Denny Gibbs, the meatcutter credited with pioneering Victoria鈥檚 mobile music industry, has died at age 74.
Gibbs, founder of Denny鈥檚 Canned Music, died Sept. 1 at Saanich Peninsula Palliative Care Unit from complications due to prostate cancer, his family said.
He had been living since June 2015 in Brentwood House in Brentwood Bay after being diagnosed with dementia.
Gibbs and his first wife, Wendy Dentro, started Denny鈥檚 Canned Music in 1972, and the business, started with a home-built sound system, took off at the dawn of the disco era.
His fleet of vans delivered 鈥渃anned music鈥� to venues around Greater Victoria until 2014.
鈥淗e was the man,鈥� recalled Murray Boyce, a prot茅g茅 who said Gibbs helped him get into the sound business, and passed extra bookings to him when Boyce formed his own company.
鈥淗e was just a very down-to-earth guy, very caring and compassionate. He鈥檇 always help you if you needed extra microphones or a speaker,鈥� said Boyce, 68.
The Toronto-born entertainer provided DJs and recorded music at social functions from weddings, school dances and parties to nightclubs and major events.
鈥淗e was an icon,鈥� said Daryll Markin, who met Gibbs at a Jaycee Fair at the Memorial Arena in the late 1970s. 鈥淚 was stuck at a wedding at Arbutus Ridge once and something was wrong with my amp and Denny drove up there with a new amp for me. He was a class act.鈥�
Markin, who also formed his own company, recalled how Gibbs often started his sets with Fox on聽the Run, the 1975 rock classic by Sweet. 鈥淎nd he鈥檇 play the bunny hop and somehow got away with that,鈥� Markin said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know how he聽got these long-haired teenagers in the 鈥�70s to do it.鈥�
Gibbs also played the nightclub circuit, bringing his music to the Brass Rail and Amity鈥檚 Lounge, where he ran music trivia nights, in the old Colony Motor Inn.
He got the crowds dancing at the New York, New York nightclub (now Sugar), where he also designed light shows, at the Red Lion, at Fonzie鈥檚 Place in Sidney鈥檚 Travelodge and at Royal Oak鈥檚 the Thatch.
At the Forge in the Strathcona Hotel, he provided canned music when the Brothers Forbes, Larry and John, took breaks.
Larry Forbes鈥檚 son Michael, the Victoria real estate agent and broadcaster, met Gibbs through his father.
Michael Forbes worked weekends with Denny鈥檚 Canned Music for two years in the mid-1980s, taking vans loaded with sound equipment to gigs at schools, dances and nightclubs.
鈥淭hat was the pinnacle of his success in town,鈥� Forbes said. 鈥淟ive music was king in the 鈥�60s and 鈥�70s, but Denny was in a way taking the jobs of live musicians who secretly weren鈥檛 happy he was doing so well.鈥�
Forbes said Gibbs introduced music videos such as Michael Jackson鈥檚 Thrille, recorded on VHS tapes.聽
Leasa Robson, the 52-year-old daughter of Gibbs and Wendy Dentro, said Gibbs also worked part-time at Thrifty in Hillside Centre as a meatcutter in his later years 鈥� the profession he had trained for.
Dentro said Gibbs was working at the White Spot on Douglas Street when the two met in the early 1960s. Later, he聽worked at Cross鈥檚 Meats and Safeway.
鈥淏ut music was in his soul,鈥� said Dentro, whose marriage to聽Gibbs lasted until 1978.
She said his manager at White Spot helped Gibbs build a stereo system. He began his business by聽supplying music for the Sidney Volunteer Fire Department, and聽helped raise funds for the Kinsmen Club the couple belonged to in the 1960s.
Gibbs is the son of Francis Gibbs, a professional saxophonist who played with the Moxie Whitney and Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey bands under the name Tommy Gibbs. The family lived in聽Toronto and Banff, where the senior Gibbs played at the Royal York and Banff Springs hotels.
Dentro said Gibbs loved to talk about the time he danced with Marilyn Monroe. It was in 1953, Gibbs was not yet a teenager, and Monroe was in Banff to shoot River of No Return. 鈥淗e just asked Marilyn to dance and she was so gracious,鈥� said Dentro.
She said Gibbs had also befriended Tommy Rettig, the child star who played Lassie鈥檚 first master on TV.
When Francis Gibbs landed a聽job playing at the Hamilton Princess Hotel in Bermuda, the family moved with him, and Denny attended private school. Robson said her father always cherished the years in Bermuda. The family moved back to Toronto when Francis Gibbs鈥檚 contract with the hotel expired. 鈥淭hat shattered my father, because he thought Bermuda was the cat鈥檚 meow,鈥� she said.
Dentro said Gibbs had a burger-and-milkshakes 鈥渂each hut鈥� on West Saanich Road, complete with a plastic palm tree and sand he had trucked in. 鈥淗is heart was always in Bermuda,鈥� she said.
Gibbs met his second wife, Judy Paterson, when she was a聽server at the old Princess Mary Restaurant on Harbour Road.
鈥淗e was the music man and he kept bothering me to go out,鈥� said Paterson, 74, noting it was his sense of humour that won her over.
They married in 1995 but separated a few years later.
Bill Lang, the former owner of聽the Princess Mary, said Gibbs鈥檚 influence on Victoria鈥檚 social and music scene cannot be underestimated. 鈥淗e kept the music alive. My God, there was a guy who, no matter how tired he was, would always stop and help you,鈥� recalled Lang.
Gibbs鈥檚 annual Halloween parties at the 鈥滿ary鈥� were legendary, overcrowded social events, Lang said. Gibbs also spent days decorating the venue for themed costume bashes such as a St. Valentine鈥檚 Day Massacre event in聽1983.
John Pang, who has had an electronics business in Victoria since 1983, repaired audio and lighting equipment for Gibbs for years. 鈥淗e was using 45s, and then he progressed from vinyl to Beta tapes and from that to CDs,鈥� said Pang.
Gibbs was also passionate about swing and Latin dance and co-founded Swing City with dance instructor John de Pfyffer in 1999. They held dance events and workshops at the Edelweiss Club.
Barry Bowman, CFAX鈥檚 former 鈥淢orning Mayor,鈥� said he shared an apartment in James Bay with Gibbs when both men were single in the early 1980s. 鈥淩ooming with a night owl like聽Denny made us the perfect odd couple,鈥� recalled Bowman, who started his radio shift at 5 a.m. 鈥淲e hardly saw each other because he was coming home when I鈥檇 be going to work.鈥�
Bowman said he was always struck by Gibbs鈥檚 鈥渦nbridled energy,鈥� his knack for concocting innovative new ways to entertain crowds, notably at his legendary Halloween parties, and his positive attitude.
Dentro added: 鈥淗e certainly knew how to live in the moment, enjoy life to the fullest and make the best of any situation.鈥