Died On This Date (April 6, 2010) Vinnie Chas / Bassist For Pretty Boy Floyd
themusicsover Vinnie Chas
DOB Unknown – April 6, 2010
Vinnie Chas is best remembered as the original bassist for popular Los Angeles glam metal band, Pretty Boy Floyd. The band was one of the top draws along Hollywood’s storied Sunset Strip during a time when bands like Guns ‘N Roses, Ratt and Poison also played the same clubs. Signed by MCA Records during the late ’80s, the band released the moderately successful Leather Boyz With Electric Toyz in 1989. The band broke up in 1991 and Chas went on to play in a band called Rattlin’ Bones. In 2007, Chas and other former members of Pretty Boy Floyd began working together on new band material. Vinnie Chas passed away unexpectedly on April 6, 2010. Cause of death was not immediately released.
Mickie Jones was the co-founder of and bassist for pioneering ’70s glam metal band, Angel. Formed with guitarist, Punky Meadows in in 1975, Angel would be the link between Bowie and heavy metal. It was Gene Simmons of Kiss who helped the band get signed to Casablanca Records, and in an ironic twist, the members of Angel chose to market themselves dressed in all white as sort of the “anti-Kiss.” The band’s slick pop metal and androgynous image helped pave the way for such ’80s hair bands as Poison, Warrant and Motley Crue. Even the band’s own keyboardist, Gregg Guiffria would go on to have ’80s metal hits of his own. Even though Angel released some of the most memorable hard rock albums of the ’70s, (IE: Helluva Band and On Earth As It Is In Heaven), they never reached much beyond a cult status. Outside of Angel, Jones played in BUX with Meadows and Joe Perry Project singer, Ralph Morman, and Empire with LA Guns drummer, Steve Riley. It has also been reported that Jones was once asked to join the New York Dolls. In recent years, he was working in the film industry. Mickie Jones died of liver cancer on September 5, 2009.