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Punk legend Mikey Offender reported dead
The Bravewords Web site is reporting — and former Offenders drummer Pat Doyle confirms — that the great punk bassist Mikey Donaldson (Offenders, DRI, MDC) died in his sleep Saturday in Barcelona, Spain. He was 46. Cause of death has not been determined. He’s survived by a brother and two sisters, who all live in Killeen.
When I moved to Austin in 1984, I hung with the punk crowd over at Voltaire’s. Back then, a lot of kids were identified by the home town’s they came to Austin to escape. You had the Vidor guys — Tommy Pipes, Buddy Boy and Elbo — the San Antonio guys like Jeff Smith and Paul & Gibby, and you had the Killeen guys, who included Davy Jones, Mikey Donaldson, Richard Hayes and Fat John.
The most authentic hardcore band in town was the Offenders, Austin’s answer to Black Flag, with a scary lead singer, a lightning quick rhythm section and a tall, long-haired guitarist who didn’t look punk until he played all those searing notes.
If you were in the Offenders, your band name became your last name, so everyone knew Donaldson as Mikey Offender. He was the baddest bassist in town. The only time I ever “slam-danced,” which is what moshing was called back then, it was to the Offenders. After one song, I was comepletely covered in sweat, some of it my own. Mikey was a big Motorhead fan, and it showed in his Lemmy-like thrashing.
After the breakup of his great San Francisco band Sister Double Happiness about 10 years ago, Mikey had dropped out of the music business and moved back to Killeen, according to reports. It was no secret that he had a horrendous heroin problem in S.F., so maybe he went home to pad his years a little.
He played the Offenders reunion at Emo’s in 2002 and apparently planned a return to music. In 2004, Mikey rejoined his pre-Offenders band MDC, which originally stood for Millions of Dead Cops, but then was changed to various other things that wouldn’t assure hassles from law enforcement. Donaldson played on the MDC comeback album “Magnus Dominos Corpus” and toured Europe with the hardcore pioneers. On an MDC blog, one of the band members called the 2004 version the band’s tightest ever.
When the tour ended in Aug. 2004, Donaldson stayed behind in Amsterdam, where he joined one of that city’s premiere punk bands, the Nitwitz. Mikey Offender was, no doubt, a star in Europe, and he talked about re-forming the Offenders for an overseas tour.
So many of the punk rockers who were my heroes in 1984 have passed away: Biscuit of the Big Boys, Glenn Taylor of the Dicks, Hayes of the Hickoids. And now Mikey.
“Mikey is universally regarded as one of the most innovative and inimitable masters of the bass guitar,” Doyle wrote in an e-mail. “He played his Rickenbacker like it was a out-sized rhythm guitar. Mikey pioneered an aggressive speed-picking style and liberal employment of bass chords that few have been able to emulate in the past 20 years. He will be sorely missed.”
An Austin memorial is in the works.
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By Razor Ray
September 28, 2007 10:55 AM | Link to this
*It was that landmark LP, “MILLIONS OF DEAD COPS” that got me started in this punk/hardcore life. DRI, Agnostic Front, Black Flag, Dead Kennedys… I’m fortunate to have seen them all in their heyday and am still a part of the NYHC scene. 24+ years and it’s all due to an album this LEGEND was a part of. I, for one, will definitely miss him! Oi, Oi, Oi to you my BROTHER! *Peace & Respect… Razor Ray / REASON ENOUGH
By notsaved
September 28, 2007 1:50 PM | Link to this
it’s truly a sad day…
Mickey playing was, and will continue to be, inspirational to me…
To me, the Offenders are one of the best punk bands ever…from any city you can name…
condolences to all his pals and family…
His work will live on in this heart fer sure.
By trace crutchfield
September 28, 2007 9:47 PM | Link to this
What a bummer. The endless struggle will continue on without Mikey but the beat will never be the same.
By Thomas
September 29, 2007 2:35 AM | Link to this
Amongst the most ferocious bass players, Mikey Offender will be sadly missed.
Mucho respecto y pas.
Tomas
By Marco Soverini
October 1, 2007 4:52 PM | Link to this
I write from Italy. Mickey and the other guys in this band, writed a great page in music history, i mean about a raw and honest music, a face of this very bad times,maybe a few knows that, but WE’ll never forget.
By TonyOffender
October 2, 2007 4:46 PM | Link to this
Our thanks to all who has remembered Mikey and the OFFENDERS with such kind words and thoughts. The beat does go on, life goes on friends, Next time you have a brew, toast Mikey, the most Kick *** Bass player Austin had ever seen.
By Chantelle
October 8, 2007 1:52 PM | Link to this
I am Mikey’s niece from Killeen TX. To me he was my big brother and I will truly miss him. We are planning a memorial in Austin as soon as his remains are back in Texas. I will post the arrangements as they become final. I want to say thank you for all the kind words about my Uncle.
By dv8r
October 8, 2007 7:58 PM | Link to this
Last saw Mikey with MDC in SF in 2005, and it was if he had risen from the dead. He was in relatively great spirits then, claimed clean and rockin’ hard. I was glad to see him return to rawk again, and am sorry & sad to hear of this fate. He is certainly missed around here, and kinda has been for years. I used to help roadie for Sister Double Happiness at their peak in the late 80’s & early 90’s and loved to feel the bass blasts of Mikey’s Texan thunder. Gary Floyd will admit SDH were never the same after Mikey had to leave the group due to his excesses (he once left a gig high and fell asleep in his pickup truck loaded with band gear at a stoplight and was spotted by a friend and rescued from certain trouble). I hope further use of debilitating “drogas” didn’t play any new roles in his demise. Kids, please stay relatively clean, and don’t end up bargaining & beaten by the devil like so many of our brothers and sisters.
By Robert
October 9, 2007 8:39 PM | Link to this
I was in a bad high school punk band in Killeen around 82. The Offenders invited us up to their place in Austin and took the time to listen to our bad tunes and give us honest helpful advice. Not many bands would have taken the time to do that. I’ve always appreciated that and it made me a life-long fan. Robert