The Gits
Encyclopedia
The Gits were an American punk rock
band, formed in Yellow Springs, Ohio
in 1986. Known for their part in the burgeoning Seattle music scene of the early 1990s, their distinct punk rock sound gained a reputation for its blues
y street punk
aesthetic. They were known for their fiery live performances and retained a dedicated following both during and after their existence.
Singer Mia Zapata
—influenced early on by blues, soul music
and hardcore punk
—sang of inner struggle, alcohol, death, and survival despite utter hopelessness. Other members included guitarist Joe Spleen (born Andy Kessler), bassist Matt Dresdner and drummer Steve Moriarty. During their existence, the band released two studio albums, one compilation of early recordings, one live recording, three 7" singles and appeared on various compilations. The band also recorded on a few independent labels, and released its two studio albums on C/Z Records
. In 2003, each release in the band's discography was remastered and expanded with bonus tracks on Broken Rekids.
The band dissolved in 1993 following the murder of Zapata. Though the band never signed with a major label and never reached a mainstream audience, Zapata has nevertheless been cited as an influence by several subsequent female punk vocalists.
, a liberal arts
school in Yellow Springs, Ohio. They called themselves the Snivelling Little Rat Faced Gits (a reference to a Monty Python
skit, episode 21), but soon shortened the moniker to just "The Gits." In 1988 they recorded and self-released their "unofficial" debut album entitled Private Lubs with the help of friend Ben London (later of Alcohol Funnycar
and solo). These recordings did not see widespread release though until 1996 when the album was reissued by the Broken Rekids label as Kings & Queens. After finishing school, they packed up and headed to Seattle, Washington
in 1989 in search of greater opportunities.
district house where the band rehearsed and lived. They quickly earned a following on the local scene and gained many friends, particularly in the city's punk rock community. During the early 1990s, buzz began surrounding the band, which caused some media outlets to erroneously lump them in with the then-burgeoning Seattle grunge music
scene, and Zapata's persona led many to incorrectly associate The Gits with the Olympia, Washington
riot grrrl movement
.
Their first 'official' release surfaced in 1990 in the form of the "Precious Blood" single, released by the local Big Flaming Ego Records. This single was quickly followed up by two more releases ("Second Skin
" on Broken Rekids (1991), "Spear & Magic Helmet
" on Empty Records (1991), as well as the Bobbing For Pavement compilation (Rathouse/Broken Rekids, 1991) which featured The Gits alongside some of Seattle's best up-and-coming punk bands.
on the local C/Z Records to rave reviews. By this point, Seattle had become the 'next big thing' in mainstream music with several of its better known bands gaining national attention. The Gits themselves had gained quite a bit of notoriety by this point, thus allowing them to not only tour outside of Seattle, but also in Europe
, despite the fact they had no permanent record label or other professional services to support them.
By 1993 it became clear that the Gits were on the verge of making it big with the band gaining the attention of major label record companies. Production began in mid-1993 on the band's second album entitled Enter: The Conquering Chicken
, an album which was planned to be their breakthrough. The Gits seemed to be well on their way when, on the night of July 7, 1993, the group's charismatic singer and songwriter Mia Zapata was brutally raped and murdered while walking home from a bar.
initially focused their investigation on Zapata's circle of friends, believing that her murderer must have been someone she knew. Using funds generated by the Seattle music community (from benefit shows and CDs), as well as their own money, the remaining band members hired private investigator Leigh Hearon to supplement the police department's investigation. For over three years, Hearon and the Seattle Police Department investigated the crime with little or no breaks in the case. In 1996 the investigation first gained national attention in an episode of Unsolved Mysteries
. It however did not open any new leads. The case was later highlighted on several other TV shows including A&E's
American Justice
, Cold Case Files
, City Confidential
, CBS
's 48 Hours
, FOX's
America's Most Wanted
, and TruTV's Forensic Files
.
check conducted by the Seattle PD's Cold Case Unit and the Washington State Crime Lab led to the arrest of Cuban-American fisherman Jesus Mezquia. Mezquia, who briefly lived in Seattle during the time of Zapata's murder, was linked to the crime in 2003 when a DNA profile was extracted from a saliva sample left on Zapata's body; Mezquia had bitten her breast. It had been kept in cold storage until the STR
technology was developed for full extraction. An original entry in 2001 failed to generate a positive result, but Mezquia's DNA entered the national databank after he was arrested for burglary in Florida in 2002.
