The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars (269 page)

If the eighties were something of a topsy-turvy ride in the life of Rick James, the next decade was even worse. The singer’s coke habit now cost him close to $15K a week (which eventually took care of any royalty money), the first signs of ‘the beginning of the end’ displaying themselves in 1991–2, when James and his dancer partner, Tanya Hijazi, were arrested and charged with the imprisonment and assault of young women at the singer’s Hollywood Hills home. Later revelations led to the even more serious charges of ‘possession of deadly weapons’, ‘torture’ and ‘enforced oral copulation’ (plus ‘aggravated mayhem’, whatever that might entail). With James out on bail of $1 million, he and Hijazi disappeared for a year, only to be re-arrested in December 1992, after which James served two years in Folsom Prison. In 1997, he married Hijazi (although his publicist suggested otherwise after his death) and, having suffered a first stroke while on stage in Colorado, effectively pensioned off his alter ego, and all it entailed, for good.

Rick James was found dead at his apartment by his personal assistant in August 2004. Although he’d slowed his life down to a more manageable pace, James was still found to have nine different substances (including Valium and methamphetamine) in his system at the time of his death. The original verdict of ‘natural causes’ was thus scrapped in favour of ‘accidental toxicity’, in addition to pulmonary and cardiac failure, plus complications of diabetes and stroke: in short, the guy didn’t have a chance. James – who had been working on his autobiography,
Confessions of a Superfreak,
when he died – was interred in his home town of Buffalo, New York.

See also
Bruce Palmer (
October 2004)

Saturday 7

Paulette Valenzuela

(San Diego, California, 20 June 1970)

The Abuse

A hard-rock band that had opened for multiplatinum angst-merchants Korn, The Abuse were considered one of San Diego’s most promising alternative acts. Despite her leather-clad, tough-girl stage image, singer Paulette Valenzuela worked as a legal secretary by day and was widely known as a humanitarian. In 2004, the band was looking to consolidate on their success when everything ground to a sudden halt.

On 6 August, the outgoing Valenzuela was hosting an impromptu get-together at her Ocean Beach apartment, when at around 3 am three strangers arrived and asked whether they could crash the party. Her friendly nature getting the better of her common sense, the singer invited them to join her and her friends. Later, as the three latecomers were taking their leave, a frozen steak fell to the floor from the jacket of 21-year-old Samuel Horn, who had clearly attempted to steal it from Valenzuela’s freezer. As she confronted him over the theft, Horn pulled a gun on the singer, announcing that he was robbing everyone and that they should hand over all their valuables. Astonishingly, Valenzuela – who was known for her take-no-shit attitude – then attempted to call his bluff by pressing the gun in his hand to her own head: the startled attacker withdrew the weapon sharply, unloading a bullet into her chest, which penetrated her heart, killing her instantly. A 100-strong wake was held for the singer just two nights later. On 15 July 2005, Horn – who had been hiding out in Rosarito, Mexico, since initial questioning – was found guilty of the shooting of Paulette Valenzuela and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Friday 13

Jak Airport

(Jack Stafford - Catford, London)

X-Ray Spex

(Classix Nouveaux)

(Various acts)

Despite his decidedly glamrock looks, Jak Airport was the guitarist/writer that flamboyant singer Poly Styrene (Marianne Elliot) wanted for her colourful punk outfit, X-Ray Spex, signed to EMI as the corporates bought into the new wave during 1977. Airport was an unlikely choice for a punk band, numbering among his eclectic influences both Kraftwerk and Debussy, though it was with his power chords that he lit up X-Ray Spex. The line-up – completed by noted saxophonist Lora Logic (Susan Whitby), Paul Dean (bass) and B P Hurding (drums) – came together after Styrene’s
Melody Maker
advert drew them from all corners of the UK. And a terrific band they were. X-Ray Spex banged out the hits – ‘Oh Bondage up Yours!’ (1977), ‘The Day the World Turned Dayglo’, ‘Identity’ and ‘Germ Free Adolescence’ (all 1978) – before punk’s implosion saw them disband in 1979. (Just one album,
Germ Free Adolescents
(1978), pulled together Poly and Jak’s musings about the plastic age before it was over.) Post-Spex, Airport formed his own partnership with Dean before joining new romantic also-rans Classix Nouveaux (with Hurding) for live work.

Jack Stafford was believed to have been in his forties when he died from cancer; he’d left music to become a well-respected figure in the unlikely surroundings of the BBC’s corporate and public relations department.

See also
Poly Styrene (
April 2011)

Thursday 26

Laura Branigan

(Brewster, New York, 3 July 1957)

She mightn’t have been the most obvious choice to play Janis Joplin on Broadway, but leg-warmer-toting Laura Branigan surely had all the brashness and self-belief needed for the part. Of Irish/Italian ancestry, Branigan found her natural home at New York’s Academy of Dramatic Arts, where she began to polish the style that was to hand her the fame she craved. It was in Italy that the singer made her first impact, with the single ‘Gloria’ (1982), a strident, Euro-friendly pop stomper that was not to be an international hit for another year. When the remastered song
did
hit back at home, it
really
hit: a million-seller in the US, ‘Gloria’ impacted around the world, reaching number six in Britain. Further smashes like ‘Solitaire’ (1983) and particularly ‘Self Control’ (1984 – her other major UK hit, which also spent seven weeks at number one in Germany) showed that Branigan was right at the fore of a dance/stage-school collision that had also foisted on an unsuspecting world the the dubious delights of Toni Basil,
Flashdance
and The Kids from Fame. An MTV ban on ‘Self Control’ that was never explained to the singer may well have prevented her from topping the charts at home. With her US popularity cooling, the former waitress then concentrated more on dramatic parts, which eventually led her to the starring role in the musical
Love, Janis
(to the evident horror of Joplin’s surviving fanbase). Branigan – who had once backed Leonard Cohen – maintained a lower musical profile, but was to duet with other more complementary singers in her time, including the equally melodramatic Michael Bolton, Aussie favourite John Farnham and, yup, David Hasselhoff.

Laura Branigan – who had lost her husband to cancer just eight years before – was caring for her sick mother in East Quogue when she failed to rise one morning: the singer had died in her sleep from an undetected brain aneurysm. Branigan had complained to friends of headaches for a fortnight before her death, but had failed to seek medical attention.

Tuesday 31

Carl Wayne

(Colin David Tooley - Birmingham, England, 18 June 1943)

The Move

(Carl Wayne & The Vikings)

(The Hollies)

A vital cog in Birmingham’s early pop machine, Carl Wayne saw his first band, The Vikings, record three flop singles with CBS before hitting the big time. Wayne (vocals), Ace Kefford (bass) and Bev Bevan (percussion) teamed with Roy Wood (ex-Mike Sheridan & The Nightriders, guitar) and Trevor Burton (ex-Danny King & The Mayfair Set, guitar/vocals) to spring The Move upon a startled public in 1966. The next year was something of a whirlwind for the band, with three of their singles – ‘Night Of Fear’, ‘I Can Hear the Grass Grow’ and ‘Flowers in the Rain’ (insert your own ‘first record on Radio One’ reference here) – reaching the UK Top Five. By the end of 1967, The Move were also making headlines for their wild publicity stunts: fuelled by wayward manager Tony Secunda, Wayne and co were successfully sued by Harold Wilson for a promotional campaign that incorporated the then prime minister in a mocked-up nude bedroom photograph. Wayne himself became known for stage antics that included demolishing everything in sight with an axe and, on at least one occasion – predating The Plasmatics, Tubes, Eminem, etc – chainsawing a Cadillac in half, the crazy tyke.