Posted on 07/22/2013 10:57:48 PM PDT by Bullish
Hours before they were to perform at a free outdoor concert Sunday in Woodland Hills, the '80s band A Flock of Seagulls had up to $70,000 worth of equipment -- including the sound files for a pending solo album by their lead singer -- stolen at a Downey hotel.
The band played a gig in Bellflower Saturday night and then parked their 15-passenger Ford E-350 van near the reception area of a Comfort Inn in Downey around 1:45 a.m., said frontman Mike Score.
When they awoke, it was gone. Score said they noticed the van was missing at about 9 a.m. Sunday, checked with the reception desk to make sure it had not been towed, and then called police.
Score said that the hotel's security footage shows a man -- a passenger in another car -- breaking into and stealing the white 1999 van with chrome alloy wheels at about 2:15 a.m. Score, who lives in Florida and is currently on an international tour with his band, believes they were followed from that night's show because the thief went directly to their van.
Most devastating for Score is that he lost all the hard drive files for his first, nearly completed, solo album that he'd been working on for the last 18 months. While he had recorded some of the album's songs in studios, he said, much of it was done on the road and is contained in external computer drives that were in the van.
"When we had days off, we could set up a little studio and continue working,"
he said. "We were pretty close to the end. It's 18 months of work just basically thrown into the trash because some people don't have a real life and have to steal from others. People who do this kind of thing will never have a real life; I think karma in the end will come around and take whatever they have got."
The New Wave band from England was best known for the 1982 single "I Ran (So Far Away)" which hit heavy rotation on the airwaves in the early days of MTV. A former hairdresser, Score sported one of the most iconic hairdos of the '80s, with blond hair that swooped and swirled and formed wings on the side, though these days the 60-year-old maintains a clean-shaven dome. Score remains the only original band member touring under the Flock of Seagulls name.
A Downey Police Department records employee, Jessica Henson, confirmed there was a report of a van stolen at the hotel's address on Firestone Boulevard on Sunday but declined to release the report or its contents, saying "the case is still open."
Among the items stolen were a Roland X6 keyboard, two black Fender Aerodyne Telecaster electric guitars with cream edge bindings and pickups, two hand-made Washburn lead guitars, and a customized drum kit equipped with electronics and triggers, Score said.
He estimated that the contents in the van are worth as much as $70,000, including about $10,000 worth of high-end stage clothes inside the van. The van also contained some of their cell phones, studio equipment and band merchandise.
"Somebody just broke into it, stole our whole van with all our equipment, clothing, band gear, cellphones, everything you need when you're on the road -- all your good stuff, all your good clothes, a bunch of expensive band equipment," he said. "A lot of stuff that's really irreplaceable."
Jonathan Montoya, front office manager of the Comfort Inn, said the theft happened very quickly, This screen grab from surveillance camera footage posted on YouTube shows the 80s band A Flock of Seagulls having their equipment stolen on Sunday, July 21, 2013 from the parking lot of a Comfort Inn in Downey. (Screen grab from surveillance camera footage posted on YouTube) according to security video footage one of his employees had seen.
"I've been working here almost two years; I've never had any car being broken into or any car being stolen," said Montoya, who said he was not working that morning. "We are a very small property, have one entrance and exit. As far as I know, the last vehicle that was stolen (from the hotel) was many years ago, probably five or six years ago. It's very unexpected."
The band was still able to perform at Sunday's free Concerts on the Green in Warner Park, using rented equipment.
James Kinsey, CEO and president of the Woodland Hills-based Valley Cultural Center that puts on the concerts, said Sunday night's event went well despite the challenges the band faced.
"There was just a few things missing but the crowd seemed to enjoy it," said Kinsey, who said fire officials estimated the Warner Park crowd at more than 4,000 people. "They were clapping, dancing and singing along and everything went fine."
Score said they had to do the Woodland Hills gig with gear "that was totally foreign to us."
"Literally, we were able to get through with the help of the crew and all that but it will be quite an event to get back to where we want to be," he said.
Score, whose band leaves for London Tuesday to continue the tour, said he spent much of Sunday reprogramming the sounds on the rented keyboard but that ultimately he could only approximate the sounds he wanted to create.
"When they steal stuff like that, they steal from people that pay to see the shows because the band is unable to play the songs as people want to hear them," Score said.
Playing a medley of their greatest hit!
Too little, way too late.
While I would never condone theft, in this case I consider this crime an act of benevolence.
Which just goes to show that if you are in a band and you can put out an album, just one album, with a few catchy songs, you can build an entire career out of it. Thirty years later and they are still playing shows. Granted, they are playing for peanuts and staying at the Comfort Inn, but at least people are still showing up to see them.
A friend of mine had his plumbing van stolen yesterday to. About 10 miles from where their van was stolen from. Redondo Beach. His whole business was in there. Thieves suck.
He couldn’t get away.
They were the band that was probably most associated with those very early days of MTV.
Can you imagine the sea of people making a bee line for the restrooms when the lead singer announces, “Now here’s a song from our new album.”
My pal grew up in Downey, and worked swing shift. On the way home, around midnight, he would stop at the local supermarket, from time to time, and see Richard Carpenter, on occasion, doing his shopping. This was after Karen died; Richard would put on a brave face, when recognized, but mostly, he was a forlorn figure, according to my friend. Too bad.
Sometimes it isn't possible to take everything inside the motel with you when you have an entire sound system, drum kit, stands and all. We always took instruments inside. We'd also try to back the trailer up against a wall or something so they couldn't open the door.
Very sorry for your friend. :( The hard working Vietnamese man that mows my mom’s lawn had is garage broken into not so long ago and a lot of his equipment stolen. He talked to my mom about how violated he felt. Theft can be seen as not that big of a deal. It’s not a violent crime in an of itself, but it’s terribly upsetting and violating to have it happen. I feel for the band. All their work and the expense of things to replace (hopefully they have some kind of insurance). Having to deal with that and get set up for a show and go on to new shows. Yeah, they will survive, but not a fun thing to deal with for sure.
Their “music” is the crime. Silencing them is an act of mercy.
Ain't it the truth.
Was his hair gel stolen too? The horror!
And also of Downey Records, which put out a lot of surf rock, including the Chantays' hit Pipeline. It was located in Wenzel's Music Town, a record store at Lakewood Blvd. and Gardendale Ave. For years, the store was a Mecca for record collectors. Last I heard, a lawnmower shop is on the site.
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A van...A van so far away...
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