On March 25, 2004, a jury convicted Mezquia of Zapata's murder and sentenced him to 36 years in prison, the maximum allowed in the case under Washington state law.
self-defense
group called Home Alive
, which ceased operations in 2010, organized benefit concert
s and CDs with the participation of Seattle's music elite, such as Nirvana
, Pearl Jam
, Heart
, and the Presidents of the United States of America
. The Home Alive group has its own instructors and seek to empower women with ways to protect themselves against predators. They hold a range of courses, from anger management
and use of pepper spray
to the martial arts
.
-based alternative rock
band Everclear
dedicated their 1993 album World of Noise
to Zapata. The California
hardcore
band Retching Red included a Gits cover ("Spear and Magic Helmet") on their debut album "Get Your Red Wings". Also, the alt-country band Richmond Fontaine
have a tribute
song to the band, called "The Gits".
Punk rock band 7 Year Bitch
, who were good friends and briefly label mates of The Gits, named their 1994 album ¡Viva Zapata!
in tribute to Mia Zapata. The album cover also featured a painting by artist Scott Musgrove featuring Zapata wearing bullet sashes. The song "M.I.A.," which explicitly deals with Zapata's death, appears on this album.
—a documentary about the Seattle scene, featuring The Gits—came out. Nine years later, in 2005, a movie chronicling the life of Mia Zapata during her time with The Gits was released. The final cut of the film was released theatrically in over 20 North American cities on July 7, 2008, the 15th memorial anniversary of Zapata's death. The following day saw the film released on DVD along with a Best of the Gits CD (both from Liberation Entertainment).
The story of the Gits was made into a documentary film, titled simply The Gits. The movie, directed by Kerri O'Kane, had its first screenings in 2005 at the Seattle International Film Festival
to an overwhelmingly positive response. A finalized version of the film was accepted and screened at the 2007 SXSW (South By Southwest) Film Festival held March 9-March 17, 2007 in Austin, Texas
.
, Spleen formed a hardcore punk band called the Dancing French Liberals of '48, and later toured briefly with hardcore legends Poison Idea
. Dancing French Liberals of '48 featured all of the remaining Gits as well as longtime friend and guitarist Julian Gibson (ex-DC Beggars). Their music was, as expected, much in the vein of the Gits although with a more hardcore punk
attitude. Together the Liberals issued an EP (Scream Clown Scream) and a full length album (Powerline) on the Broken Rekids label before disbanding in the late 90's.
Following Zapata's death, Joan Jett
and Bikini Kill
frontwoman Kathleen Hanna
co-wrote a song (entitled "Go Home") inspired by Zapata's death. Jett also included a message at the end of her video for the song asking for any information anyone had in regard to Zapata's murder. After seeing the video the remaining members of the Gits approached Jett about touring with the band.
Jett agreed as she had long been a fan of The Gits. The band renamed themselves Evil Stig
(Gits Live backwards), and toured in early 1995 playing a mix of Gits and Joan Jett songs, with a majority of the profits going towards Zapata's murder investigation. A self-titled album was issued later in the year, again with a majority of the profits going towards the investigation. While touring and recording with Evil Stig, Spleen, Dresdner and Moriarty also continued playing with the Dancing French Liberals of '48.
Moriarty later appeared in the punk rock
band St. Bushmill's Choir as well as the more acoustic based Pinkos.
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band, formed in Yellow Springs, Ohio
Yellow Springs, Ohio
Yellow Springs is a village in Greene County, Ohio, United States, and is the location of Antioch College and Antioch University Midwest. The population was 3,487 at the 2010 census...
in 1986. Known for their part in the burgeoning Seattle music scene of the early 1990s, their distinct punk rock sound gained a reputation for its blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
y street punk
Street punk
Street punk is a working class-based genre of punk rock which took shape in the early 1980s, partly as a rebellion against the perceived artistic pretensions of the first wave of British punk. Street punk emerged from the Oi! style, performed by bands such as Sham 69, Angelic Upstarts, Cockney...
aesthetic. They were known for their fiery live performances and retained a dedicated following both during and after their existence.
Singer Mia Zapata
Mia Zapata
Mia Katherine Zapata was the lead singer for the Seattle punk band The Gits.-Life and career:Zapata was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky...
