Swingin’ Dave Collert – An Appreciation When I heard the news about Dave Collert leaving us, I froze. It was then that I realized how much I’ve learned from him and how important he was to me and so many others. I met Dave Collert in 1976. As a young bass player just moving into the area, I didn’t know anybody in Santa Barbara, but when I walked into Fancy Music and met Dave, (and Bob, Jim, and Richard), I was made to feel welcome! It was a great feeling! Dave wasn’t like any other music store salesperson. He was a little older, had a great rock’n’roll/glam image, cool hair, and he was funny and smart about gear as well as highly cynical about the music business, which connected with me. Dave was the opposite of the “high pressure sales guy”. Swing showed that being a great salesperson required nothing more than conveying passion and knowledge for what you’re selling, without bias, and the rest is up to the customer. You couldn’t help but become friendly with Swing. He was instantly likeable. He always had a quip ready, whether it was an inside joke about somebody or a band or song, etc., and many of those same “bits” have survived 38+ years and we still laughed about them earlier this year as we did when they were first spoken. (I believe everybody who knew Dave could say the same thing). And because he was so humble, he always downplayed his own guitar abilities. And he was a magnificent guitarist! When I finally heard him play with his Hot Club band, I was blown away by his chops and his musicianship. He was a true renaissance man, who knew all about the local and international music and art scene, and was well-versed on any of these subjects. There was nobody cooler than Swing. As anybody who was there will tell you, Santa Barbara had an incredible local music scene in the mid-to-late 70’s and early 80’s. Dave loved going out to clubs to show support for local bands, and any place he was at became the place to be at that moment. And this made Fancy Music the place to be, because Dave was there! What made Dave so great is that he figured out how to get just as much pleasure from helping others realize their dreams and goals as he did his own. I’ve been in the Music Instrument business for the last 12 years. I didn’t realize how much I owe him for what I do and for how I do it, until now. How I wish I told him this when I last saw him in January. I look forward to having that conversation with him sometime in the (far distant) future. Here’s to Shwing! Sho good! With lots of love, Robby
Posted on: Sat, 30 Aug 2014 05:20:35 +0000