RIP to David Kaff, who played the keyboardist Viv Savage in the movie This is Spinal Tap.
Viv’s famous llne in the movie comes when he’s asked his motto, and he says, “Have a good time all the time. That’s my motto.”
And it’s great.
But my favorite Viv line — the one I quote all the time — comes earlier, just after Nigel leaves the band. They’re about to play at a festival (the one where they got second billing to Puppet Show) and David asks Viv:
“Can you play a bassline like Nigel used to on ‘Big Bottom?’”
To which Viv shrugs and says: “Oh yeah, I’ve got two hands.”
I can’t even begin to tell you how often someone has asked me to do some ridiculous when I’m already doing a ridiculous number of things, and I’ve responded: “Oh yeah, I’ve got two hands.”
David Kaff was a real musician — he cofounded the British prog rock group Rare Bird, which had a small hit with Sympathy and I just learned that he played piano for Chuck Berry for “The London Chuck Berry Sessions.”
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