Talk:Dave Greenfield

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography. For more information, visit the project page.
Biography Portal
Stub This article has been rated as Stub-Class on the project's quality scale. [FAQ]
This article is supported by WikiProject Musicians, an attempt to build a comprehensive and detailed biographical guide to musicians and musical groups on Wikipedia.
Photo request It is requested that a picture or pictures of this person be included in this article to improve its quality.

Note: Wikipedia's non-free content use policy almost never permits the use of non-free images (such as promotional photos, press photos, screenshots, book covers and similar) to merely show what a living person looks like. Efforts should be made to take a free licensed photo during a public appearance, or obtaining a free content release of an existing photo instead.
Maintenance An appropriate infobox may need to be added to this article, or the current infobox may need to be updated. Please refer to the list of biography infoboxes for further information.


This is a bit of a disappointing entry for Dave Greenfield. He probably did for keyboard playing what the early cheap fender guitars did for rock music i.e make it more accessible. At the time when stadium rock bands were using hamond organs and expensive banks of synthesisers he was using very cheap (I know because I bought one so the band I played in could cover no more heroes) keyboards like the hohner pianette but making it sound huge by using his distinctive arpeggio style that characterised the stranglers (eg duchess, no more heroes, strange little girl). That was contrasted with his almost ambient but effective use of simple chord sequences when other less adept musicians would have been piling on the sound - a great exmaple of this is "hanging around" where the simple keyboard layers are juxstaposed brilliantly with the guitar riffs,Ericmakesthree 12:32, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

I would agree with most of what you say. However, the trick is finding evidence to support these statements; and thus include the relevant facts into the article ie. [citation needed]. Good luck !
Derek R Bullamore 17:52, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

Del boy, thanks for the encouragement - will do Ericmakesthree 11:55, 8 October 2006 (UTC)

I should state that I regard Dave Greenfield as probably the most distinctive keyboard player ever but the reasons he has never achieved the plaudits he deserves are two-fold in my opinion. Firstly, he had very little main writing input into the songs (with the honourable exception of Golden Brown) and secondly, he is such a quiet retiring man he is almost an anachronism in a band renowned for their outrageous views and behaviour. It is extremely rare to find an interview with him and even more unusual to actually hear him speak on television or radio. He does however do a rather funny turn on the free single that came with "Feline" called "Aural Sculpture" where he reads out the specifications of an Oberheim synthesizer in a very fast garbled style in between Cornwells tongue in cheek pomposity. I have added this detail to his main page.
(Whistlekiller 09:47, 20 May 2007 (UTC))

[edit] "Peasant in the Big Shitty"

I've changed this from Rattus Norvegicus to No More Heroes. Although I understand it was probably recorded in the Rattus sessions and is subsequently included in the newer CD releases as a bonus track, it was first released on Heroes (I think! Feel free to correct me...) Chris 16:54, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

I have the original vinyl version of No More Heroes, (it shows my age, I think) and you are quite correct. As the main article states, Greenfield sang lead vocals on this track.
Derek R Bullamore 17:52, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
Derek, you are correct, Peasant was originally on No More Heroes but was recorded at the Rattus sessions as were many of the songs on Heroes. According to Hugh Cornwell's book, Stranglers Song by Song, Greenfield was usually brought in to sing the lead vocals when the parts played by Cornwell and Burnell made vocal duties too difficult. I think that if you listen to the songs in question this statement is definitely born out - especially Genetix.
(Whistlekiller 09:47, 20 May 2007 (UTC))


A live version of "Peasant in the Big Shitty" was first released as the B-side to "Choosy Suzy", the Free Single that came with Rattus. I believe the version on Heroes was rerecorded for that album. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.161.142.165 (talk) 07:41, 10 January 2008 (UTC)