ‘weapon’ turned out to be a long cigarette lighter. The family of Don Myrick (who, it transpired, was using crack cocaine to alleviate the pain he had been suffering since his diagnosis with leukaemia) settled with the police department out of court for a rumoured $500K.

See also
Wade Flemons (
October
1993)

Saturday 31

Bass Thing

(Rob Jones - Kingswinford, Dudley, 14 February 1964)

The Wonder Stuff

(The Bridge & Tunnel Crew)

A fan of British goth and metal as a young man, Rob Jones always wanted a career in rock ‘n’ roll but, sadly, he was not ready for success when it came knocking. Moving to London, Jones became a smalltime roadie, involved in the underground thrash scene. A decent bass-player, he worked his way through a number of acts before leaving the capital to return home – where Stourbridge band The Wonder Stuff were seeking a final member. Assuming the nickname Bass Thing, Jones – with his trademark mop of black hair and his eyeliner – became a firm favourite among The Wonder Stuff’s growing legion of fans, and the band’s intelligent mix of folk and garage-style rock propelled them into the charts with debut album
The Eight Legged Groove Machine
(1988). Being in one of the UK’s most promising rising bands, however, was not for Jones. With a second album,
Hup!
(1989), and a clutch of singles like ‘Don’t Let Me Down Gently’ performing well in the UK, The Wonder Stuff–Jones, Miles Hunt (vocals/guitar), Malcolm Treece (guitar) and Martin Gilks (drums) – were in constant demand for photo shoots and television, which was all alien to Bass Thing, who sought solace in the bottle. He left the band for America that Christmas (to be replaced by Paul Clifford). In the States, Jones married and divorced in quick succession, he and his partner, Jessica Ronson – a former friend of his idol, Sid Vicious – having formed a shortlived band, The Bridge & Tunnel Crew.

‘I always knew that bastard would make me cry.’

Miles Hunt, leader, The Wonder Stuff

While The Wonder Stuff became arguably the biggest leftfield band in Britain, Rob Jones was found dead in his New York apartment, having apparently suffered a heart attack. It is widely believed that he had been using heroin at the time.

See also
Martin Gilks (
April 2006)

AUGUST

Thursday 5

Randy Jo Hobbs

(Randolph County, Indiana, 22 March 1948)

The McCoys

Johnny Winter

Edgar Winter’s White Trash

(Various acts)

Already fronting his own band, The Coachmen, 17-year-old bassist Randy Jo Hobbs joined brothers Rick (later known as Rick Derringer, vocals/ guitar) and Randy Zehringer (drums), and Ronnie Brandon (keyboards) just as Union City garage-pop act The McCoys (originally Rick & The Raiders) were about to top the US charts with ‘Hang On Sloopy’ (1965). This record shifted some 6 million copies worldwide, opening up support slots for The McCoys with big names like The Rolling Stones. With succeeding singles making diminishing returns, the group had a shelflife of only a few years, though Hobbs was set for a prolific career in US rock ‘n’ roll for another two decades. The McCoys became Johnny Winter’s backing band in the seventies, Hobbs then donning his Stetson and playing bass with the giant guitarist’s brother Edgar Winter’s band White Trash. Having also become close to Jimi Hendrix before his untimely death
(
September 1970),
Hobbs cultivated a mammoth drug habit that would finally kill him in 1993. By this time – despite a prolific career – Randy Jo Hobbs was reported to be flat broke and living on the breadline in Dayton, Ohio.