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Arizona music legends relive their Mill Avenue glory days at Hall of Fame induction in Tempe

Ed Masley, Arizona Republic Published 12:30 p.m. MT July 3, 2019 | Updated 4:09 p.m. MT July 3, 2019

Robin Wilson introduced the first song of an unplugged happy hour set he performed in the lobby of Tempe Center for the Arts before the Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame inductions with "This is how I used to start my set at Long Wong’s for 10 (expletive) years.”

And with that, the tone was set for a night that often felt like an extended celebration of the Tempe music scene that blew up in the '90s thanks in large part to the Gin Blossoms' quadruple-platinum breakthrough with "New Miserable Experience."

Four of this year's inductees were veterans of that moment in the Valley sun – Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers, Pistoleros, Dead Hot Workshop and Long Wong's, a venue that did much to make Mill Avenue a hub for local music and apparently heard Wilson cover Dion and the Belmonts' "A Teenager in Love" with some frequency.

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It wasn't all about the Tempe scene, however.

Bob Meighan, who emerged as something of a house band at the Celebrity Theatre in the '70s before moving to Tucson and signing to Capitol Records, earned a standing ovation and big laughs when he recalled his father asking him if he knew how to play "Far, Far Away."

And one of Wilson's several appearances throughout the night was to present the plaque to Fender Musical Instrument Corp., which since 1991 has made its corporate home in Scottsdale, saying "There's really no words to sum up what Fender means to musicians. So let's just induct them."

Pistoleros 'do it Chicano-style'

But all the evening's performances were by those Tempe artists, starting with the Pistoleros, who performed without founding member Mark Zubia.

They set the tone with "C Song," "Crooked Mile" and a raucous performance of "NYC Queen." Then, Lawrence Zubia, who rose to the occasion with the presence that has made him one of Arizona's most watchable front men for decades, brought out two horn players, telling the crowd, "We're gonna do it Chicano-style." And with that, they rocked their way through "I'm Concerned" before bringing their set to a spirited close with former drummer Gary Smith stepping in for "My Guardian Angel," a horn-driven highlight of "Hang on to Nothing," their major-label debut from 1997.

Lawrence Zubia of the Pistoleros sings during the Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at the Tempe Center for the Arts July 2, 2019. Other inductees included Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers, Dead Hot Workshop, Bob Meighan, Long Wong's on Mill Avenue and the Fender Musical Instruments Corp. Lawrence Zubia of the Pistoleros sings during the Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at the Tempe Center for the Arts July 2, 2019. Other inductees included Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers, Dead Hot Workshop, Bob Meighan, Long Wong's on Mill Avenue and the Fender Musical Instruments Corp.

In accepting the honor, Zubia gave a heartfelt shout-out to his absent brother, saying, "He was the glue that kept us together through some questionable times." Wilson accepted a plaque on behalf of the late Doug Hopkins, a founding member of Chimeras, the band that went on to become Pistoleros.

Dead Hot Workshop looks back

The next performers, Dead Hot Workshop, opened with a gritty "Nixon Saves," earning a huge reaction from a crowd that featured many Dead Hot T-shirts while making their way through such enduring testaments to why they got inducted in the first place as "Hanging Out With Ray" (with guest vocals from Wilson), "Noam Chomsky" and a set-closing "Choad," which found them joined by former bandmates.

Wilson and Bob Mehr, a former New Times writer and the author of a great Replacements book called "Trouble Boys," took turns inducting them.

After making a joke about Brett Babb being in a four-way tie for greatest songwriter in Arizona on a list that included himself, Wilson said, "Seriously, Brent Babb is the single-most visionary and prolific songwriter of our music scene."

Mehr said Dead Hot taught him several things as an aspiring teenage journalist. That there's a difference between art and commerce, for instance, and "Dead Hot Workshop made art." But most of all, what Dead Hot taught him was "to believe that it was actually not only possible but that it was actually true that the best rock and roll band that I ever saw, the best rock and roll band that I ever heard, didn't have to be playing an arena or a stadium. The best rock and roll band might be playing Long Wong's on Mill Avenue."

Roger Clyne and 20 years of Peacemakers The final live performance of the night belonged to Roger Clyne, who reassembled 20 years of Peacmakers to join him in a set that started with the first track on the Peacemakers' first album, "Beautiful Disaster," and proceeded chronologically through their career, from "Never Thought" and "West Texas Town" to "Americano" and "Marie."

He's been one of the most consistently successful performers in the Valley for more than two decades and the way he worked that room left no doubt as to how he's managed to sustain that momentum.

Clyne and the Peacemakers' induction started with a video from Alice Cooper, who called Clyne "a true original" doing something he had never seen before.

In accepting the award, Clyne said, "All these gentlemen, whom I've traveled (with), whom I've toured with, whom I've bled with, carried more than their fair share of water to this career, more than their fair share of weight. They've carried each other and me over so many miles and so many months and year, I'm honored to share the stage and this award with them. They were then, they are now, they will ever be Peacemakers."

After taking a moment to thanks his parents and his wife, Alisa, Clyne added, "Understand that there is no resonance, there is no impact, there is no need for music without an audience. And you are that. Thank you."

And with that shared the spotlight with a handful of those gentlemen, who took turns making their own heartfelt speeches.

As for Long Wong's, another fixture of the local scene, Hans Olson, accepted the honor for Ron Goldstein, who founded the venue and couldn't accept it on his own for health reasons, reading an acceptance speech from Goldstein.

"When we started Long Wong's on Mill in Tempe," Goldstein wrote, "we never foresaw a place that was more of a clubhouse than a bar that served chicken wings. This Long Wong's became the clubhouse for some of the most talented players in Arizona ... It became a busy gathering place not only at night but during the day as well. Many a happy hour, you could walk through the door and see an artist like Doug Hopkins holding court with other musicians, just talking music."

