“He always had a kind word and a quick wit that would slay you where you stand. Then he'd make you smile doing it!”: Bandmates pay tribute to Spinal Tap’s David Kaff

David Kaff, the actor who played Viv Savage, Spinal Tap’s keyboard player in the film of the same name, has died aged 79.

Prior to being cast as the laid-back musician in the 1984 film, Kaff (born Kaffinetti) had a moderately successful musical career himself. He was a member of Rare Bird, a British prog band whose most famous song was Sympathy. A minor hit in 1970, it reached Number One in France and Italy that year and was later a hit single for the post-Fish Marillion in 1992.

Rare Bird Sympathy 1969 UK, Progressive Rock - YouTube

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In later years, he played in a San Francisco band with the, er, somewhat unusual name of Mutual of Alameda’s Wild Kingdom. Indeed, it was his bandmates that announced his death last Friday.

“Our brother David Kaffinetti passed away peacefully in his sleep yesterday,” they wrote in a Facebook post. “We are devastated by this event. 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 played on the Spinal Tap soundtrack and the band’s initial live appearances, though he chose to opt out of their subsequent reunions. He is not thought to be featured in the upcoming sequel Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, which will be out in the autumn.

Still, he did contribute one of the many memorable lines from the original film. Asked by the interviewer what his philosophy of life is, he says, very slowly and deliberately: “Have a good time... all the time.”

“I have a great affection for Viv,” Kaff told BAM in 1991 when discussing the Tap keyboard player. “I played him very close to my heart, just a little bit dimmer. If people like that character, chances are they'll like me.”