Dave "The Beast" Spitz (born February 22, 1958) is an American musician best known for having played bass guitar for the heavy metal group
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...
from 1985 to 1987, appearing on the albums ''
Seventh Star
''Seventh Star'' is the twelfth studio album by English heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath. Released in January 1986, it features founding guitarist Tony Iommi alongside musicians Geoff Nicholls, Eric Singer, and Dave Spitz, playi ...
'' and being credited for (but not playing on) ''
The Eternal Idol
''The Eternal Idol'' is the thirteenth studio album by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released on 23 November 1987 (UK) and 8 December 1987 (US). It is the first Black Sabbath album to feature vocalist Tony Martin. It spent six week ...
''. Dave also helped discover
Ray Gillen
Raymond Arthur Gillen (May 12, 1959 – December 1, 1993) was an American rock singer. He is best known for his work with Badlands, in addition to his stint with Black Sabbath in the mid-1980s and recording most of the vocals on Phenomena's '' ...
, the vocalist who joined Black Sabbath mid-tour in 1986, following the sudden exit of Glenn Hughes.
Spitz was born in the Forest Hills neighborhood in the
borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle Ag ...
of
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. He is the older brother of musician
Dan Spitz
Daniel Alan Spitz (born January 28, 1963) is an American musician best known for his work as the lead guitarist of the thrash metal band Anthrax from 1983 to 1995 and from 2005 to 2008. Spitz also founded the Christian music group Red Lamb, w ...
, former lead guitarist of the American
thrash metal
Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...
band
Anthrax
Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium ''Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The sk ...
.
Spitz has also been a member of
Great White
Great White is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1977. The band peaked with several albums during the mid-to-late 1980s, including the platinum-selling records '' Once Bitten'' (1987) and '' ...Twice Shy'' (1989), and those albums ...
, having recorded the albums ''
Psycho City
''Psycho City'' is the sixth studio album by the American hard rock band Great White, released in 1992. It was the last studio album produced for Capitol Records, with the exception of the 1993 compilation '' The Best of Great White: 1986–1992 ...
hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...
band during the 1990s. He played with
White Lion
The white lion is a rare color mutation of the lion, specifically the Southern African lion. White lions in the area of Timbavati are thought to have been indigenous to the Timbavati region of South Africa for centuries, although the earliest r ...
and on albums by Americade,
Slamnation
''SlamNation'' is a documentary film by director Paul Devlin. The film follows the National Poetry Slam in Portland, Oregon.
It follows the 1996 Nuyorican Poetry Slam team ( Saul Williams, Beau Sia, muMs da Schemer and Jessica Care Moore) as th ...
,
Insomnia
Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder in which people have trouble sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low energy, ...
,
Nuclear Assault
Nuclear Assault was an American thrash metal band formed in New York City in 1984. Part of the mid-to-late 1980s thrash metal movement, they were one of the main bands of the genre to emerge from the East Coast along with Overkill, Whiplash, T ...
,
Purple Heart
The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, w ...
War Pigs
"War Pigs" is an anti-war protest song by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released in 1970, it is the opening track from the band's second studio album ''Paranoid'' (1970).
Overview
The original title of "War Pigs" was "Walpurgis", ...
and others. He is also a member of McBrain Damage, featuring
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...
drummer
Nicko McBrain
Michael Henry "Nicko" McBrain (born 5 June 1952) is an English musician, best known as the drummer of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden since 1982. Having played in small pub bands since 1966 from the age of 14, McBrain paid his bills after grad ...
and tours with this band when Nicko has time off.
Dave Spitz graduated from
SUNY Geneseo
The State University of New York College at Geneseo (SUNY Geneseo, Geneseo State College or, colloquially, "Geneseo") is a public liberal arts college in Geneseo, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. The colle ...
in upstate New York in 1979, and during his college years he played in bands around that area, including Freeway and Buzzoleo.
Beyond this, Dave is a second degree black belt (Nidan) in traditional Okinawan
Gōjū-ryū
, Japanese for "hard-soft style", is one of the main traditional Okinawan styles of karate, featuring a combination of hard and soft techniques. Both principles, hard and soft, come from the famous martial arts book used by Okinawan masters dur ...
Karate-dō. Beginning his karate training at the age of 14 in New York, Dave initially studied under the U.S.A. Kata champion
sensei
Sensei, Seonsaeng, Tiên sinh or Xiansheng, corresponding to Chinese characters , is an East Asian honorific term shared in Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and Chinese; it is literally translated as "person born before another" or "one who comes ...
Chuck Merriman, and fought in numerous karate tournaments. Following his Black Sabbath years, he continued his martial arts training in California, undertaking training with the highest ranking practitioner of Gōjū-ryū in the world, sensei
Morio Higaonna
is a prominent Okinawan karate practitioner who is the founder and former Chief Instructor of the International Okinawan Goju-ryu Karate-do Federation (IOGKF).International Okinawan Gōjū-ryū Karate-dō Federation. Spitz also studied and trained with sensei Mel Pralgo, sensei Rodney Hu, sensei Stan O'Hara, and sensei Miko Peled, and had the distinct honor of being Dai Senpai (highest ranking student and assistant instructor) for many years at sensei Pralgo's
dojo
A is a hall or place for immersive learning or meditation. This is traditionally in the field of martial arts, but has been seen increasingly in other fields, such as meditation and software development. The term literally means "place of the ...
in
Thousand Oaks, California
Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, United States. It is in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles, approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown Los Angeles, Downtown. It is named af ...
, before moving to Florida in 1996 to attend law school.