Hanoi Rocks bassist Sami Yaffa has been pondering a car accident that killed his bandmate Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley, who died with Vince Neil behind the wheel.
During an appearance on Waste Some Time With Jason Green, Yaffa stated that he, Dingley, and Neil were all hanging out in L.A. He said the Mötley Crüe singer picked the two up in his car to show them around town.
“Vince came to pick me up and Razzle. We stayed at the Franklin Plaza Suites, or something like that, the LaBrea and Franklin. Because Razzle and Vince were buddies, so he wanted to pick Razzle up and show him LA and all that stuff, ”Yaffa began.
And Razzle said, "Sami, come with me." And he came in a tiny little sports car – it wasn't this car that ended up in an accident; it was someone else; but [it was] a two-seater – and there was no space.
“And Razzle was just like, 'Oh, fuck it buddy. Just jump on my damn lap. ‘So the three of us were out and about in L.A. And he showed us Santa Monica and Hollywood Boulevard and we drove through L.A.
Yaffa said the trio decided to return to Neils for dinner and that there they were joined by some other famous rock stars and started drinking beer.
“So we had a really nice afternoon with Vince. And then he said, 'Let's just go to my house and my wife will cook some lunch or whatever and some dinner and we'll hang out.'
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“And that's what we ended up doing – we ended up hanging out and having a few beers and smoking a bit and having fun and talking about things. And gradually it turned into a party.
“But it wasn't really like a crazy party; only a few people showed up. Andy [McCoy, guitarist] and Tommy [Lee, CRÜE drummer] came a little later and some of their friends. And we had been drinking beer all day.
Yaffa explained that some of the group wanted more beer, so Neil and Dingley went to the liquor to get some more. Then the tragedy struck.
“And I just said I was going to take a nap. They actually asked me to go with them and get some more beer. And I said, 'I'm going to take a nap.' And when I woke up, Mick Mars [guitarist] kind of shook me awake.
“And I wondered where the others were. And he said there was an accident. And we went to the hospital and I found out my brother was gone. It was very difficult."
You can find more information on this topic in the Classic Rock Observer.
