NIGHTCLUB NIGHTMARE NORTHRIDGE MUSICIAN BELIEVED KILLED IN FIRE.

Byline: Fred Shuster Staff Writer

When he first moved to the Valley from Pennsylvania five years ago, Ty Longley struggled like other ambitious musicians, sharing a small apartment in West Hills, teaching guitar and tooling around in a dented blue Volkswagen.

But for the past three years, the 31-year-old guitarist began living a heavy metal fantasy when the band Great White called him back after he sent it an audition tape - and last year took him on the road.

On Friday, Longley was among the missing after fireworks set off as the band started to perform triggered a fire that left at least 96 people dead in a Rhode Island nightclub Thursday night. Nearly 200 more were injured, 35 critically.

Known as a highly capable musician who was available at short notice to fill in at pickup gigs and on recording sessions, Longley is described by friends as a down-to-earth guy.

``He thought he was Bart Simpson,'' said longtime friend Denise Marciano, 25, of West Hills. ``He was always doing these funny voices and making light of everything. He was someone you always wanted to be around.''

Mark Zicari, 26, who shares an apartment next to the California State University, Northridge, campus with Longley, said his roommate lived for his music.

``He was always practicing and working. The music scene's a struggle, but he had a comfortable thing going. He's just a very friendly, easy- to-like guy. I've never met an enemy of Ty's.''

Paul Woolnough, Great White's manager, added that Longley ``lived for the road.''

The latest entry in Longley's online journal captured his exuberance: ``The economy is collapsing, World War III may be near, and I'm so happy on the road'' he wrote.

The band was midway through a national tour, playing for older fans who fondly recall the group's two 1989 Top 40 hits, the Grammy-nominated ``Once Bitten, Twice Shy'' and ``The Angel Song.'' Great White last played the Los Angeles area at Christmas with dates at the House of Blues in West Hollywood and Anaheim. The shows did not include pyrotechnics.

Upon his return to Los Angeles next month, Longley was planning to move in with his 29-year-old pregnant girlfriend, Heidi, who now lives in Chicago, his friends said.

Longley grew up near the Ohio/Pennsylvania border, and was inspired to pick up the electric guitar after hearing Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Led Zeppelin. In Los Angeles, he relished warm-weather activities like body-boarding and biking, but remained a loyal Pittsburgh Steelers fan.

``When he moved to L.A., he had nothing, and it was very, very hard for a while,'' said Ed Dinger, 29, Longley's brother-in-law.

``It took a few years for him to get some security and hope. Everything was going really well for him. Even as tiring as the road can be, he just loved it.''

Dinger said his wife - Longley's 28-year-old younger sister, Audrey - and the guitarist's father left for Rhode Island early Friday. Longley's mother lives in Georgia and could not be reached.

Before passing muster as one of Great White's two guitarists, the curly-haired Longley taught guitar, took pickup gigs and worked for Valley video distributor Chuck Zicari, the father of Longley's Northridge flatmate.

``He was an extremely hard worker who took the job seriously even though music was obviously his first love,'' the elder Zicari recalled.

Despite being overshadowed by fellow '80s metal outfits Motley Crue and Guns N' Roses, the proudly derivative Great White built a following with a tight stage show and lead singer Jack Russell's leather-lunged wail. After its heyday, the group continued to tour, either under Russell's name or as Great White. In recent years, the band recorded a tribute album to Led Zeppelin, an collection of new material and a set of re-recorded hits.

Although the band was touring on its old hits, for Longley it was a step up. He recently bought a BMW and was recording a solo album on his own.

In the past few weeks, Longley had gigged with Great White in Honolulu, then at shows in Chicago, Detroit and Tampa. In his journal entries, he sounds like a kid at Christmas who can't believe that Santa Claus really did leave a pony for him.

``It's such a gift to have the opportunity to step outside of our own little confined familiar lives and get to take in the rest of the world and experience new places,'' he wrote.

Friends reacted to news that he was missing in the nightclub fire with tears. ``I'm not doing well,'' said Burbank music publicist Nancy Sale. ``I'm just devastated. Ty was like my little brother. He was darling, so wonderful.''

Alone at home and waiting to hear from his wife in Rhode Island, Dinger considered Longley's life: ``It's nice to be famous, but not this way.''

Michael Gougis and Gerry Gittelson contributed to this report.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Great White guitarist Ty Longley lived for his music, friends say. The musician was still reported missing Friday in the Rhode Island nightclub fire that killed more than 90 people.

Associated Press

(2 -- 3) Ty Longley's roommate Mark Zicari, right, talks with his father, Chuck, in the apartment the two men shared near CSUN, above. After the current Great White tour, Longley and his girlfriend, Heidi, left, planned to live together in L.A.

An unidentified victim is carried to safety outside The Station nightclub in this TV image.

Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer