David Rotheray is an English rock and pop musician, best known for being the lead guitarist for The Beautiful South. Rotheray was born the last of five children. His parents were both intellectuals and had met through the Young Communist League. 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 song, "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 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 a mixture of the current musical styles, from the Style Council to the Gang of Four. 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 studying for a PhD at Hull University, living on Grafton Street in Hull, Rotheray met Paul Heaton who formed the Beautiful South and they began writing songs together.
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.
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 "
12. "The Digital Cuckoo"
13. "Cover Your Garden Over"
14. "The Sparrow and the Thrush and the Nightingale "
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.
Miscellaneous writing credits
"Void" - appeared on the Sam Brown EP, Ukulele and Voice
