David Jove (December 14, 1942 – September 26, 2004), born David Sniderman, was a Canadian director, producer, and writer, particularly of underground and alternative music-themed films.

Career

After spending the mid-1960s in London, he became acquainted with the Rolling Stones' circle of friends. Calling himself "Acid King David", he participated in a government drug set-up of

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

and

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...

, resulting in the infamous 'Redlands' bust. It was later discovered that he had been caught carrying drugs at Heathrow airport and had been offered a deal by the authorities, to avoid jail and deportation, if he helped set up the Rolling Stones, who were considered to be subversive. Immediately after the Redlands bust, he was allowed to fly out of the UK and therefore avoided prosecution. Later, he moved to Los Angeles, where he would be based for the rest of his life. He may have been best known as the creator of the early 1980s music program, '' New Wave Theatre'', hosted by

Peter Ivers Peter Scott Ivers (born Peter Scott Rose, September 20, 1946 – March 3, 1983) was an American musician, singer, songwriter, and television personality. He was the host of the experimental music television show '' New Wave Theatre''. Despite Iv ...

, which gained notoriety in the early days of cable television. It was shown as part of

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

's late night weekend variety show, '' Night Flight''. "New Wave Theatre" was co-written by longtime Jove collaborator and former Billboard editor Ed Ochs, who also wrote the liner notes to Jove's two records, "Sweeter Song" and "Into the Shrine" (co-writing "Never Say Never" on "Shrine"). Ochs also co-wrote Jove's only feature film, "Stranger Than Love" (originally "I Married My Mom!"), and, with Jove, formed one half of Oxygen, a studio band which fused rock and disco and in 1979 recorded an EP of six original Jove/Ochs songs, "The Bones of Hollywood". Jove met music video producer Paul Flattery at a 1983 New York Billboard Video conference and formed an association which resulted in the music video "Stop in the Name Of Love" for the reformed English band

The Hollies The Hollies are a British pop rock band, formed in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Allan Clarke and Graham Nash founded the band ...

, with

Graham Nash Graham William Nash (born 2 February 1942) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, photographer, and activist. He is known for his light tenor voice and for his contributions as a member of the Hollies and the supergroups Crosby, Stills ...

and the TV show "The Top," which came about after

' murder. Several of Ivers friends told biographer Josh Frank they suspected Jove, with whom Ivers had a sometimes contentious relationship. Producer/director/writer

Harold Ramis Harold Allen Ramis (; November 21, 1944 – February 24, 2014) was an American actor, comedian, director and writer. His best-known film acting roles were as Egon Spengler in ''Ghostbusters'' (1984) and ''Ghostbusters II'' (1989), and as Russell ...

, a friend of Ivers, noted, "As I grew to know David a little better, it just accumulated: all the clues and evidence just made me think he was capable of anything. I couldn't say with certainty that he'd done anything but of all the people I knew, he was the one person I couldn't rule out." However,

Derf Scratch Frederick Charles Milner III (October 30, 1951– July 28, 2010), better known by his stage name Derf Scratch, was an American musician, best known as a former member of the punk rock band Fear and its original bass guitarist. Career Scratch pla ...

(of the band

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) and several other members of the Los Angeles punk and new wave scene maintained Jove's innocence. In the immediate aftermath of Iver's killing, Jove was offered help by Ramis, and together with Flattery, created and made "The Top" for KTLA. The show was a mixture of live music, videos and humor. Performers on the series include such artists as

Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper Thornton (born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Her career has spanned over 40 years. Her album ''She's So Unusual'' (1983) was the first debut album by a female artist to achi ...

, who performed "

Girls Just Want To Have Fun "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" is a song written, recorded and performed by American musician Robert Hazard, who released it as a single in 1979. It is best known for the version of American singer Cyndi Lauper, who covered the song in 1983. I ...

" and "True Colors," The Hollies performed "Stop in the Name Of Love" and

The Romantics The Romantics are an American rock band formed in 1977 in Detroit. The band is often put under the banner of new wave and power pop. They were influenced by 1950s American rock and roll, Detroit's MC5, the Stooges, early Bob Seger, Motown R&B ...

performed "Talking in Your Sleep" and "What I Like About You". Guest stars included Rodney Dangerfield,

Bill Murray William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan delivery. He rose to fame on ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' (1973–1974) before becoming a national presence on '' Saturday Nig ...

and Dan Aykroyd. The host was

Chevy Chase Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor and writer. He became a key cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'', where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment became a staple of the ...

, who – dressed as a "punk" of the era—got into a physical altercation with an audience member during the opening monologue. He immediately left the taping. The producers then got

Andy Kaufman Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman ( ; January 17, 1949 – May 16, 1984) was an American entertainer and performance artist. While often called a "comedian", Kaufman preferred to describe himself instead as a "song and dance man". He has sometimes b ...

to fill in for Chase and recorded the host segments at a separate, later, session. It was to be the last professional appearance by Andy Kaufman before his death. "The Top" aired on Friday January 27, 1984 at 7 – 8pm. It scored a 7.7% rating and a 14% share. This represented a 28% rating increase and a 27% share increase over KTLA's regularly scheduled "Happy Days/LaVerne & Shirley." In 2012, Ed Ochs released his memoir about Jove, "Freedom Spy: David Jove and The Meaning of Existence." The book detailed Ochs' experience with Jove.

Personal life

Jove was married to actress and comedian Lotus Weinstock. Their daughter is actress and musician

Lili Haydn Lili Haydn (born December 25, 1969) is a Canadian-born rock violinist, vocalist, actress, and composer. As a child, she pursued a career as an actress; at age eight she discovered the violin and began to focus on classical music. By the time Hay ...

Death

Jove was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer just before he died in 2004, aged 61, in Los Angeles.

References

Works cited

External links

*
Jove: A Tribute by ''Ed Ochs''

Freedom Spy: David Jove and The meaning of Existence

Ghost Town Theatre – Site featuring information on Jove
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jove, David 1942 births 2004 deaths Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from pancreatic cancer Film producers from Ontario Film directors from Toronto Writers from Toronto 20th-century Canadian screenwriters