In Vancouver's long and glorious history of punk rock, nobody was more punk, or more rockin', than Brian Goble.

As the singer in the Subhumans and bassist in DOA and the Skulls, Goble set the standard for Canadian punk. He was funny, he was unpredictable, and he had a knack for adding a certain je né sais quoi that made a gig special.

Last year, he came out to see his former bandmates in DOA play a farewell show.

"He got up onstage and got into a wrestling match while we were playing away," recounts DOA's Joe Keithley.

"All hell broke loose. Beer all over the place, monitors got knocked into the audience. He was one of those kind of guys, he'd just start a ruckus."

But he had a whole other life offstage. For over a decade he worked for the Portland Hotel Society, taking care of troubled people in the Downtown Eastside.

Sunday afternoon he was working at the Portland's residence in the Woodward's complex when he suffered a massive heart attack. An ambulance arrived within minutes, but Goble passed away on the spot, at the age of 57.

The Portland's Coco Culbertson said Goble was beloved by the Portland's residents and staff.

"He was a gentle and compassionate soul," she said.

"He was well-loved for his gentle approach to working with people who . . . most of society had thrown out."

Keithley was shocked at the news.

"He was really a super, super guy," he said.

"He had a real humanist streak to him. He was the type of guy who could find good in people, where perhaps other people couldn't. He was pretty generous of spirit.

"But that's not to say you couldn't be ultra-cantankerous, too. And I mean that in the best of ways."

Keithley should know — he and Goble have been friends for 50 years.

"Gerry (Hannah), Brian and I all grew up within two blocks of each other on Burnaby Mountain," he said.

"We met walking home from school, I was probably in Grade 2 and they were Grade 1. You walk to school so many times sooner or later you go 'Hey, what's your name?'"

A few years later Ken Montgomery moved into the neighbourhood. Within a decade, the four friends would become punk rock legends.

Goble took the punk nom de plume Wimpy Roy, Keithley became Joey Shithead, Hannah became Gerry Useless and Montgomery became Dimwit.

Goble started off as bassist in the Skulls, one of Vancouver's first punk bands. When the group split up after an ill-advised move to Toronto, he returned to Vancouver to play in the Subhumans with bassist Hannah, drummer Montgomery and guitarist Mike Graham (a.k.a. Mike Normal).

The band's first show was at an anti-Canada Day celebration organized by anarchists in Stanley Park on July 1, 1978.

Goble turned out to be a natural frontman, full of energy and hilarious off the cuff stories. He'd usually doff his shirt, and within moments would be leaping into the audience.