Misfits drummer Manny Martinez dead at 69
Manny Martinez, a founding member of the shock rock band Misfits, has passed away at the age of 69.
As the rock icons were starting to form in the California punk scene, Martinez was among the first drummers to sit behind the stool, forming the basis of the band with bassist Jerry Only and singer Glenn Danzig. His passing was confirmed by a post on Facebook from Martinez’s longtime friend, Zach Rector.
In his post, Rector talked about Martinez’s love of technicians like Buddy Rich, saying, “Going to miss you Brother Manny Martinez / A true living legend a student of Buddy Rich I remember Manny telling me Multiple occasions of Buddy bringing up his chops while coming up, and his stories of his family’s notorious bar …An Original Misfits period”.
After introducing Only and Danzig to one another, Martinez would play on the first official Misfits recording of the single ‘Cough/Cool’ in 1977. While Martinez would get credit for the band’s debut single and the B-side ‘She’, it wouldn’t be released until years later, eventually turning up on the Misfits compilation record in 1996.
While Martinez would later play in various live shows with the group, he would eventually part ways with the band in late 1977. The band would eventually go through various drummers like Mr Jim and Joey Image for their debut EP Beware before hiring Arthur Googy for their debut LP, Walk Among Us.
Since then, Martinez had walked away from music, spending his career working as a carpenter alongside Rector. Rector would also talk about what a hard worker Martinez could be in addition to his drumming skills, explaining, “All around stand up guy…more than just a musician, artist & carpenter…he was my friend, Rest easy Manny”.
Listen to Martinez’s performance of ‘Cough/Cool’ below.