The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars (165 page)

Friday 24

Mick Wayne

(Hull, 1945)

The Pink Fairies

David Bowie

(The Hullabaloos)

(Various acts)

Basing their name on that of their home town, The Hullabaloos were formed around 1965, while guitarist Mick Wayne also played with bands like The Outsiders (with whom he cut the Jimmy Page-penned single ‘Keep on Doing It’), Bunch Of Fives, The Tickle and Junior’s Eyes – before a major break came his way via the initially unheralded David Bowie. Wayne backed the young singer on 1969’s hit ‘Space Oddity’ – further royalties came his way when a 1975 reissue topped the chart – and Junior’s Eyes continued to back Bowie on tour. Wayne’s next band were infamous hippies The Pink Fairies, whom he joined in 1972, staying with the band for just a few months before all concerned realized it wasn’t likely to work. So Mick Wayne’s legacy as one of rock’s greatest journeyman guitarists was cemented: he spent the next couple of decades as a session musician before relocating to Michigan, where he also became a well-respected producer. Wayne had been working on a solo album and in conjunction with Phil Collins shortly before his shocking demise. Trapped in a friend’s house, Wayne burned to death in a freak fire.

See also
Steve Peregrin Took (
October 1980). Early Pink Fairies drummer Dave Bidwell died in 1977.

‘I think she’s a fucking talented musician. I think she’s so beautiful, but if I told her that and Courtney found out, it’d be hell.’

Kurt Cobain on Kristen Pfaff

Monday 27

Deah Dame

(Debra Jean Hurd - Houston, Texas, 20 September 1958)

Damian Dame

Briefly a sensation in New Jack Swing, Damian Dame – Deah Dame and Damian Broadus – were a tight, competent duo whose career was cut short by a double tragedy. Damian Dame were the first act to record for LaFace (who a couple of years later hit the jackpot with TLC), Deah Dame’s strong writing and cool vocals the focal point of their output. An R & B charttopping single ‘Exclusivity’ and self-titled debut album (both 1991) showed promise, the production duo of Babyface and Reid lifting the music above the mundane. Before a follow-up could be completed, however, Dame – who at thirty-six was a mite older than most of her peers – died in a car accident. In the wake of the tragedy, Broadus continued as a producer until his own early death (
June 1996).
By chilling coincidence, this occurred exactly two years to the day after the passing of Deah Dame.

JULY

Sunday 17

Chuck Valle

(Charles G Valle - Queens, New York, 10 July 1965)

Murphy’s Law

Ludichrist

Dripping Goss

Emerging from New York’s hardcore punk scene in the early eighties, Murphy’s Law appealed to fans of both metal and the new wave with their trashy, uncompromising sound. Sneery Chuck Valle – one of many bassists employed by the band – stood out from the rest: he was a decent musician who acquired studio and production skills throughout his career. He played concurrently with the similar-veined Ludichrist (formerly Intestinal Militia) and Dripping Goss. Before his untimely death, Valle engineered a number of punk and rap artists’ recordings.

Murphy’s Law had something of a following on the West Coast, and were touring in Los Angeles when tragedy struck. After a successful show, the band were queuing for hot dogs outside the venue when Chuck Valle was approached by a man who took exception to him. After a brief argument, the assailant pulled a knife and, in an apparently motiveless attack, stabbed the bassist, who died at the scene.

SEPTEMBER

Saturday 3

Major Lance

(Winterville, Mississippi, 4 April 1939)

A childhood friend of Curtis Mayfield – they were brought up in the same Chicago housing project and both attended Wells High School – Major Lance developed into a fine Midwestern soul singer, Mayfield providing him with ammunition in some strong compositions. Lance had signed first to Mercury, then, in 1962, to OKeh Records, giving up earlier ambitions of becoming a boxer. The singer hit almost immediately with Mayfield’s popular ‘The Monkey Time’ (1963), a song that elevated Lance into the pop Top Ten and, like so many other tunes of that era, spawned a brief but impacting dance craze. Further hits were to follow; the biggest by far was ‘Um Um Um Um Um Um’ (1964). This was the only one of his songs to make any impression on the British charts, though a UK tour the following year saw Lance backed by the as-yet-unknown Elton John.

Those early US hits were very much the pinnacle of Major Lance’s career, though he did find a willing audience during the UK Northern soul boom of the seventies. The rest of Lance’s career was dogged by misfortune. A return to the US in 1974 presaged the start of a promising business career, with the launch of his Osiris Records with friend and producer Al Jackson Jr (of Booker T & The MGs), but Jackson’s shocking murder (
October 1975)
put the project in jeopardy Major Lance’s world all but collapsed in 1978, however: a conviction for supplying cocaine resulted in three years’ detention; the once-popular vocalist’s audience had all but disappeared by his release. The nostalgia circuit provided a small safety net, but by 1987 Major Lance’s health was failing him. Suffering fading vision and a first heart attack, he was forced to take life more easily, and although his August 1994 performance at the Chicago Jazz Festival was well received, Lance died from heart failure at his Georgia home just weeks later.

Tuesday 27

Ken ‘Dimwit’ Montgomery

(Vancouver, British Columbia, 1958)

DOA

(Various acts)