ANVIL, OVERKILL Members Pay Tribute To JEFFREY (JETHRO) 'IRONFIST' HIRSCH

Steve "Lips" Kudlow of Canadian heavy metal legends ANVIL and Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth of OVERKILL have commented on the passing of Jeffrey (Jethro) "Ironfist" Hirsch, a member of the legendary "Old Bridge Militia," who died January 19 after surviving a devastating fire on December 29 that completely destroyed his apartment and left him in critical condition. According to reports, he had fallen asleep with a lit cigarette, and was rescued with second- and third-degree burns over most of his upper body. He had been in the Intensive Care Unit of St. Barnabas Hospital in Livingston, New Jersey since the tragedy and died of a heart attack while undergoing recovery treatments at the hospital. He was 50 years old.

Jethro was part of the "Old Bridge Militia" and a very well-known and respected figure in the heavy metal community. Since 1982, Jethro was a multi-task machine: from onstage security guard for L'Amour nightclub in Brooklyn, New York; and a crew member, merchandiser and driver for ANVIL for the past 25 years. Jethro had personal friendships and worked many miscellaneous roles for MOTÖRHEAD, RAVEN, IRON MAIDEN, MERCYFUL FATE/KING DIAMOND and MÖTLEY CRÜE.

Lips: "Jethro was someone I met in 1982 just before leaving for the U.K. to do our first appearance there. We were booked into a show in Old Bridge, New Jersey, which was a real surprise to us at the time because we didn't have our music distributed down there and the only way to get it was on import. Interestingly, there was a guy who was running a record stand at a flea market that was importing our albums and selling them like wildfire. He was so impressed with the buzz, he decided to put on a show in the flea market on Route 18 in New Jersey. When we arrived, we met the guy from the record stand and his name was Jon Zuzula... known as Jonny Z. When it was time to go to the flea market, Jon called his friend Jeff (Jethro) to come take us there with his cab. When Jethro arrived, we saw a big, burly, mean-looking type of biker guy!! At first we might have thought he was mean, but when you looked into his brown, warm-hearted eyes, you knew instantly he was not a threat. Jethro was very excited to meet a real band and offered his services as our bodyguard. I was laughing at the time because there was really no cause to need a bodyguard. He insisted to watch over us whether we needed him to or not! We all became very close friends with Jethro and over the many years he has been in touch on a very regular basis. In fact, he was responsible for helping us find shows in the New York area for years. In recent times, he came up to my 50th birthday party as well as Hot Docs a number of months back. He even came to the Los Angeles Film Festival to be part of the happiness we have been enjoying. My phone would ring at least twice a day from Jethro, and sometimes it was just to ask what's up... It even became so crazy that we began to think that all the long-distance rings on the phone were Jethro!! My phone will no longer be Jethro calling and the silence will be forever, but so will my memories of a truly outgoing and great guy. I will truly miss him."

Blitz: "The only thing I remember bigger than the man was his heart. Thanks Jethro, for the friendship, inspiration and true comittment. Somewhere, right now [he] is playing 'Metal on Metal', to be followed by 'Iron Fist'."

Those wishing to contact the Hirsch family may e-mail them through Kundrat.com.

Jethro with ANVIL and Bob Muldowney of Kick*Ass magazine (R.I.P.):