David Rotheray - Overview

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.

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 of joining The Beautiful South playing guitar. Rotheray had known Heaton for several years, as they both lived in Grafton Street in Hull.

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