—influenced early on by blues, soul music
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
and hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
—sang of inner struggle, alcohol, death, and survival despite utter hopelessness. Other members included guitarist Joe Spleen (born Andy Kessler), bassist Matt Dresdner and drummer Steve Moriarty. During their existence, the band released two studio albums, one compilation of early recordings, one live recording, three 7" singles and appeared on various compilations. The band also recorded on a few independent labels, and released its two studio albums on C/Z Records
C/Z Records
C/Z Records is a Seattle-based record label that was established in early 1985 by Chris Hanzsek and Tina Casale with the release of the now-legendary, Deep Six LP, which collected the earliest recordings of the real pro-genitors of what later came to be known as grunge...
. In 2003, each release in the band's discography was remastered and expanded with bonus tracks on Broken Rekids.
The band dissolved in 1993 following the murder of Zapata. Though the band never signed with a major label and never reached a mainstream audience, Zapata has nevertheless been cited as an influence by several subsequent female punk vocalists.
Formation and early history
The Gits met and formed in 1986 at Antioch CollegeAntioch College
Antioch College is a private, independent liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, United States. It was the founder and the flagship institution of the six-campus Antioch University system. Founded in 1852 by the Christian Connection, the college began operating in 1853 with politician and...
, a liberal arts
Liberal arts
The term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...
school in Yellow Springs, Ohio. They called themselves the Snivelling Little Rat Faced Gits (a reference to a Monty Python
Monty Python
Monty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
skit, episode 21), but soon shortened the moniker to just "The Gits." In 1988 they recorded and self-released their "unofficial" debut album entitled Private Lubs with the help of friend Ben London (later of Alcohol Funnycar
Alcohol Funnycar
Alcohol Funnycar was an American rock band from Seattle, Washington.The band was formed in 1991 by Ben London, an Ohio native, in Seattle. Bassist Tommy "Bonehead" Simpson was a former member of Love Battery and Crisis Party...
and solo). These recordings did not see widespread release though until 1996 when the album was reissued by the Broken Rekids label as Kings & Queens. After finishing school, they packed up and headed to Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
in 1989 in search of greater opportunities.
Local following
After arriving in Seattle, the band set up shop at the now infamous 'Rathouse,' a Capitol HillCapitol Hill, Seattle, Washington
Capitol Hill is the most densely populated residential district in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the center of the city's gay and counterculture communities, and is one of the city's most prominent nightlife and entertainment districts....
district house where the band rehearsed and lived. They quickly earned a following on the local scene and gained many friends, particularly in the city's punk rock community. During the early 1990s, buzz began surrounding the band, which caused some media outlets to erroneously lump them in with the then-burgeoning Seattle grunge music
Grunge music
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
scene, and Zapata's persona led many to incorrectly associate The Gits with the Olympia, Washington
Olympia, Washington
Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat of Thurston County. It was incorporated on January 28, 1859. The population was 46,478 at the 2010 census...
riot grrrl movement
Riot grrrl
Riot grrrl was an underground feminist punk movement based in Washington, DC, Olympia, Washington, Portland, Oregon, and the greater Pacific Northwest which existed in the early to mid-1990s, and it is often associated with third-wave feminism...
.
Their first 'official' release surfaced in 1990 in the form of the "Precious Blood" single, released by the local Big Flaming Ego Records. This single was quickly followed up by two more releases ("Second Skin
Second Skin (song)
Second Skin was the second single by American punk rock band The Gits. The record was released as a limited edition 7" single by the San Francisco based Broken Rekids Records who would later handle all of the band's discography...
" on Broken Rekids (1991), "Spear & Magic Helmet
Spear & Magic Helmet
Spear & Magic Helmet was the third and final single by the American punk rock band The Gits. The record was released on 7" vinyl only by the Seattle based Empty Records. Included in the tracklisting were versions of "Spear & Magic Helmet" and "While You're Twisting, I'm Still Breathing". Both...
" on Empty Records (1991), as well as the Bobbing For Pavement compilation (Rathouse/Broken Rekids, 1991) which featured The Gits alongside some of Seattle's best up-and-coming punk bands.
Increased following and disbandment
In 1992 the band recorded and released their debut album Frenching the BullyFrenching the Bully
Frenching The Bully is the debut album by Seattle punk rock band The Gits. It was originally released as a 12-track album on C/Z Records in 1992 but was later reissued in 2003 with bonus tracks and different cover art on the Broken Rekids label....
on the local C/Z Records to rave reviews. By this point, Seattle had become the 'next big thing' in mainstream music with several of its better known bands gaining national attention. The Gits themselves had gained quite a bit of notoriety by this point, thus allowing them to not only tour outside of Seattle, but also in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, despite the fact they had no permanent record label or other professional services to support them.
