David Rotheray

David Rotheray
Background information
Birth name	David Rotheray
Born	9 February 1963
Genres	Indie Pop, Pop, Alternative rock
Occupations	Guitarist, Songwriter
Instruments	Guitar
Years active	1982–present
Associated acts	The Beautiful South, Homespun

David Rotheray (born 9 February 1963, Hull, England) is a British musician, best known for being the lead guitarist for The Beautiful South.

Rotheray was born the fifth of five children. His parents were both intellectual and had met through the Young Communist League. Having much older brothers and sisters speeded 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 just 13; it was called Mammoth, at one time performing the then-current Sex Pistols single "Pretty Vacant" at a school concert, without any microphones. At that time Rotheray's musical tastes were for progressive rock, his favourite being Pink Floyd. His parents were naturally 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 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 itself an eclectic mixture of the then current musical styles, from the Style Council to the Gang of Four. Band members included temporary additions, mainly for demo recordings, were sax player 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. However despite its failure commercially it probably represents one of the first attempts to record a political rap song in the UK with 'Duck Town'. Rotheray and Hemingway then went on to form the Velvetones with other musician friends from Hull, at their best the Velvetones' songs were a mix of jokey but clever lyrics and punky, swing beats.

At the time of The Velvetones, Rotheray was still at The University of Hull and completed a degree in psychology. He was four years into studying for a Ph.D, researching the psychological theory underpinning educational software design, publishing several papers in this area of study while working with the Educational Technology Research Group within the psychology department at Hull University when Paul Heaton made him an offer he couldn't refuse, Rotheray joined The Beautiful South playing guitar. Rotheray had known Paul Heaton for several years, as they lived on the same street in Hull (Grafton Street).

When Rotheray joined The Beautiful South he began writing songs alongside Heaton.

Homespun

In 2001, Heaton released the album, Fat Chance, which was recorded under the name 'Biscuit Boy (also known as Crackerman)'. However, as the bulk of tracks on Fat Chance were written by Heaton alone or with other collaborators rather 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 has released three albums to date. However recently Brown has been replaced by Helen 'Aitch' McRobbie as lead vocalist. Homespun split in 2008 and 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

David Rotheray announced the release of his first 'solo' album, "The Life of Birds" for 16 August 2010, on the Proper Music label.^[1] Although ostensibly a 'solo' effort, the record in fact features collaborations with ten different singer/songwriters drawn from the contemporary scene including Alasdair Roberts, Jim Causley, Eliza Carthy and Camille O'Sullivan.

The Life of Birds - album 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 August 2010, ‘The Life Of Birds’ was generally very well received critically.^[2][3] In November 2010 and again in March 2011, Rotheray embarked on a live tour, playing the album in full and in order, with Jim Causley & Bella Hardy handling all the vocal duties. The live shows were also generally critically well received.^[4][5]

Rotheray is currently believed to be working on a follow-up album to ‘The Life Of Birds’, along similar lines, but with a different theme.

Miscellaneous Writing Credits

• "Void" (Brown/Rotheray) appeared on the Sam Brown album 'Ukelele and Voice' (2006)
• "Quote I Love You Unquote" (Rotheray/McEvoy) appeared on the Eleanor McEvoy album 'Out There' (2006)
• "Mitch" (Heaton/Rotheray) appeared on the Paul Heaton 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) 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)

Published Work (academic)

• Classroom Use Of The Computer: A Retrospective View’ - by Dave F. Sewell & David R. Rotheray, published in Unesco ‘Prospects’, Vol XVII, No.3, 1987
• The Release Of Cognitive Resources: A Unifying Perspective On Mainstream And Special Education’ by David Rotheray & David Sewell, published in ‘Computers, Cognition And Development’, edited by J.C. Rutkowska & C. Crook, published by Wiley & Son, 1987.
• The Theoretical Influences On The Design And Implementation Of Computer-Mediated Learning’, by D.F. Sewell, R.D. Ward & D. Rotheray, published in ‘Aspects Of Educational Technology XVIII’, Kogan Page, 1985.

References

1. ^ Never Enough Notes
2. ^ Daily Express review 13 March 2011
3. ^ BBC Music Life of Birds album review 8 September 2010
4. ^ Independent on Sunday review 24 March 2011
5. ^ Spiral Earth live show (Bristol) review 1 April 2011

• Pattenden, Michael (1999) Last Orders at the Liars Bar. ISBN 0-575-06739-X

External links

• Homespun myspace
• davidrotheray.com

Persondata
Name	Rotheray, David
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	9 February 1963
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death