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Derek Anthony Colquitt, the Junkyard Band bassist and manager known as House, died yesterday in a motorcycle crash in Waldorf, Md. Police say Colquitt was cruising at excessive speed, causing the bike to crash into another vehicle on Route 301, where it caught fire.
The 47-year-old musician, who’s been with the band since the late ’90s, played his last performance on Saturday in a showcase at the Lot at Atlantic Plumbing affiliated with the D.C. Funk Parade.
Colquitt was driving the motorcycle; his passenger, Jeri Lanelle Whorton, 34, died later at Prince George’s Hospital.
The Junkyard Band, a pioneering go-go outfit started in 1980 in the Barry Farm housing project, once played its songs on trash cans, buckets, and other cast-off makeshift instruments. It’s now famous for high-octane live performances and singles like “Sardines,” released by Def Jam in 1986, and 1994’s “Loose Booty.”
Photo by Erica Bruce