Gavin Friday: Thief of My Heart

Posted in Kiss Me I'm Irish, Music, Retrovirus |

Somewhere in that time frame, I realized that Gavin had a major connection to U2. . . I think it must’ve been the fact that Bono & The Edge sang backing vocals on “Little Black Dress” on Shag Tobacco (very ironic since I had thought that Gavin and Bono looked quite a bit alike). Apparently Gavin and Bono are lifelong best friends. So with Gavin having that kind of friendly pedigree at his disposal, I had to wonder why he wasn’t MORE famous! I mean, he had connections up the ass!

Well, the answer to that is that Gavin doesn’t ride anyone’s coattails, and despite whoever he chummed around with, he was going to do what he wanted, on his own terms! AWESOME! A musician with a set of balls and some sense of pride! Unfortunately that sort of backfired on him, as Island Records ended up dropping him from the label, and his solo albums are now all out of print! If you can find them. . . . BUY THEM! Over time I’ve come across more copies of his stuff and I buy it even if I already own it. . . it’s just that cherished to me!

Gavin toured the United States for Shag Tobacco, but I couldn’t go to any of the shows. I tried my ass off, but being sans-driver’s license (from those goddamn seizures), I couldn’t talk anyone into driving my ass to NYC to see him. I had one taker, but his car broke down the day before the show. Grrrr. . . .

I did get a chance to see Gavin perform in 1999 in Brooklyn with Hal Wilner’s Harry Smith Project. That was a tribute show to raise money to fund the Harry Smith archives (more information can be found here). Considering I was a fanatic for both Nick Cave and Gavin (who were both on the bill), there was NO FUCKING WAY I was going to miss this show (despite the $75 ticket)! I had no money, but I scraped together whatever I could to get it.

There were some really boring-as-shit performances that night, but Gavin exceeded my expectations! It was. . . a TEASE, however! Two songs weren’t enough to satiate! HOWEVER, I met Gavin that night when I was waiting to use the restroom. . . I came out to meet my friend Tom, and as we turned a corner, there was Gavin! I shyly approached him. . . and became tongue-tied! Tom decided to seize the moment and egg on Gavin by letting him know what a fucking diehard I was. . . and Gavin seized the moment to bask in the glory of my admiration!

After Gavin teased me in a playful way, Tom said, “Gav, can I get a photo of you & Julz?” And he was like, “Sure. . . take three of them!” He put his arm around me and said, “So how long have you and your gentlemen here have been together?” Tom and I laughed out loud and said simultaneously, “We’re NOT a couple!” Gavin then cuddled me a bit more snugly, and Tom snapped two photos. . . and then said, “Gav. . . you gotta kiss her!!!” And before you know it, HE DID. . . and Tom snapped photo number three! So my surprise and admiration is frozen in time! (Sigh. . . )

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