The Gits Artistfacts

1986-1993
Mia Zapata Lead vocals
Andy KesslerGuitar
Matt DresdnerBass
Steve MoriartyDrums
The Gits were formed at Antioch College, Yellow Springs in 1985, and played their first gig about a week after they began rehearsing. Mia missed the first few rehearsals as she was holidaying with her family in Disneyland, and a number of male vocalists were rehearsed, but it was really a no contest when she returned. The band was provisionally called White Picket Fence which became The Snivelling Little Ratfaced Gits after one concert, and was then shortened to The Gits. Mia left Antioch College without completing her degree.
Mia Katherine Zapata was born in Louisville, Kentucky. Like its most famous child, Muhammad Ali, she came from a good family. She was the second daughter and youngest of three siblings born to Richard and Donna Zapata, and a distant relative of the Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata (1879-1919).

Mia was dyslexic, a disability that did not inhibit her chosen career as vocalist and lyricist for The Gits. Although she never played instruments with the band she was also a guitarist and apparently an excellent pianist. She did though perform solo a few times including with acoustic guitar. According to her father, the extrovert performer Mia would become was the mirror image of his daughter, who was actually rather introverted and quite shy.
Initially, the core of the band Andy Kessler, Matt Dresdner and Mia moved to San Francisco where they worked at The Farm, an unorthodox community center. After recording and playing in Ohio and the Midwest, they relocated to Seattle in 1988, a city that was to soon to host a burgeoning punk scene.

Here, The Gits got their first gig around Halloween 1990 and soon gained a local following. By a lucky introduction, the band ended up doing a European tour, after which they returned to Seattle. Their debut album Frenching The Bully was released in 1992. They were just about to break through when in the small hours of July 7, 1993, Mia left the Comet Tavern to walk home alone, and never made it. The band split up on her death although it was later reformed. It took nearly a decade to bring her killer to book.
Although most of her songs were co-written, a few weeks before her death Zapata wrote "Sign Of The Crab" by herself, about being murdered by a serial killer, which was released posthumously on the album Enter: The Conquering Chicken - she had been known as Chicken Legs or Chicken Woman on account of the way she would sometimes pose. After a very public funeral and memorial, Mia Zapata was buried at Cave Hill Cemetery in her hometown. She never married and had no children. In 2009, she was the subject of a dissertation by Margaret O'Neil Girouard, Heavy Angel... >>
Suggestion credit:
Alexander Baron - London, England, for all above

Comments

Be the first to comment...

More Songfacts:

Heartbreak HotelElvis Presley

The lyrics to "Heartbreak Hotel" were written by a steel guitar player who was once a dishwasher repairman. He was inspired by a newspaper story about a man who killed himself and left behind a note saying only, "I walk a lonely street."

Walking On Thin IceYoko Ono

John Lennon's lead guitar work on Yoko Ono's "Walking On Thin Ice" proved to be his final creative act. It was upon their return home after completing laying down the track that Lennon was murdered by Mark David Chapman.

What's Up4 Non Blondes

"What's Up" by 4 Non Blondes has endured as one of the most popular songs of the '90s, but it wasn't a huge hit at the time and the band split after one album. Frontwoman Linda Perry went on to write hits for Pink and Christina Aguilera.

JeopardyGreg Kihn Band

"Jeopardy" by The Greg Kihn Band got the Weird Al treatment with "I Lost On Jeopardy." Kihn and Jeopardy game show announcer Art Fleming both appear in the video.

Take My Breath AwayBerlin

"Take My Breath Away" from Top Gun was a huge hit for Berlin, but lead singer Terri Nunn was the only band member to perform on it. This caused friction that broke up the group a year later.

ContagiousThe Isley Brothers

The Isley Brothers became the first group to score a Top 50 hit in six consecutive decades when their song "Contagious" peaked at #19 in 2001. Their first entry was their song "Shout" in 1959.