Died On This Date (July 7, 1993) Mia Zapata / The Gits
themusicsover Mia Zapata
August 25, 1965 – July 7, 1993
Member of the 27 Club
Mia Zapata was the powerful lead singer of the highly influential Seattle punk band, the Gits. As a child growing up in Louisville, Zapata was exposed to music by some of the greatest voices in America, Hank Williams, Ray Charles, Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday. While at a Ohio college during the mid ’80s, Zapata co-founded the Gits. In 1989, the band moved to Seattle to be closer to what was quickly becoming a scene of like-minded bands like Nirvana and Mudhoney. The band quickly built a local following partly due the release of a handful of solid singles and their critically acclaimed debut album, Frenching The Bully. Things appeared to be on the verge of taking off for the band when tragedy struck. In the early morning hours of July 7, 1993, Zapata left a friend’s apartment to presumably walk or catch a cab home. She never made it. Police reports indicate that she was beaten, raped and strangled at approximately 2:15 am, her body left in a “Christ like” pose in the middle of the street. Her murder would go unsolved for ten years until a DNA match linked a Florida man to the crime. He was convicted of Mia Zapata’s murder on March 25, 2004
What You Should Own
Marie Castello was the real life “Madam Marie” character in the Bruce Springsteen song “4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy).” The 1973 song finds Springsteen asking, “Did you hear the cops finally busted Madam Marie for tellin’ fortunes better than they do,” even though in real life, she never was. Castello began telling fortunes in her small Asbury Park boardwalk shop in 1932, and by the late ’60s, a young Springsteen reportedly visited with her often and would play his guitar outside her shop. According to Springsteen lore, it was during one of those visits that Castello told him he would one day be famous. Springsteen continued to stop by and visit in recent years. Over the years, Castello read fortunes of many famous entertainers who came to town. That list included 
Along with his wife, 