Dave Neal

One of the top ska guitarists in Canada from Vancouver BC

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About

Dave Neal
"Legs"

Band leader for Skaboom - a high energy Vancouver ska band with the best ska horn section in the country. New CD "Now & Then" available via band website. Playing locally - check club and concert listings
I was born in England at Forest Gate hospital in London’s East End. I lived in West Ham, East Ham and Ilford with my Mum and Dad and 5 siblings before coming to Canada in 1980 with SKA band The Villains.

I started to play the guitar at 13 on my older brother Tony’s acoustic. The first songs I learnt to play were simple folk and country” guitar book” songs and progressed to the English Pop of the day - the Beatles, Stones, The Who and early Jamaican reggae. My other love at this time was Drama. Dave joined the Redbridge Youth Theatre Workshop at 15 for 4 years. The RYTW produced many plays and I co-wrote songs for a few their productions, toured Europe a couple of times. As I wasn’t a “great” actor, I often helped set up and operate the theatrical lighting.

While at Redbridge Tech College doing his “A” levels Dave joined his first band Amy Frog who played cover songs, learning the electric guitar and learning to feel comfortable on stage. Dave then joined Key Largo and started to write songs, jam and experiment.

I went to school with a great singer Mick Mullane, since I was 9. In 1973 we met Simon Jefferis, who was a talented singer/songwriter/ multi instrumentalist. We played a few gigs as a trio. In 1975 with bassist Paul Farnham and drummer Pete May (Pete still plays with British stars David Essex and Cliff Richard) and Cathy Mullane formed the band Cliché.

Cliché played mainly around London at many clubs and pubs between 1976 and 1979. We also toured England and did Cruises to Denmark. We actually backed up, bands liked Annie Lennox when she was with the Tourists at Dingwalls, Camden Town ; The Stranglers at the Cart and Horses, Maryland; Def Leopard at High St North, East Ham -This was before these bands had record deals. Cliche signed a record deal with Carriere Records and released a single “I Know Your Game”. We signed a publishing deal with Chappell Music.

Our bass player Paul’s uncle was a bloke called Haydn Bendall. Haydn was a studio engineer at the infamous Abbey Road studios. We were lucky enough to record many sessions in Studio 3 at Abbey Road with Haydn who donated his time. Abbey Road allowed the engineers to do their own projects between the Hours of Midnight and 8.00am- if no one had booked the studio. I actually got to meet and have breakfast with Paul McCartney a few times. Paul was recording in Studio 2 with his new band Wings…and play the weird instruments used by the Beatles on Sergeant Peppers. These were amazing times. Cliché had the songs and talent but we could not get to the next level. Believe me, we tried over and over again at gigs and with the all the major record companies. I still have these recordings.

During 1977 I took up the tenor sax and joined my first SKA band called SKAM. Jon Hociej was the leader of the band and wrote some great songs and we recorded them at the new Virgin Townhouse Studios. I also joined a couple of punk bands in Essex playing guitar and sax .One of them “The Spelling Misteaks” released a 4 song EP in 1979 with me on Sax. Not many punk bands had a sax player in those days.

With Cliché the musicianship and vocal harmonies were great. I was the worst singer in the band! In the Ska and punk bands the musicianship was OK, but the energy, the shows and energy created with the crowds were electric. I knew what I wanted to do

Dave met with future Villains Steve “The Count” Duncan and Tom “Jock Strap” Perry in the summer of 1980. Steve and Tom had come to England from Vancouver Canada to find musicians who knew and were really into Ska and punk music and the scene – blokes who lived it. Steve and Jock had lived in Vancouver for a year or so before this. We formed the Villains in East London with John Jacobs on drums (John went on to play with the 4 Skins), and Tommy Robertson on bass. We rehearsed, played a few gigs, wrote some new songs, did some recording and then flew to Canada to try our luck.

We arrived in Vancouver, Canada in 3rd November 1980. We had no contacts, no agent or manager and were flying by the seats of our pants. We were lucky enough to persuade Gary Taylor at to let us play at his Rockroom on Hornby St. late November 1980. This led to great gigs at The Cave, the Laundromat, and the Smilin Buddha by Christmas. John Jacobs was feeling very homesick at Christmas and decided he wanted go home to England. The band then flew to Toronto to play Larry’s Hideaway and the Horseshoe Tavern. Our new drummer “Skanking” Steve Bye flew into Toronto from London to join the band. The Toronto scene was a lot wilder, edgier and the gigs were outrageous. By February 1981 the band was playing many gigs and had a good local following. We headlined the Commodore ballroom and it was an amazing gig.

