I’ve invoked his name here on this blog numerous times, but back in my days as an erstwhile music journalist, I had the tremendous honor of twice interviewing Irish singer/songwriter/punk rocker Gavin Friday, former lead singer/provocateur of the Virgin Prunes turned surrealist cabaret chanteur. In later years, Gavin would branch out into film-scoring to become a respected composer in his own right. They say you should never meet your heroes, as all too often, the reality is an awkward letdown, but on both occasions, Mr. Friday was a chatty, affable and attentive conversationalist and a rivtetting raconteur, our sessions spilling way over the allotted times into meandering hours of deep, informative chat. The first time was at the sutiably atmospheric downtown loft of his then-manager, who lived on White Street in then-still-largely-ungentrified TriBeCa, the second at Sin-E, a tiny Irish bar/venue then on St. Marks Place. Once again, on both occaisions, Gavin Friday was a tirelessly amiable and engaging character.
In terms of perormance, I was able to to catch three shows of his here in New York, the fist being at CBGB on the tour for his first solo album, Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves (which I discussed here). The second was at the Bottom Line on West 4th Street at Mercer Street, wherein Gavin punctuated his set with daring leaps from stage to various table-tops with great dramatic aplomb. The third was at the Westbeth Theatre in the West Village. As of this writing, all of those venues are long gone – one’s an overpriced haberdashery, the second an antiseptic NYU facility and the third was literally bricked up and sealed away from the public like a tomb.
At this stage of the proceedings, I have grave doubts of ever interviewing the great man again, although with a new album of material allegedly in the can and ready to be set free on the world, one hopes another tour might follow.
The only reason I’m bring up Mr. Friday again is that he just did a the 100th episode of a great Irish pop-culture podcast called Let Christy Take It wherein he gamely unspools thoughts and anecdotes from each stage of his amazing journey as an artist. If you’re a fan, it’s well worth your time, and even if you’re not, Gavin Friday is a captivating storyteller.
Check it out here, and tell’em Flaming Pablum sent ya.
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