Punk hero was band’s key player
Dave Greenfield Musician BORN MARCH 29, 1949 – DIED MAY 3, 2020, AGED 71
DAVE Greenfield’s skills on the keyboard helped The Stranglers become the best selling punk band of the Seventies and Eighties landing seven singles in the UK top ten. His brilliant harpsichord riff to Golden Brown, the band’s 1982 hit and probably their most popular song, was widely acclaimed even though the lyrics were considered by some as an encouragement to heroin use.
Singer and guitarist Hugh Cornwell claimed that the song worked on two levels, saying it was about a girl and heroin, adding that both had given him “pleasurable times” in his life.
Golden Brown reached No.2 in the charts and won an Ivor Novello Award.
Born in Brighton, Greenfield started his musical career as a rhythm guitarist with some friends before spotting an advert in the Melody Maker music magazine in 1975 to join a band called the Guildford Stranglers.
He quickly established a rapport with drummer Jet Black, bassist Jean-Jacques Burnel and vocalist
Hugh Cornwell, and the band went down a storm in London pubs.
After signing with United Artists in 1976, their first single, (Get A) Grip (On Yourself), struggled but they were soon flying with numbers such as Peaches, No More Heroes and Strange Little Girl.
Over time Greenfield became a major influence on the sound, allowing his imagination to run riot over his banked keyboards.
Quiet and pensive, he studied the occult in his spare time and was often seen on stage wearing a pentagram pendant.
“The pentagram represents the microcosm,” he explained in one interview. “The relation between the self and the universe.”
Critics likened his playing to Ray Manzarek from The Doors, but he preferred to compare himself to
John Lord from Deep Purple and Rick Wakeman.
He enjoyed being part of medieval battle re-enactments and he kept rats as pets.
Dave Greenfield was being treated in hospital for heart problems but contracted Covid-19.
Paying tribute, drummer Jet Black said: “We’ve just lost a dear
friend and music genius, and so has the whole world.”
Lead singer Cornwell, who left the group in 1990, posted on Twitter: “He was the difference between The Stranglers and every other punk band. His musical skill and gentle nature gave an interesting twist to the band.”
He is survived by his wife Pam.