Laurie Hoyt, who called herself Laurie McAllister when she played bass in L.A. bands the Runaways and the Orchids, died Aug. 25 in Eugene, Ore. The cause was asthma. She was 53.
Hoyt was the last in a line of bass players to pass through the Runaways, the legendary all-girl band depicted in the 2010 movie "The Runaways." She joined guitarists/vocalists Joan Jett and Lita Ford and drummer Sandy West in 1978 and performed with the band live, but the Runaways broke up several months later.
"I am so sorry to hear of Laurie's passing," Jett said in an emailed statement. "She was a good person and a good bass player. It was a great experience being in a band with her, as she was the last Runaways bass player before her own band, the Orchids, formed. I was still in touch with her and saw her last year at a show. It was as if no time had passed. My heart goes out to her family and friends, and most of all, to Laurie. Rock on girl."
Hoyt played bass and sang for the Orchids, another all-girl band managed by Kim Fowley that recorded one self-titled album for MCA in 1980. After the Orchids disbanded, she moved to Amsterdam before returning to live near her hometown of Eugene.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2011/09/runaways-bassist-laurie-mcallister-dies.htmlFacebook memorial page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/RIP-Laurie-Hoyt-McAllister-Memorial-Wall-June-26-1958-August-25-2011/275314792497640Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pCUCe89pz8and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awDrQ2ptCZI