By 1993 it became clear that the Gits were on the verge of making it big with the band gaining the attention of major label record companies. Production began in mid-1993 on the band's second album entitled Enter: The Conquering Chicken
Enter: The Conquering Chicken
Enter: The Conquering Chicken was The Gits' second full-length album, recorded in 1993 and released posthumously in 1994 on C/Z Records. Lead singer and songwriter Mia Zapata was raped and strangled to death in July, 1993 during production of this record...
, an album which was planned to be their breakthrough. The Gits seemed to be well on their way when, on the night of July 7, 1993, the group's charismatic singer and songwriter Mia Zapata was brutally raped and murdered while walking home from a bar.
Immediate aftermath
After the initial shock of Zapata's murder, both the remaining members of the Gits and the Seattle musical community at large began an intensive investigation into her death. The Seattle Police DepartmentSeattle Police Department
The Seattle Police Department is the principal law enforcement agency of the city of Seattle, Washington, except for the campus of the University of Washington, for which responsibility falls to the University of Washington Police Department...
initially focused their investigation on Zapata's circle of friends, believing that her murderer must have been someone she knew. Using funds generated by the Seattle music community (from benefit shows and CDs), as well as their own money, the remaining band members hired private investigator Leigh Hearon to supplement the police department's investigation. For over three years, Hearon and the Seattle Police Department investigated the crime with little or no breaks in the case. In 1996 the investigation first gained national attention in an episode of Unsolved Mysteries
Unsolved Mysteries
Unsolved Mysteries is an American television program, hosted by Robert Stack, from 1987 until 2002, and later by Dennis Farina, starting in 2008...
. It however did not open any new leads. The case was later highlighted on several other TV shows including A&E's
A&E Network
The A&E Network is a United States-based cable and satellite television network with headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, London, Los Angeles and Stamford. A&E also airs in Canada and Latin America. Initially named the Arts & Entertainment Network, A&E launched...
American Justice
American Justice
American Justice is an American criminal justice television program on the A&E Network, hosted by Bill Kurtis. The show features interesting or notable cases, such as the Selena Murder of a Star, Scarsdale Diet doctor murder, the Hillside Stranglers, Matthew Shepard, or the Wells Fargo heist, with...
, Cold Case Files
Cold Case Files
Cold Case Files is documentary television series on the cable channel A&E Network hosted by Bill Kurtis that documents the investigation of various long-unsolved murders through the use of modern forensic science , and criminal psychology, in addition to recent breakthroughs in the...
, City Confidential
City Confidential
City Confidential is an American documentary television show, transmitted on the A&E Network, which singled out a community during each episode and investigated a crime that had occurred there. Rather than being a straighforward procedural, the installments began by focusing on the history and...
, CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
's 48 Hours
48 Hours (TV series)
48 Hours is a documentary and news program broadcast on the CBS television network since January 19, 1988. The program originally presented documentaries of various events related to a particular subject occurring within a 48-hour period, and is credited as one of the first to air a "reality show"...
, FOX's
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
America's Most Wanted
America's Most Wanted
America's Most Wanted is an American television program produced by 20th Television, and was the longest-running program of any kind in the history of the Fox Television Network until it was announced on May 16, 2011 that the series was canceled after twenty-three years, with the final episode...
, and TruTV's Forensic Files
Forensic Files
Forensic Files is an American documentary-style series which reveals how forensic science is used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and even outbreaks of illness. The show is broadcast on truTV, narrated by Peter Thomas, and produced by Medstar Television, in association with truTV...
.
Finding the killer
Seven years passed with few new leads in the case, until a random DNADNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
check conducted by the Seattle PD's Cold Case Unit and the Washington State Crime Lab led to the arrest of Cuban-American fisherman Jesus Mezquia. Mezquia, who briefly lived in Seattle during the time of Zapata's murder, was linked to the crime in 2003 when a DNA profile was extracted from a saliva sample left on Zapata's body; Mezquia had bitten her breast. It had been kept in cold storage until the STR
Short tandem repeat
A short tandem repeat in DNA occurs when a pattern of two or more nucleotides are repeated and the repeated sequences are directly adjacent to each other. The pattern can range in length from 2 to 5 base pairs and is typically in the non-coding intron region...
technology was developed for full extraction. An original entry in 2001 failed to generate a positive result, but Mezquia's DNA entered the national databank after he was arrested for burglary in Florida in 2002.
