David Benton

David Proctor Benton departed peacefully on Sept 27, 2025 at age 77, after a brave battle against sarcoma. David was preceded in death by his mother Jeanne Benton, father David Benton, sister Leslie Bjorncrantz, and step-son Caleb Luke. He was survived by his wife Patricia Kelly, sister Tracy Benton, brother-in-law Barry Schneider, niece Molly Schneider, brother-in-law, Carl Eduard Bjorncrantz, nephew William Bjorncrantz, sister-in-law Christine Haskell, brother-in-law Robert Carney, nephews Jacob and Benjamin Haskell, sister-in-law Kathy Koelsch, niece Alyssa Koelsch and nephews Kevin and Ken Koelsch, great-nephew Oliver Huie and grand-nieces Paloma and Lupita Haskell.

Born in Orange, New Jersey on September 18th, 1948, David was a lover of music, pyrotechnics, puns and critters. He was a member of several bands throughout his life, playing guitar for: The Pagans, The Caravelles & Shags (Omaha, NE), Full Measure (Lincoln, NE), Nickel Plate Road & Onyx (Wayne State, NE), and prominent Madison, WI bands including Spooner, The Water Dogs, The Rousers & the ghost particles. He was an avid record collector, starting his collection early in life with the purchase of an Elvis Presley 45 in 1956. David owned and operated MadCity Music Store from 1986-2007. David enjoyed a long life with his wife Pat, filled with travel to adventurous destinations including the Caribbean, Europe, Africa, South America and the American Southwest. Their shared love of windsurfing brought them to the Outerbanks, Padre Island, Hood River. They spent many wonderful winters in Culebra, PR and summer gatherings in Lost Falls, WI with family and friends.

Special thanks to our wonderful friends and neighbors who supported us in so many ways during Dave’s final days. Most notably friend and fellow band mate, John Hauser who took Dave on weekly drives to search out the perfect hot dog.

Thank you also to the amazing staff at the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer center including Dr. Zach Morris, Dr, Ryan Mattison and Dr. Eric Marty and to Agrace Hospice especially Janet RN.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Dreamwavers, 612 W. Main St., Ste. 303, Madison, WI 53703 or Tenney Lapham Neighborhood Association, PO Box 201, Madison, WI 53703 Venmo to TLNAMAD

A memorial gathering will be held at the John Wall family pavilion in Tenney Park on Monday, Oct 13 from 3-7PM. All are welcome. As Dave would have said, “We will have good food, plenty of drinks, tell stories and share some laughs.” At 5PM we will have an open mike with friends and family invited to share memories.

Memories of Dave Benton

Will you remember me? I know I will remember you, oh yeah Remember you, oh yeah Remember you, oh yeah Oh yeah

(“Will You Remember Me?” lyrics, Spooner 198?)

MUSIC

I was around 8 or 9 and my uncle Dave gave me my very first personal album of music. It was the 1996 album Spice by the Spice Girls on cassette. I listened to that album on repeat in my Walkman until I had every song memorized, many of which I still know by heart to this day. The beauty of this album was not just that it was a gift, but that it combined Dave’s unpretentious desire to expand his love of music, an apt pop anthem of girl power to his only niece, and appreciation for a soon to be antiquated medium for music recordings. While my love of the Spice Girls continues to this day, my relationship and conversations with Dave grew from the chart topping hits to lesser known music from various parts of the world from Afrobeat, to Bedouin to Qawwali, continuing to bond over our mutual love of travel, culture and, of course, music.

Molly Benton Schneider (niece)

I arrived in Madison with a friend in 1979 to start a band with Ernie Conner and Steve Summers which became Stavin Chain. Spooner was a hot band at the time and we had seen them play many times at Headliners, Merlyn’s, Bunky’s, etc.

After leaving for a year I returned in 1983. Ernie called me about starting an instrumental surf type band in 1984. That’s when I officially met Dave. A friend suggested, in jest, naming the band Wally and the Waterdogs. Dave liked Waterdogs and so we kept it. I have played with Dave off and on for over 40 years. Waterdogs, Rousers, and most recently the Ghost Particles.

Dave was a very respected musician, a great friend, and all around fine person to be with. He will be highly missed by many.

Lee Laski

My fondest memory of Dave is simply the first time I met him, because it reminds me of how friendly and open he was and how important he was in the course of my life. I was walking down the hall in my dormitory and I heard music blaring out of a room. I popped my head in and there he sat. He cordially invited me in and we listened to a lot of music together that day and for many years after that. We made and played music together on and off for decades.

