Men at Work guitarist threatened to kill singer, police say [UPDATED]
Aussie band Men at Work hit it big in the 1980s with such songs as "Who Can It Be Now?" and "It's a Mistake." Now the lead guitarist for the band may want to call on those titles for his defense.
Ronald Strykert, 51, one of the founders of the band, was arrested Feb. 13 by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies on an outstanding bench warrant on a charge of making criminal threats.
Strykert threatened to kill the band's lead singer, Colin Hay, in December 2007 in an incident that was handled by the Sheriff Department's Lost Hills-Malibu station, according to Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.
The guitarist skipped out last May on his arraignment on a misdemeanor charge of making criminal threats, Robison said.
Updated, 10:21 a.m.: Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said today that Strykert made the threat over the phone from his residence in Bozeman, Mont. Whitmore said sheriff's officials sent Strykert a letter in April, ordering him to appear in Malibu court, but the guitarist never showed up for his May 30 arraignment on misdemeanor charges of making criminal threats.
Updated 10:30 a.m.: Strykert denied making the threat, Whitmore said, and Hay told investigators he did not believe the guitarist would carry out the threat.
-- Andrew Blankstein
Photo: Singer Colin Hay, left, was allegedly threatened by the lead guitarist for the band Men at Work. Hay is shown with band saxophonist Greg Ham.
Credit: Tony Mahoney
EDITOR'S PICKS:
How come the LA Times never allows the posting of comments on issues and stories that are not insipid?
Is this another Zell move in the destruction of the newspaper?
Posted by: Greg in Venice | February 17, 2009 at 10:16 AM
ZZZZzzzz...Huh?...WHAT??!?...oh...ZZZZzzzz....
Posted by: Gene | February 17, 2009 at 11:31 AM
who cares about these old GEEZERS who have not been relevant since 1985?? Give us real news. This post is not even fit for TMZ. LAT has sunk very low.
Posted by: Trojan Al | February 17, 2009 at 12:01 PM
i'm sorry to say how california is being run it is going down the tubes faster than they can stop it, i'm a former califorian that now lives in michigan. we back in michigan have our own problems, yet I a califorian i feel for the people of california.
Posted by: joe | February 17, 2009 at 12:27 PM
This is a sad state of affairs for both men...great talents
Hopefully they will eventually bury the hatchet..I speak figuratively of course. They founded one of the most talented entertaining and imaginative oddball bands of all time and gave us a lot of amazing music. They were part of the eighties explosion of new music and we all owe men at work a lot for what they gave us....
And it comes down to this...sad indeed...
.As to the comment that they're old geezers I say this...We're all getting older...It's incredible to me has fast time flies and how fast I and my generation are aging...what does geezerdom have to do with the story?
Posted by: gmr366 | June 06, 2009 at 12:35 AM
I think that Strykert is in the right,because he wants only justice. We all must respect him,who is an intelligent man and a great artist.
Posted by: Graziella Barile | July 14, 2010 at 02:51 AM