Actor and musician David Kaff, who played keyboardist Viv Savage in the cult film This is Spinal Tap, has died. He was 79.
Kaff, whose real name is David Kaffinetti, was most recently a member of the San Francisco-based psychedelic hard rock band, Mutual of Alameda’s Wild Kingdom. His bandmates announced his death on the band’s Facebook page.
“Our brother David Kaffinetti passed away peacefully in his sleep yesterday. We are devastated by this event,” they wrote alongside a photo of the band.
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“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 was born in England on April 17, 1946, and started playing piano when he was five.
At 10, he discovered rock ‘n’ roll singers Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley and Bill Haley. He became a founding member of progressive rock group Rare Bird in 1969, which went on to release five albums.
The band’s biggest hit was the 1970 song Sympathy, which made it to number 27 on the UK singles charts and sold about one million copies.
The band split up in 1975 and he joined Natural Gas, which took him to the US.
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Kaff was cast as keyboardist Viv Savage in the 1984 cult comedy film This is Spinal Tap, which was about a documentary filmmaker, played by the film’s director and co-writer Rob Reiner, who follows the fictional English band Spinal Tap, dubbed “one of England’s loudest bands”, on their US tour.
Kaff delivered one of the most memorable quotes of the film, when asked for his life’s motto: “Have a good time… all the time.”
The film, starring Michael McKean, Harry Shearer and Christopher Guest, was released to critical acclaim but only moderate commercial success, however in the decades that followed, it garnered a cult following and was credited with launching the mockumentary genre of films.
The cast reunited as Spinal Tap for a few rare performances, including at Wolfgang’s in San Francisco.
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Kaff told BAM in 1991 he had a lot of affection for the character Viv Savage, even if many fans of the film had trouble telling the difference between fact and fiction.
“There really are people who write to me and put Viv Savage on the envelope,” he said.
“I have a great affection for Viv.
“I played him very close to my heart. Just a little bit dimmer. If people like that character, chances are they’ll like me.”
After the film, he went back to his musical roots, joining the band Model Citizenz.
As far back as 1991, Kaff said there was talk of a Spinal Tap sequel again starring the original lead actors Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer.
He told BAM at the time, “I just hope I’m a part of whatever they do”.
But it took 40 years to get off the ground, with Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, set for release in September 2025. Sadly, it does not appear Kaff was part of the sequel.
A former bandmate of Kaff in the early 80s, Ray Herron, was among those who left tributes, and recalled when he first auditioned to play Savage.
“I remember our excitement for him at his telling us he was going to an open-call or a part in a movie,” he wrote.
“At our next rehearsal, I was anxious to hear how it went, but quickly felt bad for him as I sensed a dejected tone in his describing the experience. It went something like this. ‘I’ll never get the part. The place was full of these short, skinny, English popstar looking guys.’
“It turned out, as we all know, he was exactly who they were looking for. We were so happy for him.
“He hooked us up with a few days’ work as extras.
“We lost our keyboard player but it was wonderful seeing David so happy.”
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