The Dave Goodman Memorial gig at The 100 Club, Oxford Street, London on Wed 23rd March was a fitting tribute to the man daubed 'the Phil Spector of the British Underground music scene.'
A very respectable turn out from Dave's lifetime of musical associations over the past 30 -40 years were in attendance. Dave's own standing as a musician in his early years was well documented, with photo's of him as a member of the Jackson 5 backing band with a teenage Michael Jackson. He also toured as bass player with The Drifters and Ben E King, but of course it was his visionary days as a sound engineer/producer in the 70's and the exploding Punk scene in London that Dave really came to prominence. His recording work with The Sex Pistols and the Anarchy In The UK Tour paved the way for him to be sought after by other Punk bands for recording duties that include - The Members, Chelsea, Poly Styrene & X - Ray Spex, Adam & The Ants, UK Subs, Splodgenessabounds etc, etc.
He was also a pioneer of the Eco / Green movements channel of thought and he continually supported the Glastonbury Festivals - Green Fields area of the festival and his work with New Age Radio and Mandela Studios reflected this.
I took to the stage of The 100 Club (an honour in itself) to accompany Gary Lammin on harmonica in an extended version of the song 'Oh Yeah' that featured on the Zen Buddah' Boot Boys album Icons (recorded with Dave in 2000) - it bought the house down (if I do say so myself). Lammin's mean grizzly electric slide guitar version of the song and its rousing chorus really stirred the audience. It was pretty surreal to look out on the audience at the end of the song and see the likes of Glen Matlock, Captain Sensible, Knox (The Vibrators), Max Splodge, Mat Sargent (Sham 69, Splodgenessabounds) etc, etc, standing cheering us - but I think the smile on the face of Dave's wife Kathy was the biggest thrill of all, as Lammin's t-shirts state ' Enough Said.'
Other's attending throughout the day included Martin Stacey (ex Chelsea) and reported sightings included Steve Diggle (Buzzcocks), Bobby Gillespie (Primal Scream), Nicky Tesco and various ex Members and satirist Will Self. Dave would have loved it - he'd have probably bootlegged it (ha ha) bless him.
Anyway, as Malcolm McLarens message of condolence said 'Long Live Dave Goodman.'
RESPECT.
Gary O'Dea
Gary Lammin & Gary O'Dea (ex - Zen Buddah' Boot Boys)
@ The Dave Goodman Memorial Gig
The 100 Club, Oxford St, London.
Wed 23rd March.
A memorial gig / bash in memory of the celebrated Punk producer Dave Goodman has been organised by his wife Kathy @ The 100 Club, Oxford St, London on Wed 23rd March.
The 100 Club is a very suitable setting in which musician/friends of Dave's can pay tribute to the great man. The 100 Club becoming legendary in the pioneering days of Punk Rock with The Sex Pistols performances at the club - and Dave of course being an important part of the Pistols team via his production/recording and live sound work with the band throughout 1976/77 (including the Anarchy tour).
An array of musicians and friends from Dave's past have been lined up to attend the gig and I myself have the honour of an invite along with Gary Lammin and other ex- Zen Buddah's. This is in regards to the recording of the Zen Buddah' Boot Boys album 'Icons' that Dave produced back in 2000. Gary Lammin continued to record many other sessions with Dave at his South London studio over the next few years before Dave retired to Malta. His tragic untimely death due to an heart attack in February of this year shocked us all. He was the 'karma amongst the chaos' on the Punk scene. We hope to be performing a couple of songs at the gig in memory of Dave.
Gary Lammin comments: " When I first recorded with Dave Goodman I walked away from the session realising that basically it would be pointless now to record with anyone else. I always describe Dave as kinda' being about 200ft up in the air on a tightrope, but successfully managing to balance between the polar opposite worlds of ordinary working class practical common sense, and the 'far out trippy hippy' ideology of artists and musicians he was surrounded by. In a nut shell - he just knew what he was doing and if there were times when he didn't - you just had to give him the benefit of the doubt on the strength of his camaraderie and his charm."
An 'All-Star' Punk bash is expected for this fitting tribute to Dave (unfortunately the gig is invite only - Kathy could have filled the Royal Albert Hall if she could have afforded to hire it).
For this 'old school Punk from Tipton' - it's an honour to be asked along.
Dr Dave - Rock In Peace
God Bless
Gary O'Dea
The BBC web page has published a review of the Alternative Black Country Night Out Show from Fri 11th Feb at The Lamp Tavern - Dudley.
Please visit this
link to access the
review page
God bless Auntie Beeb.
Gary O'Dea.