On March 25, 2004, a jury convicted Mezquia of Zapata's murder and sentenced him to 36 years in prison, the maximum allowed in the case under Washington state law.
Home Alive
In the aftermath of Zapata's murder, friends created a non-profitNon-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
self-defense
Self-defense
Self-defense, self-defence or private defense is a countermeasure that involves defending oneself, one's property or the well-being of another from physical harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force in times of danger is available in many...
group called Home Alive
Home Alive
Home Alive was a non-profit organization based in Seattle which promotes anti-violence. The organization offered self-defense classes and public education and awareness in order to reduce and prevent violence. The Home Alive group trained its own instructors. They held a range of courses including...
, which ceased operations in 2010, organized benefit concert
Benefit concert
A benefit concert or charity concert is a concert, show or gala featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate humanitarian crisis. Such events raise both funds and public awareness to address the cause at...
s and CDs with the participation of Seattle's music elite, such as Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
, Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...
, Heart
Heart (band)
Heart is an American rock band who first found success in Canada. Throughout several lineup changes, the only two members remaining constant are sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson. The group rose to fame in the 1970s with their music being influenced by hard rock as well as folk music...
, and the Presidents of the United States of America
The Presidents of the United States of America (band)
The Presidents of the United States of America, commonly referred to as Pot USA or "PUSA" or The Presidents, are a twice Grammy-nominated American alternative rock band. The band formed in Seattle, USA, in 1993. The three-piece group currently comprises vocalist and "basitarist" Chris Ballew,...
. The Home Alive group has its own instructors and seek to empower women with ways to protect themselves against predators. They hold a range of courses, from anger management
Anger management
The term anger management commonly refers to a system of psychological therapeutic techniques and exercises by which someone with excessive or uncontrollable anger & aggression can control or reduce the triggers, degrees, and effects of an angered emotional state...
and use of pepper spray
Pepper spray
Pepper spray, also known as OC spray , OC gas, and capsicum spray, is a lachrymatory agent that is used in riot control, crowd control and personal self-defense, including defense against dogs and bears...
to the martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
.
Influence
Portland, OregonPortland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
-based alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band Everclear
Everclear (band)
Everclear is a rock band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1992 best known for their radio hits spanning more than a decade. For most of its existence, Everclear has consisted of Art Alexakis , Craig Montoya , and Greg Eklund . Eklund replaced original drummer Scott Cuthbert in 1994...
dedicated their 1993 album World of Noise
World of Noise
World of Noise is the debut album recorded by the band Everclear. It was recorded in a friend's basement for $400 with Art Alexakis on vocals/lead guitar, Craig Montoya on bass, Scott Cuthbert on drums and was released in 1993 by Tim Kerr Records....
to Zapata. The California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
hardcore
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
band Retching Red included a Gits cover ("Spear and Magic Helmet") on their debut album "Get Your Red Wings". Also, the alt-country band Richmond Fontaine
Richmond Fontaine
-History:Formed in 1994, Richmond Fontaine started touring the Pacific Northwest live circuit to support their first three albums released on Cavity Search Records. Gradually gaining attention in the UK and Europe the band began regularly touring there. Most of the core musicians and producer JD...
have a tribute
Tribute
A tribute is wealth, often in kind, that one party gives to another as a sign of respect or, as was often the case in historical contexts, of submission or allegiance. Various ancient states, which could be called suzerains, exacted tribute from areas they had conquered or threatened to conquer...
song to the band, called "The Gits".
Punk rock band 7 Year Bitch
7 Year Bitch
7 Year Bitch was an American punk rock band from Seattle, Washington that was active for 7 years, between 1990 and 1997. Their career yielded three albums, and was impacted by the deaths of their guitarist Stefanie Sargent and close-friend Mia Zapata of fellow Seattle punks The Gits.-Career:7 Year...
, who were good friends and briefly label mates of The Gits, named their 1994 album ¡Viva Zapata!
¡Viva Zapata!
-Personnel:* Selene Vigil — vocals* Roisin Dunne — guitar* Elizabeth Davis — bass* Valerie Agnew — drums...
in tribute to Mia Zapata. The album cover also featured a painting by artist Scott Musgrove featuring Zapata wearing bullet sashes. The song "M.I.A.," which explicitly deals with Zapata's death, appears on this album.
