R.I.P. David Kaff, Spinal Tap's keyboardist Viv Savage

Born David Kaffinetti in Folkestone, England in 1946, Kaff studied piano as a child and first rose to notoriety with the prog-rock band Rare Bird in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The band released five albums between 1969 and 1974, and their 1970 single was a hit in the United Kingdom, Italy, and France. In 1972, Kaff also performed on The London Chuck Berry Sessions.

However, it was what came in the next decade that would be Kaff’s most famous and beloved role. The character Viv Savage in This Is… Spinal Tap is decidedly a supporting one, but in the role, Kaff had a handful of standout moments, including when he shares his philosophy, “Have a good time…all the time.”  

The fictional band played several real gigs as This Is… Spinal Tap arrived in theaters in 1984, with Kaff joining the band for their Saturday Night Live performance that same year. Though the success of Spinal Tap arguably surpassed that of Kaff’s other musical endeavors, the keyboardist had a positive outlook. “I played him very close to my heart,” he told BAM in 1991, “just a little bit dimmer. If people like that character, chances are they’ll like me.”

After Spinal Tap, Kaff performed in a series of other bands, including the Oakland-based Model Citizenz, and Mutual of Alameda’s Wild Kingdom.