Dave was one of the most tasteful and sublime guitar players I have ever run across. He always played to enhance the song or the music, not to overwhelm it. Never aggressive… just thoughtful and smart, much like his personality. He always managed to add a part that gave a track a sound or a flavor that it never would’ve had otherwise. We called his playing style “The Essential Dave Benton”.

Doug “Duke” Erikson

In addition to being a truly great guitar player, Dave knows more about music (worldwide!) than anyone I know. He also knows the location of every single White Castle in the Upper Midwest.

Jeff Walker

MAD CITY MUSIC

Dave clerked at Madcity Music from 1981 to 1986, and owned the store from 1986 to 2007. Since 2007 Dave ran an online record store that closed in August 2025. He was in the business of selling rare and not-so-rare vinyl records for 43 years! Here are a few tributes from loyal customers. Congrats, de’mon Dave! So pleased our innumerable conversations about music including that from Jamaica turned into a friendship.

Michael J. Martens

It was a great store, I spent a lot of time and money there.

Michelle Waterman

What a run! Your Mad City Music is a legendary store, and I’ve got great memories of talking music with and getting recommendations from you. It felt like home.

Eric Shumaker-Rasmussen

FRIENDS

In my years of friendship and many travels with Dave what I learned was when given a choice, always take the scenic route. We did and I'm forever grateful.

Joel Tappero (Spooner)

My memories of Dave are mostly from 1976 when my husband Joe and I lived with him on west Paterson in Madison. He had a cat named Alice. We used to play scrabble and Alice would lay in the box of letters and bat at our hands when we tried to take letters out. I have lots of memories of partying with Spooner before I had my sons.

Linda Overman Burnam

I vividly remember driving to Wayne, NE for your brother's band Onyx concert at the college. It was a hot day and a long drive—but the evening was great. It was fun watching the band's preparations and performance. I also remember that we found a petrified sandwich in his room. It was ‘rock’ hard. Those were good days.

Kim Longley Roberts

Dave told me many times about how his mother would always sip on a Martini in the car when he was practice driving with his Learner’s Permit. He got a lot of pleasure out of telling that story!

Tom Drake

FAMILY

In the early 80’s my brother David and I borrowed my parent’s rental car and drove around the perimeter of the island of Montserrat listening to Radio Antilles. We took all the side roads just to see where they led and almost drove off a precipice into the sea. We stopped at a beach stand for grilled chicken and a beer. What a glorious day!

Tracy Benton

When visiting Montserrat in the mid ‘80’s, David and I decided we would climb the many, many steps to the top of Chances Peak, the highest point on Montserrat. It was a great trek with wonderful views of the island and the Caribbean. The locals called it Mount Chance because it described the unpredictable and potentially dangerous volcanic activity of the area in the Soufrière Hills complex. David and I took the ‘Chance.’ Later on in 1995, after being dormant for 300 years there was great eruption! Oh so close in geologic time!

On our first trip to Culebra, Puerto Rico, David informed our group that tarantulas inhabited the island and we could see them at night when they came out of their holes to hunt for food. On our first night, David and I took our flashlights and went out for the hunt. We started along the dirt banks by the road. We found many small holes and if we were especially quiet we would see a tarantula climbing out of its hole. We spent hours doing this. It set the pace for many subsequent trips to Culebra—we always spent some time hunting tarantulas after sunset, dinner and drinks.

Barry Schneider (brother-in-law)

When Nick and I were first married, I sent a glockenspiel to David for his Christmas present. This would have been in 1954-5 or thereabouts in New Jersey. The glockenspiel was a hit! David went all over the house with it, banging out sounds as he went. Maybe that was the start of his love of music!

Kitty Benton (aunt)

I have one memory that makes me think of Dave often. I remember Dave saying he loved mid-western thunder storms, that there was nothing like them. I have not experienced a Nebraska thunderstorm but I too love thunderstorms and hope to experience the grandeur of a mid-western storm someday.

Francie Benton (cousin)

Dave was a great travel companion. It felt like he had traveled every road and visited every park in this country. The wanderlust that fueled his years of travel made him a curious, knowledgeable and calm travel mate. His quiet humor made him a joy to be next to. And at the end of the travel day, he was an enthusiastic diner and game player. His skill at Trivial Pursuit, and not only in the music category, made him a consistent champion. He was a true champion in so many ways.

Christine Haskell (sister -in-law)

I love that photo of David with Spooner at their 50th anniversary. Music feeds the soul. I can only imagine how much happiness making music has brought to Dave throughout his life.

Kate Benton (cousin)

It was always only about him and me and the loving comfort we felt together in out little house on E Mifflin St.

Pat (wife)