History
The band was formed by vocalist David R. Edwards and instrumentalist T. Wyn Davies in 1982, with instrumentalist Patricia Morgan joining in 1984. Edwards' lyrics were almost entirely in the Welsh language. After four cassette-only releases on Casetiau Neon, the band had their first vinyl release in 1987 on Anhrefn Records, with the "Hwgr-Grawth-Og" single, which was picked up by John Peel and led to a session being recorded for his BBC Radio 1 show (the first of five such sessions). The band's first album, Wyau (Eggs), was released in 1988, and was followed two years later with Pyst (Posts) on the Ofn label. Davies left in 1990 and the group continued as a duo for a while, before being augmented by a series of musicians, notably drummer Al Edwards. Moving to Ankst Records, the Christmas-themed Blwch Tymer Tymor cassette was issued in 1991. Edwards collaborated with Tŷ Gwydr and Llwybr Llaethog on the 1992 album LL.LL v T.G. MC DRE, before releasing a final Datblygu album in 1993 with Libertino. After a single, "Alcohol"/"Amnesia" in 1995, the band split up.
In August 2008 a new 7" single 'Can y Mynach Modern' (The Song of the Modern Monk) was released. The song recounts (over its brief ninety seconds) the turmoil and madness that engulfed Edwards as the band fell apart in the mid nineties and the long road to recovery that resulted from the fallout. The track is intended as a full stop on their legacy rather than a brand new start.
Datblygu have been cited as a major influence on the generation of Welsh bands that followed, including Gorky's Zygotic Mynci and Super Furry Animals (who covered Datblygu's "Y Teimlad" on their Mwng album).
In a rare TV appearance, David featured on S4C documentary programme 'O Flaen dy Lygaid' in 2009, presented by Cardiff-based broadcaster and friend of Dave, Ali Yassine, which followed Dave and his battle to recover from mental illness. The programme also featured Datblygu band-member and former Pobol y Cwm actress Ree Davies, and her own battle against mental illness.
Read more about this topic: Datblygu
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“If man is reduced to being nothing but a character in history, he has no other choice but to subside into the sound and fury of a completely irrational history or to endow history with the form of human reason.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)
“They are a sort of post-house,where the Fates
Change horses, making history change its tune,
Then spur away o’er empires and o’er states,
Leaving at last not much besides chronology,
Excepting the post-obits of theology.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)
“I saw the Arab map.
It resembled a mare shuffling on,
dragging its history like saddlebags,
nearing its tomb and the pitch of hell.”
—Adonis [Ali Ahmed Said] (b. 1930)