Wednesday, April 08, 2009

The Four Horsemen

What do you get when you combine a convicted felon (Frank C. Starr, vocals), a KISS freak with a genius level I.Q. (Ben Pape, bass), an eccentric runaway from the D.C. hardcore scene (Dave Lizmi, guitar), a British ex-Pat (Haggis, rhythm guitar) & an orderly from a Canadian mental institute (Ken “Dimwit” Montgomery, drums)…



After hearing The Four Horsmen you’d think they were straight out of the 70’s hard rock movement, but the band was actual formed in the late ‘80’s in L.A. Starr lucked into the gig after Rick Rubin noticed him whooping someone's ass in the parking lot of the Rainbow Bar & Grill. Friends referred to Starr as "a career criminal, a mechanic, and a part-time spandexed hairband warbler." The bands style was blues influenced heavy rock and their fame was both fleeting and full of tragedy, more then any band deserves.



The first tragedy would occur when Dimwit passed away from a drug overdose on September 27, 1994 after the band had reformed. Starr and Lizmi decided to dedicate the album to their deceased friend and were joined by Chuck Biscuits (Dimwits brother and drummer of Danzig). However, in November 1995 before mastering of the album was complete the band suffered another tragedy when a drunk driver hit Starr while riding his motorcycle down Sunset Strip. He was sent flying, suffering massive head trauma and fell in a coma. Unfortunately Starr never recovered and after spending over 3 years in a coma , he passed away on June 18, 1999.