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David Rotheray (born 9 February 1963) is an English rock and pop musician, best known for being the lead guitarist for
The Beautiful South The Beautiful South were an English pop rock group formed in 1988 by Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway, two former members of the Kingston upon Hull, Hull group the Housemartins, both of whom performed lead and backing vocals. Other members stayin ...
. Rotheray was born the last of five children. His parents were both intellectuals and had met through the
Young Communist League The Young Communist League (YCL) is the name used by the youth wing of various Communist parties around the world. The name ''YCL of ountry' originates from the precedent established by the Communist Youth International. Examples of YCLs includ ...
. Having much older brothers and sisters sped up his musical progress; by the age of 10 he was listening to rock and imagined being in a band. His chosen instrument at the time was the bass guitar.


Overview

Rotheray joined his first band when he was aged 13; it was called Mammoth, at one time performing the then-current
Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Ki ...
song, "
Pretty Vacant "Pretty Vacant" is a song by the English punk rock band the Sex Pistols. It was released on 1 July 1977 as the band's third single and was later featured on their only album, '' Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols'', released during ...
" at a school concert, without any microphones. At that time Rotheray's musical tastes were for progressive rock, his favourite being
Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...
. His parents were worried but still allowed him to play and drove him to clubs to perform. Eventually, Mammoth evolved into a band called The Newpolitans. Both Mammoth and the Newpolitans featured Hugh Whitaker on drums, who later became the drummer for
The Housemartins The Housemartins were an English indie rock group formed in Hull who were active in the 1980s and charted three top-ten albums and six top-twenty singles in the UK. Many of their lyrics conveyed a mixture of socialist politics and Christiani ...
. The Newpolitans also later featured Dave Hemingway on drums, who also became drummer for the Housemartins and then a singer with the Beautiful South. The Newpolitan's style was a mixture of the current musical styles, from the
Style Council The Style Council were an English pop band formed in Woking in 1982 by Paul Weller, the former lead vocalist, principal songwriter and guitarist with the rock band the Jam, and keyboardist Mick Talbot, previously a member of Dexys Midnight Run ...
to the
Gang of Four The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes due to th ...
. Band members included temporary additions, mainly for demo recordings, were saxophonist Kev Christian and the trumpet players Andrew Nicholson and Andy Russell. The Newpolitans recorded a self-financed single, but the failure of the single provided the catalyst for the band's demise. Rotheray and Hemingway then went on to form the Velvetones with other musician friends from Hull. Whilst living on Grafton Street and studying for a PhD at
Hull University The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hu ...
, Rotheray met
Paul Heaton Paul David Heaton (born 9 May 1962) is an English singer-songwriter. He was the lead singer and main lyricist of the Housemartins, who had commercial success in the UK and other European countries between 1985 and 1988, releasing several singl ...
with whom he formed the Beautiful South and began writing songs.


Homespun

In 2001, Heaton released the album, '' Fat Chance''. However, as the bulk of the tracks on ''Fat Chance'' were written by Heaton, or with collaborators other than Rotheray, it was decided that Rotheray too would have a side project whilst The Beautiful South were on a recording hiatus. Homespun originally featured Rotheray and Sam Brown. The band released three albums. Brown was replaced by Helen 'Aitch' McRobbie as lead vocalist before Homespun split up in 2008. Rotheray concentrated on a solo project involving different singers from the contemporary scene.


Homespun – album discography

* ''Homespun'' (Classic Records, 2003) * ''Effortless Cool'' (Musicvision, 2005) * ''Short Stories from East Yorkshire'' (Active Media, 2008)


''The Life of Birds''

Rotheray announced the release of his first 'solo' album, ''The Life of Birds'' for 16 August 2010, on the Proper Music label. Although ostensibly a solo effort, the record featured collaborations with ten different singer/songwriters including Alasdair Roberts,
Jim Causley Jim Causley (born 1980) is a British folk singer, songwriter, and musician from Devon who specializes in the traditional songs and music of the West Country. Journalist Colin Irwin has called him "the finest singer of his generation". Biograph ...
,
Eliza Carthy Eliza Amy Forbes Carthy, MBE (born 23 August 1975) is an English folk musician known for both singing and playing the fiddle. She is the daughter of English folk musicians Martin Carthy and Norma Waterson. Life and career Carthy was born i ...
and
Camille O'Sullivan Camille O'Sullivan is an Irish singer, musician, and actress. She is known for her unique, dramatic musical style and Cover version, covers of artists such as Radiohead, Tom Waits, David Bowie, Nick Cave, Sinéad O'Connor, and Shane MacGowan, S ...
.


''The Life of Birds'' – track listing

*1. "The Sparrow and the Thrush and the Nightingale *2. "Living Before the War" *3. "The Road to the South" *4. "Crows, Ravens and Rooks" *5. "Draughty Old Fortress" *6. "Sweet Forgetfulness" *7. "The Hummingbird on Your Calendar" *8. "Taller Than Me" *9. "Almost Beautiful" *10. "Flying Lessons" *11. "The Best Excuse in the World (is The Truth)" *12. "The Digital Cuckoo" *13. "Cover Your Garden Over" *14. "The Sparrow and the Thrush and the Nightingale (Part II)" Following its release in 2010, ''The Life of Birds'' was generally well received critically. In November 2010 and again in March 2011, Rotheray embarked on a tour, playing the album in full, with Jim Causley and Bella Hardy handling all the vocal duties. The live shows were also well received.Spiral Earth live show (Bristol) review, 1 April 2011


Prosecco Socialist

In 2017, David Rotheray together with
Eleanor McEvoy Eleanor McEvoy (born 22 January 1967) is an Irish singer-songwriter. She composed the song "Only a Woman's Heart", title track of '' A Woman's Heart'', the best-selling Irish album in Irish history. Early life and beginnings McEvoy's life as ...
and Mike Greaves formed Prosecco Socialist with a single "This Dog's Just For Christmas Not For Life" in December and the album "Songs From Behind Bars" released in April 2018.


Miscellaneous writing credits

*"Void" (Brown/Rotheray) – appeared on the Sam Brown EP, ''Ukulele and Voice'' (2006) *"Quote I Love You Unquote" (Rotheray/McEvoy) – appeared on the
Eleanor McEvoy Eleanor McEvoy (born 22 January 1967) is an Irish singer-songwriter. She composed the song "Only a Woman's Heart", title track of '' A Woman's Heart'', the best-selling Irish album in Irish history. Early life and beginnings McEvoy's life as ...
album, '' Out There'' (2006) *"Mitch" (Heaton/Rotheray) – appeared on the
Paul Heaton Paul David Heaton (born 9 May 1962) is an English singer-songwriter. He was the lead singer and main lyricist of the Housemartins, who had commercial success in the UK and other European countries between 1985 and 1988, releasing several singl ...
album, '' Fat Chance'' (2002) *"The Night May Still Be Young (But I Am Not)" (Rotheray/McEvoy) – appeared on the Eleanor McEvoy album, '' Love Must Be Tough'' (2008) *"Old, New, Borrowed and Blue" (Rotheray/McEvoy) – also appeared on the Eleanor McEvoy album, ''Love Must Be Tough'' (2008) *"The Ferry Boat Inn" (Heaton/Rotheray) – appeared on the Naomi Bedford album, ''Weeping Willow'' (2011)


References


Bibliography

* Pattenden, Michael (1999); ''Last Orders at the Liars Bar''.


External links


Homespun Myspace
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rotheray, David 1963 births Living people English rock guitarists English male songwriters Musicians from Kingston upon Hull Proper Records artists