Shrimpton,
Mick (1948-1982): A former house drummer for the Eurovision
Song Contest, he joined Tap as it regrouped on the strength of
"Nice N Stinky," its late bloomer hit from "Jap
Habit." Replaced Peter "James" Bond, who had spontaneously
combusted. Ironically, Shrimpton himself would be killed in a
mysterious on-stage explosion five years later during the one
performance of Taps 1982 Japanese tourhis death caught
on film by DiBergi for "This is Spinal Tap." Keyboardist
Viv Savage was later killed during a swamp gas explosion while
visiting Shrimptons Hampstead grave. Many fans, unable to
believe Mick was gone, spread rumors that he had become a high-ranking
executive at the Matsushita Corp., parent company of MCA, which
released Taps 1992 album "Break Like the Wind."
(ME) Derek: "Mick was like, when your dog makes a mess, and
you want to hit him, and you want to love him, and you want to
clean it up, all at once." (IST) A substance abuser who was
chronically late, Shrimpton told DiBergi during "This is
Spinal Tap" that "as long as I have sex and drugs, I
can do without rock n roll." Shrimpton was also a major
league baseball fan, and during an early morning appearance by
the band at a Cleveland FM station, he answered a callers
question about the exact number of shut-outs Ferguson Jenkins
had pitched during his career with the Cubs, Rangers and Red Sox.