1 PROFILE

Back to Back
with the Stars

clientele.
"A good doctor knows what
he can do and what he can't
do," Dr. Kirsch said of his suc-
cess. "He also makes it a point
to get continuing education.
Chiropractic changes so
quickly, if you don't keep up
with new advances in the pro-
fession, you fall behind.
"Bedside manner is impor-
tant, too," he said. "When peo-
ple come to us, we're going to
be straight with them. We'll
give them a sincere evalua-
tion and do the best we can.
When a person leaves my of-
fice, I want him to leave hap-

a Birmingham
chiropractor
Dr. David
Kirsch keeps
the Beach Boys
in shape.

PY•"

ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM

Marsha Sundq u ist / GT Photo

Assistant Editor

Dr. David Kirsch: One of the Boys.

A

nd all those years you thought
the Beach Boys stayed peren-
nially young — singing about
surfin' and blond babes and
cool cars — thanks to good,
clean living.
Maybe that had something
to do with it.
Or maybe it was Dr. David
Kirsch.
For the past seven years
Dr. Kirsch, of Huntington
Woods, has served as chiro-
practor to the Beach Boys,
traveling with them through-
out the country or flying to
meet them in nearby cities.
"I got a call one day to come
work on one of the Beach
Boys, so I took my portable
table and went to their hotel,"
he said of how it all started.
"Then suddenly I'm taking
care of all of them."

The story actually begins
years ago in a Detroit super-
market.
A 19-year-old store em-
ployee, David Kirsch, broke

his back while doing heavy
lifting. He tried traditional
care and therapy, but also
sought the assistance of a chi-
ropractor. The treatment
worked, easing Mr. Kirsch's
pain and spurring him on,
two years later, to enroll in
chiropractic school at Life Col-
lege in Atlanta, Ga.
He found a place just off
Peachtree Lane, living in a
scenic area much like Farm-
ington Hills. After graduat-
ing, he and his wife, by then
expecting the couple's first
child, returned to Detroit.
For several years, Dr.
Kirsch worked as part of an
already established firm, then
in 1983 opened his own Birm-
ingham practice with a part-
ner, James Dankovich. It took
him little time to build up his

Three months after his of-
fice opened, Dr. Kirsch re-
ceived a call from a masseuse
friend. Bruce Springsteen's
band was looking for a chiro-
practor. Would Dr. Kirsch be
interested?
It was an offer he couldn't
refuse.
After working with the
Springsteen band, Dr. Kirsch
became friendly with pro-
moters at The Palace and
Pine Knob, who called him
whenever visiting performers
needed a spine adjustment.
His clients included Chicago,
America, Kenny Loggins,
Paul Simon's band and even
the heavy metal group Metal-
lica.
"They're very courteous
guys," he said of Metallica.
"But they're covered with tat-
toos."
His most lasting relation-
ship has been with the Beach
Boys. In town for a concert,
the band was so impressed
with Dr. Kirsch's technique
that they asked him to come
with them on the road.
"At first, I thought, This is
not logical,' " he admitted.
Then he decided to take the
job. The only stipulation: his
wife comes along.
"On the road" for the Beach
Boys did not exactly translate
to roughing it in the back of a
bus. The band has its own pri-
vate jet. Dr. Kirsch usually
flies in to meet the group —
on days when he's not work-
ing out of his own office —
then is taken by limo to meet