On February 11th 1981 the band was playing at Gary Taylor’s and got arrested off stage by police and immigration officials. Skanking Steve, Tom Robertson and yours truly were put in handcuffs, into the Paddy wagon and taken to the Vancouver City Police Jail. This news made the Front page of the Georgia Straight and page 3 of the Globe and Mail. “VILLAINS GOES TO JAIL” - publicity poetry. We stayed the night with about 40 others in the cell and were transferred to the RCMP jail the next morning. They stayed there the night and were taken to Oakalla Penitentiary where we stayed the next 5 nights until we got out on bail and awaited trial. I wrote a couple of songs in the nick “Doing time’ and We’re Gonna Rob the National Bank”.

We met our management team of Dan Cowan and Terry Gray in January 1981. Terry and Dan with the help of our main roady Barry McBride got us released on bail. On February 20th the 3 of us were ordered out of the country with all charges dropped.

Dan and Terry then applied for the correct work permits and we returned to Vancouver in May 1980. The first gig was at Oakalla for the inmates. Ha ha! Then the band toured virtually non stop from May 1980 until March 1986. We played more than 1200 gigs. This was a real band; we sweated every night. Our managers Terry and Dan came the road with us, Bobby McLeod was our roadie. It was a great family with many great sound and lighting guys.

In May 1981 we released our 1st record - the Life of Crime EP recorded at Mushroom, Blue Wave and Ocean Studios. We were helped financially by Peter McCullagh to get this released. Thanks Pete. We manufactured 5000 copies of the EP. All were sold in the 1st year. The EP became a favorite on the University stations throughout the country.

By December 1981 we had crossed the country twice – Victoria to St Johns Newfoundland - and back two times. In January 1982 Count Steve dropped the “O” out of his name and demanded all monies from our upcoming Commodore Gig. The band could not afford this… So Steve was out. The band was a now 4 piece with me doing the singing. The band toured as a 4 piece for 2 years. We hired John Neimann on keyboards January 1984

In 1984 the band was signed to Attic records. We released the Pop Ska album “Go Crazy”. This was more pop than Ska. We recorded this at Water St. Sound with Paul Baker - a great bloke and great engineer. We mixed the album at the Power Station, New York.NY. This album sold 18,000 units and the band released a video, shot at the VECC, which was played in heavy rotation on Much Music. Songs from Go Crazy were played on main stream radio stations throughout Canada.

By late 1984 Skanking Steve was exhausted from the constant touring.- Steve loved to party…. We added John Cody as our drummer, and added Bondo Ranchero as our 2nd keyboard player for the tours. We completed our last tour on March 1986. We played around Vancouver until June and then I folded the band. By this time Tommy, Skank and me were now landed immigrants. Legal at last!! We had crossed Canada 14 times there and back. We had played lots in the US, the most memorable gig was at the Ritz where we did 4 encores. Amazing times! The Villains were a great live band. I want to thank all our sound guys and lighting guys who made it great.

After working for 6 months as a Lighting tech at 86th St. at Expo 86, I wanted and needed to play again. Dan Cowan also managed 2 other great bands - Rubber Biscuit and the French Letters. The Villains and Rubber Biscuit had done lots of gigs together. Rubber Biscuit became in Big Medicine.

We created the 8-piece SKABOOM! with Chris Grant, Tim Bussey and John Beatty from Big Medicine, Dexter from the Dangerous Farm Animals. We then found the superb horn players, Suave Guy, Grasshopper and Major Bone. The band performed our 1st gig at the Town Pump 28th March 1987. It was great! The crowd of skanksters were dancing and sweating! The band was rockin’. It was fun! We continued to play every weekend for the next 5 years. We toured Canada, but mainly played around BC and Washington. We had a great crew of Randy Millar and Sonny, Cheers mates!

John Beatty quit the band July 1989 to concentrate on his own music. We then recorded our SKABOOM! EP at Mushroom Studios and released it in 1989. I left the band in 1993 to be depressed for while – Ha Ha! !??. The band rocked on without me for a year with Tim on the vocals.

Later I went abroad sailing in the South Pacific and then back to England. I came back to Canada in January 2003. I wanted and needed to play again….. So I called up the blokes in the band, and luckily for me they were ready to SKANK! Our drummer Tim had also gone to England to be a Professor at Cambridge (this is true! ). Luckily for us Leigh Grant – who is a GREAT and FABULOUS drummer, joined the band. Leigh keeps us rockin’ every gig.

I want thank everyone who was, and still is a part of my story during these wonderful years. I thank you for the friendship, support, sweat, fun, brotherhood, love, affection, craziness, sex, drugs, inspiration …..And Great Skankin’ nights. I thank you for touching and sharing my life.

I am glad I took a chance for adventure and came to Canada.

This is my 25th year of playing SKA in Canada. AGGHHH!!! Time…..just … go …by… See yer!

- Dave “ Legs” Neal

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