Films
In 1996, Hype!Hype!
Hype! is a documentary directed by Doug Pray about the popularity of grunge rock in the early to mid-1990s United States. It incorporates interviews and rare concert footage to trace the steps of grunge, from its subversive inception in neighborhood basements, to its explosion as a pop culture...
—a documentary about the Seattle scene, featuring The Gits—came out. Nine years later, in 2005, a movie chronicling the life of Mia Zapata during her time with The Gits was released. The final cut of the film was released theatrically in over 20 North American cities on July 7, 2008, the 15th memorial anniversary of Zapata's death. The following day saw the film released on DVD along with a Best of the Gits CD (both from Liberation Entertainment).
The story of the Gits was made into a documentary film, titled simply The Gits. The movie, directed by Kerri O'Kane, had its first screenings in 2005 at the Seattle International Film Festival
Seattle International Film Festival
The Seattle International Film Festival , held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees...
to an overwhelmingly positive response. A finalized version of the film was accepted and screened at the 2007 SXSW (South By Southwest) Film Festival held March 9-March 17, 2007 in Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
.
Related projects
Following the posthumous completion of Enter: The Conquering ChickenEnter: The Conquering Chicken
Enter: The Conquering Chicken was The Gits' second full-length album, recorded in 1993 and released posthumously in 1994 on C/Z Records. Lead singer and songwriter Mia Zapata was raped and strangled to death in July, 1993 during production of this record...
, Spleen formed a hardcore punk band called the Dancing French Liberals of '48, and later toured briefly with hardcore legends Poison Idea
Poison Idea
Poison Idea was an American hardcore punk band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1980. The band originally dissolved in 1993, but has been playing intermittently since 1998.-Formation, 1980's and 90's:...
. Dancing French Liberals of '48 featured all of the remaining Gits as well as longtime friend and guitarist Julian Gibson (ex-DC Beggars). Their music was, as expected, much in the vein of the Gits although with a more hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
attitude. Together the Liberals issued an EP (Scream Clown Scream) and a full length album (Powerline) on the Broken Rekids label before disbanding in the late 90's.
Following Zapata's death, Joan Jett
Joan Jett
Joan Jett is an American rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer and actress.She is best known for her work with Joan Jett & the Blackhearts including their hit cover "I Love Rock 'n' Roll", which was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 from March 20 to May 1, 1982, as well as for their other popular...
and Bikini Kill
Bikini Kill
Bikini Kill was an American punk rock band formed in Olympia, Washington in October 1990. The group consisted of vocalist and songwriter Kathleen Hanna, guitarist Billy Karren, bassist Kathi Wilcox, and drummer Tobi Vail. The band is widely considered to be the pioneer of the riot grrrl movement,...
frontwoman Kathleen Hanna
Kathleen Hanna
Kathleen Hanna is an American musician, feminist activist, and punk zine writer. In the early- to mid-1990s she was the lead singer and songwriter of Bikini Kill, before fronting Le Tigre in the late 1990s and early 2000s...
co-wrote a song (entitled "Go Home") inspired by Zapata's death. Jett also included a message at the end of her video for the song asking for any information anyone had in regard to Zapata's murder. After seeing the video the remaining members of the Gits approached Jett about touring with the band.
Jett agreed as she had long been a fan of The Gits. The band renamed themselves Evil Stig
Evil Stig
Evil Stig is a studio album released by Evil Stig, which was a new band formed by Joan Jett and The Gits for a series of benefit concerts to fund the investigation into the death of Mia Zapata. The name Evil Stig is developed from Gits Live in reverse...
(Gits Live backwards), and toured in early 1995 playing a mix of Gits and Joan Jett songs, with a majority of the profits going towards Zapata's murder investigation. A self-titled album was issued later in the year, again with a majority of the profits going towards the investigation. While touring and recording with Evil Stig, Spleen, Dresdner and Moriarty also continued playing with the Dancing French Liberals of '48.
Moriarty later appeared in the punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band St. Bushmill's Choir as well as the more acoustic based Pinkos.
Albums
- Frenching the BullyFrenching the BullyFrenching The Bully is the debut album by Seattle punk rock band The Gits. It was originally released as a 12-track album on C/Z Records in 1992 but was later reissued in 2003 with bonus tracks and different cover art on the Broken Rekids label....
