Destructor bassist Dave Iannicca was murdered New
Year’s Eve 1987. Members of his family and band have organized a
petition to deny parole to his killer, who was sentenced to life in
prison but becomes eligible for release in May. The petition, online at
petitiononline.com/iannicca,
has more than 2,400 signatures so far. Letters can also be sent to the
Ohio Parole Board, 770 West Broad Street, Columbus, OH 43222 by
Wednesday, April 15.
Iannicca’s survivors are mounting various activities to call
attention to the cause. On April 11, Destructor and surprise guests
will play a show at the Beachland Ballroom (15711 Waterloo Rd.). On
Friday March 6, bandmates and two of Iannicca’s sisters will appear on
WJCU 88.7 FM’s Metal on Metal, which airs from 6:30-9:30 p.m.
and on wjcu.org.
Destructor had gathered at their Cleveland practice spot on New
Year’s Evn 1987 to celebrate Iannicca’s recent engagement and the
band’s imminent major-label debut. A stranger, Robert Bedzyk, crashed
the party after leaving a nearby bar. Iannicca, the group’s peacemaker,
talked him into leaving but he remained outside. When Iannicca went
down to check on him. Bedzyk stabbed him through the heart. The bassist
died before the ambulance left the parking lot.
“I had asked David if he had made a resolution for the new year,”
says sister Pam Iannicca in a statement. “And he said he hadn’t, but
did have one wish instead. He said ‘I just want everyone to be happy.’
He was such a selfless, quiet, humble kind of person.”
Dropgun wipes the dust off its guitars for a show at the Grog
Shop (2785 Euclid Heights Blvd.) on Thursday, March 5. The Akron punks
are finishing a new CD, and the live set will feature a handful of
rockin’ new tunes. “We’re more or less straight-up punk rock ‘n’roll
[at this point],” says guitarist Paul Hooper. “We probably have
more in common with Turbonegro, Hellacopters [and] Demons than we do
anything you’ll find on Epitaph [Records] or in the pages of
Maximumrocknroll.”
Las Vegas-based reissue label Retrospect Records has released
Halfway to Heaven, the 1988 hair-metal high-water mark from
Cleveland’s Champion. The disc was co-produced by vocalist
John Norman and the Outlaws’ Freddie Salem. Visit
RetrospectRecords.com for
more information. The disc is also available via iTunes. Norman went on
to work with magician David Copperfield, and
keyboardist-singer-songwriter David Mauk plays with Vegas duo Paris
Pianos.
Self-described “legendary hellbastards” Nunslaughter return
Saturday, March 7, for a show at Now That’s Class (11213 Detroit Ave.).
The rare local show is a warmup for a two-week European tour from
Denmark to France. The band’s latest release is the long-out-of-print
Ouija EP, reissued as a picture-disc split with ’80s death-metal
cult heroes Dr. Shrinker.
This article appears in Dec 17-23, 2008.
