Spinal Tap Keyboardist “Viv Savage” Was 79

David Kaff, who portrayed keyboardist Viv Savage in hte classic 1984 mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap, died July 11. He was 79.

His death was announced by his band Mutual of Alameda’s Wild Kingdom on Facebook. A cause of death was not specified, but the band said he “passed away peacefully in his sleep.”

“We are devastated by this event,” the message states. “David always had a kind word and a quick wit that would slay you where you stand. Then he’d make you smile doing it! RIP dear brother.”

Kaff, born David Kaffinetti on April 17, 1946, was a founding member of the British progressive rock band Rare Bird from 1969-75, making the UK charts with the 1969 single “Sympathy.” In 1972 he played keyboards for Chuck Berry on the album The London Chuck Berry Sessions. The record spawned the single “My Ding-a-Ling,” which was Berry’s only song ever to top the Billboard Hot 100.

In Rob Reiner’s This Is Spinal Tap, Kaff’s character has the closing line, “Have a good time — all the time. That’s my philosophy.”

After playing Viv Savage in the Spinal Tap film and performing on the soundtrack album, which reached No. 121 on the Billboard 200, Kaff played with the fictional band in various live performances, including a 1984 Saturday Night Live appearance. He did not play on the band’s subsequent albums Break Like the Wind (1992) or Back from the Dead (2009).

In recent years he continued to perform with the San Francisco-based Mutual of Alameda’s Wild Kingdom.


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