(C/Z RecordsC/Z RecordsC/Z Records is a Seattle-based record label that was established in early 1985 by Chris Hanzsek and Tina Casale with the release of the now-legendary, Deep Six LP, which collected the earliest recordings of the real pro-genitors of what later came to be known as grunge...
) (19921992 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1992.-January–February:*January 11**Nirvana's Nevermind album goes to #1 in the US Billboard 200 chart, establishing the widespread popularity of the Grunge movement of the 1990s....
)
- Reissued on Broken Rekids, 20032003 in music-January:* January – following an investigation by The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and London detectives, police raids in England and the Netherlands recover nearly 500 original Beatles studio tapes, recorded during the Let It Be sessions. Five people are arrested...
- Enter: The Conquering ChickenEnter: The Conquering ChickenEnter: The Conquering Chicken was The Gits' second full-length album, recorded in 1993 and released posthumously in 1994 on C/Z Records. Lead singer and songwriter Mia Zapata was raped and strangled to death in July, 1993 during production of this record...
(C/Z RecordsC/Z RecordsC/Z Records is a Seattle-based record label that was established in early 1985 by Chris Hanzsek and Tina Casale with the release of the now-legendary, Deep Six LP, which collected the earliest recordings of the real pro-genitors of what later came to be known as grunge...
) (19931993 in musicThis is a summary of significant events in music in 1993.-January–February:*January 8 – The U.S. Postal Service issues an Elvis Presley stamp. The design was voted on in February 1992....
)
- Enter: The Conquering Chicken
- Reissued on Broken Rekids, 20032003 in music-January:* January – following an investigation by The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and London detectives, police raids in England and the Netherlands recover nearly 500 original Beatles studio tapes, recorded during the Let It Be sessions. Five people are arrested...
- Kings & Queens (Broken Rekids) (19961996 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1996.-January:* January – At the trial of two American teenagers, Nicholaus McDonald and Brian Bassett, for the murder of Bassett's parents and young brother, defense lawyers attempt to lay the blame for the murders on the fact...
) - Seafish LouisvilleSeafish LouisvilleSeafish Louisville is a compilation of songs by The Gits, released posthumously in 2000 on the Broken Rekids label. The record is primarily a collection of live tracks and alternate takes including the newly discovered track "Whirlwind." The CD+ section of the CD includes the video for "Seaweed" as...
(Broken Rekids) (20002000 in musicSee also:* 2000 in music Record labels established in 2000-Events:*January – Gary Glitter is released from jail, two months before his sentence for sexual offences ends.*January 1**John Tavener is knighted in the New Year's Honours List....
) - Best of The Gits (Liberation) (20082008 in music2008 was a huge year in music history with the emergence of pop superstars Lady Gaga and Katy Perry into the mainstream. Also, this is the year that is widely agreed upon by critics as the start of the fall of hip hop from the mainstream and the rise of Synthpop into the mainstream due to acts such...
)
- Kings & Queens (Broken Rekids) (1996
Singles/Eps
- Precious Blood b/w "Seaweed" and "Kings & Queens" (Big Flaming Ego Records), (1990).
- Second Skin b/w "Social Love" (Broken Rekids), (1991).
- Spear And Magic Helmet b/w "While You're Twisting, I'm Still Breathing" (Empty Records), (1991).
Compilation/soundtrack contributions
- "Here's to Your Fuck" and "Ain't Got No Right" on Bobbing For Pavement: The Rathouse Compilation (Rathouse/Broken Rekids), (1991).
- "Drinking Song" on Power Flush: San Francisco, Seattle & You (Broken Rekids), (1993).
- "Guilt Within Your Head" and "Social Love (Live)" on Home Alive: The Art Of Self-Defense (Epic RecordsEpic RecordsEpic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
), (1996). - "Second Skin (Live)" on Hype! The Motion Picture Soundtrack, (Sub Pop Records), (1996).
- "Another Shot of Whiskey" on Wild and Wooly: The Northwest Rock Collection (Experience Music ProjectExperience Music ProjectThe EMP Museum is a museum dedicated to the history and exploration of both popular music and science fiction located in Seattle, Washington...
/Sub Pop Records), (2000). - "Whirlwind" on Girls Kick Ass (Vitaminepillen), (2001).
- "Absynthe" on Whatever: The 90's Pop & Culture Box (Rhino/WEAWarner Music GroupWarner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
), (2005). - "Another Shot of Whiskey" on Sleepless In Seattle: The Birth of Grunge (LiveWire Recordings, 2006).