{{Short description|Filipino radio disc jockey (1955–2008)}} {{Infobox person |name = Dante David |image = |caption = |birth_date = {{Birth date|1955|7|16}} |birth_place = Pasay, Philippines |death_date = {{death date and age|2008|5|26|1955|7|16}} |death_place = Quezon City, Philippines |other_names = Howlin' Dave |known_for = |occupation = radio disc jockey }} '''Dante David''' (July 16, 1955 – May 26, 2008) was a Filipino radio disc jockey. Better known by his stage name '''Howlin' Dave''', he is credited with introducing Filipino radio listeners to Pinoy (Filipino) rock music<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=jojoRobles_may30_2008|title=RIP, Howlin’ Dave|last=Robles|first=Jojo|date=2008-05-30|publisher=Manila Standard|accessdate=2008-05-31}}</ref> in the early 1970s, and to new wave and punk rock in the 1980s.<ref name=mt>{{cite news |title=A Cry for Howlin' Dave |author=Rome Jorge |url=http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/may/27/yehey/life/20080527lif2.html |publisher=Manila Times |date=2008-05-27 |accessdate=2008-05-28 }} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref>
Howlin' Dave grew up in Pasay and dropped out of high school.<ref name=pdi1>{{cite news|author=Eric Caruncho |title=The Last of the Singing Cowboys |url=http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/sim/sim/view_article.php?article_id=52732 |publisher=Philippine Daily Inquirer |date=2007-03-04 |accessdate=2008-05-28 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080529160837/http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/sim/sim/view_article.php?article_id=52732 |archivedate=2008-05-29 }}</ref> While enrolled in a Fine Arts course at the Philippine Women's University, he was hired as a radio announcer on DZRJ-AM in 1974.<ref name=pdi1/> He adopted the name "Howlin' Dave" after the American blues singer Howlin' Wolf.<ref name=pdi1/> He soon became the host of ''Pinoy Rock and Rhythm'', a weekend thirty-minute radio program that featured the then-nascent Pinoy rock music. The program was credited with popularizing such Filipino rock acts as the Juan Dela Cruz Band, Asin and the singer Sampaguita.<ref name=mt/> Howlin' Dave himself became known for his trademark mangled grammar and syntax, his atypical on-air use of the Tagalog language, and for his passionate and excitable delivery in his big booming voice.<ref name=pdi1/><ref name=pdi2/> The drummer Pepe Smith called him "the best rock DJ the Philippines ever had.”<ref name=pdi2>{{cite news |author=Pocholo Concepcion |title=Howlin' Dave, Filipino rock icon, dies at 52 |url=http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/breakingnews/breakingnews/view/20080526-138981/Howlin-Dave-Filipino-rock-icon-dies-at-52 |publisher=Philippine Daily Inquirer |date=2008-05-26 |accessdate=2008-05-28 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080529044159/http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/breakingnews/breakingnews/view/20080526-138981/Howlin-Dave-Filipino-rock-icon-dies-at-52 |archivedate=2008-05-29 }}</ref>
Howlin' Dave was also credited with introducing Filipino radio listeners to punk rock and new wave music beginning in the late 1970s, through his program ''New Wave Nights''.<ref name=mt/><ref name=pdi1/> His choice to promote punk music was controversial among his fellow deejays and with his station, but his program developed a following, with spikey-haired teens soon showing up at the radio station, drinking gin and breaking bottles.<ref name=pdi1/> Between 1980 and 1985, Howlin' Dave hosted the annual 'Brave New World' punk concert, which he closed with his take on Sid Vicious's version of "My Way".<ref name=pdi1/>
In the late 1980s, Howlin' Dave was diagnosed with a brain tumor, as well as several other health problems that left him house-bound for several years. In his later years, he hosted radio programs with DZRJ, ROCK 990, and NU 107. In 2001, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the NU Rock Awards. He died in May 2008, two days after collapsing at home following a stroke.<ref name=pdi2/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howlin Dave}} Category:1955 births Category:2008 deaths Category:Filipino radio personalities Category:People from Pasay Category:Philippine Women's University alumni