That clubhouse vibe was in full effect throughout the night, which ended with an all-star jam as members of the Peacemakers and Dead Hot Workshop shared the stage with Wilson on a rowdy rendition of "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way" by a man with deep roots in the Valley, country legend Waylon Jennings.

It's such a scene that two performers were inducted twice – Steve Larson for his work with Dead Hot Workshop and the Peacemakers and Thomas Laufenberg for Dead Hot Workshop and the Pistoleros. Scotty Johnson also earned his second Hall of Fame induction as a member of the Peacemakers, having been inducted with the Gin Blossoms two years ago.

In the interest of full disclosure, the reporter served as an emcee at the event.

So... where was Mark Zubia?

A day after the induction, Lawrence Zubia talked about his brother's absence.

"My brother and I are not immune to the same thing that happens to a lot of other brothers in rock-and-roll bands – the Robinsons, the Gallaghers, the Davies, the Everly Brothers. Brothers in rock and roll bands, as long as they've been creating bands and making music together have at times had acrimonious breakups."

This isn't the first time the Zubia brothers have gone through some brotherly turmoil.

"Mark and I were estranged from 2003 through 2009 or '10," Lawrence says, "because I fell down the opiate hole really far. I was living suicidally for six, seven years and he just couldn't hang with me anymore. So the band took a backseat. Mark started playing acoustic more and started playing with his band Los Guys."

They reunited after Lawrence got clean.

"Through my mom and all of our connections, he found out that I had had a good two years of sobriety by that point," Lawrence says. "And he called me up one night and asked me to come to Yucca Tap Room on Christmas Eve and sing a song."

That started what he calls their "new relationship," which he says started showing signs of strain in March 2018.

"Mark wasn't talking to me," Lawrence says. "I could tell something was wrong. I asked him, texted him many times. ‘Just talk to me, man, I'm your brother. I love you. We’ve been through so much. Just talk to me and we'll fix this problem.’ To this day, I still don't know what was going on."

“I would bet that someday, Mark and I, we’re brothers, we will patch it up.”

Lawrence Zubia

This, he says, was all while doing shows with Pistoleros and Zubia Brothers acoustic gigs.

Finally, after a Zubia Brothers gig early this year, he says, "I emailed him and told him ‘Dude, until we can figure everything out, I'm having to put on our professional relationship on hold.' I talked to the guys in the Pistoleros, and told them what had happened and said 'I still want to play with the Pistoleros.' They're like 'We'll play. That's between you and your brother. We don't want to stop playing.'"

Mark declined to go into the details on the record other than to say that Lawrence's claim that had Mark caused the breakup by going a year without talking to his brother "sounds like somebody who's shifting blame and not taking reponsibiltiy."

As for missing the induction, Mark said, "I am extremely proud and honored to be inducted. I really appreciate the recognition for all the hard work.”

For the past few months, the Pistoleros have been playing as a four-piece.

"We don't we don't ever intend on replacing Mark in any way," Lawrence says. "And as a matter of fact, the email I sent him, I told them, 'This isn't a forever thing, me putting our professional relationship on hold.' I would bet that someday, Mark and I, we’re brothers, we will patch it up. I don't need 10 years of being a stranger in my brother again."

He added, "This band wouldn’t be together today if it wasn't for my brother. He booked the band. He managed the band. He was the glue, the driving force on the business side. This band wouldn't be up there receiving this award if it wasn't for Mark Zubia."

Reach the reporter at ed.masley@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4495. Follow him on Twitter @EdMasley.

Looks like Larry Zubia and Mark Zubia are in the news again.

Mark Zubia was the teller at the Western Savings and Loan bank in Scottsdale, where I was almost falsely arrested for robbing it.

The prior day, I was falsely arrested by the Scottsdale Police for robbery at the same location. Because of that incident I wasn't able to deposit my money into the bank.

When I came back to deposit my money the next day after I was released, Mark was the teller and we were talking about how the crooked Scottsdale cops were morons for falsely arresting me the prior day.

The guys wife that falsly accused me of robbing him yesterday, called the cops and said I was robbing the Western Saving bank (Now it's a Bank of America branch) inside the Smittys Department store on McDowell Road and Granite Reef. (Smitty Department Stores were bought out by Frys Food stores years ago. That Smitties branch was razed and is now a Scottsdale Senor Center)

A moron Scottsdale cop came by and ask Mark if I was robbing him.

I told the Scottsdale piggie we were just talking about how the Scottsdale piggies falsely arrested me the prior day and that I didn't need to be falsely arrested a second time.

Why did the Scottsdale cops falsely arrest me?

Some guy left his wallet in his truck had it stolen.

I was in the line with the guy at the Western Savings and Loan bank trying to deposit my paychecks, the guy accused me of robbing him. Because the guy went nutso on my, I left and didn't deposit my money. I went back to work at Motorola where I was arrested later on that day.

There wasn't a shred of evidence that I did any thing wrong, but to try and coerce me into confessing to the crime the arrested me and jail me overnight.

They kicked me out of their jail in the morning and I didn't even go to court on it. After the *sshole jailer force me to make my bed.

Because of the lies from the crooked Scottsdale Police I was fired from my job at Motorola. I was rehired, when the Scottsdale pigs said I wasn't charged with any crimes. But I still lost about a weeks worth of pay because of the criminals on the Scottsdale police.

If I remember correctly that happened the day before Thanksgiving.

Several months after that happened they found the guys stole stuff.

I was again force to go to the Scottsdale PD where I was fingerprinted and they compared my prints to the prints on the stolen stuff.

All I can say is f*ck the Scottsdale Police terrorists.