Dave was born in Wellington in 1943 and during his childhood he had training in classical piano. He went to Teachers Training College in about 1960, taught for a short time, then in about 1964 went to Massey University.
It was there that he started writing songs, humorous social commentary for
Massey capping reviews, like Down Trou, the State
House Song and Gutboard Blues, and
performing them and other songs at the Nickoberg coffee-bar in Palmerston
North. It was at a university student arts festival at Massey that he befriended
a young woman and started what was to be an enduring friendship.
After leaving Massey, he worked for the New Zealand Film Unit in Mirimar,
Wellington, and in the late 1960s he progressed to writing insightful emotive
songs such as Hills of Coromandel,
Out of Sight Out of Mind, and Rosalind My Friend, which led to
him winning two Silver Scrolls, the first in 1968 for I shall take my leave and go and the second in 1969 for the Avengers' version of Out of sight, out of mind. (We think those latter details are correct)
Dave's songs were picked up and sung by Pete Seeger (Which
songs?), and NZ pop singer Christine Smith (Out of Sight, Out of Mind).
In 1970, Kiwi Records released Seasons,
an LP of his songs.
London and marriage
 Dave on the cover of his Seasons cassette. |
He found success in London, writing songs for many people, including Ringo Starr and Demis Roussos, and producing albums other people's songs. One of the songs he wrote at this time that we have the words and tune of is Goodnight Ruby, a gentle, resigned, and achingly beautiful song of farewell and enduring love.
To find inspiration (and warmth?) he spent every winter in Greece. He also spent some time songwriting in California.
While in London, Dave also produced his own original album Away From Home.
In 1979, he married a 26 year old from Brazil, but it was not a happy union. After the birth of their son in 1984, they returned to New Zealand where Dave got a nine to five job with an Auckland agency (Which one?) writing and producing TV and radio advertisements.
Dunedin and old friends
Then his old friend from Massey student days, now working in Christchurch, went searching on Google to find where in the world he was. After finding his songs and his email address on this NZ Folksong website, she was surprised to find him in near-by Dunedin, and was soon in contact with him.
She and her husband purchased a flat for Dave near their home in Christchurch, and they cared for him there for the last years of his life.
Foreseeing the Future?
Was Jordan's unconscious mind foreseeing the acid-burnin stomach-churnin money-earnin London lifestyle? Yet despite the predictable downsides of life there, a gate that's open to nowhere, far from the old friends who knew him so well, there was always the certainty that the apple trees still bloom each year.
Indeed, despite the wasting disease which took hold of him in 1996, his talent as a composer began to bloom once again, with the aid of a computer program. He began concentrating on digital compositions, and in June 2000 he released a new CD, Pacific Crossings.
Then when he had shifted to Christchurch, Dave began putting words together again, starting with Somewhat Under the Weather, a parody of Somewhere over the Rainbow. They were the first song lyrics he had written for decades.
With the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, Dave wrote Fly on the Wall, an angry outburst full of dark wordplay, about a Gulf War reporter. Then in complete contrast came Biology! a wonderful bouncy cheerful singalong song for concert performers.
For more details about Dave, read Gordon Spittle's book, 'Counting The Beat'.
Gutboard Blues - Hills of Coromandel - Down Trou - Somewhat Under the Weather