Dave Rowbotham
{{Short description|British musician (1958–1991)}}
{{FOR|the Australian poet|David Rowbotham}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Dave Rowbotham
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| alias = David Rowbotham
{{nowrap|Cowboy Dave (posthumously)}}
| birth_date = 1958
| birth_place = Didsbury, Manchester, England
| death_date = 8 November 1991 (aged 33)
| death_place = Burnage, Manchester, England
| instrument = Guitar, bass guitar
| genre = Punk rock, post-punk, new wave, alternative rock
| occupation = Musician
| years_active = 1977–1991
| label = Factory Records
| associated_acts = Fast Breeder, The Durutti Column, The Mothmen, Pauline Murray And The Invisible Girls, Motivation
| website =
}}
Dave Rowbotham (1958 – 8 November 1991){{cite book|author=Simmonds, Jeremy|title=The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars|publisher=Chicago Reviews Press|date= 2008|isbn =978-1-55652-754-8|page=279|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bMBf3TYZigQC&pg=PA280}} was an English rock musician who played guitar and bass with various Manchester bands in the 1970s and the 1980s, and as a studio musician.
Biography
Born in Didsbury, Manchester, he went to school at Elm Grove Primary School and then Parrswood High School. He left school to train as an electrician and in 1970 he started playing rhythm guitar with his pals in a four piece rock cover band called Flashback. He later adopted the hippie lifestyle.{{cite web|url=http://www.thedurutticolumn.com/the_durutti_column_biography_1978-1991.html|title=The Durutti Column Biography 1978–1991 by Mark Prendergast|accessdate=21 September 2014|archive-date=20 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150120123550/http://www.thedurutticolumn.com/the_durutti_column_biography_1978-1991.html|url-status=dead}} During the punk era, he, alongside drummer Chris Joyce, played in a band called Fast Breeder and was managed by Alan Erasmus, who later co-founded Factory Records with Tony Wilson.{{cite web|url=http://www.boredteenagers.co.uk/FAST%20BREEDER%20(2).htm|title=Fast Breeder|publisher=Boredteenagers.com|accessdate=21 September 2014}} In 1978, the pair, alongside Alberto Y Lost Trios Paranoias bassist Tony Bowers, singer Phil Rainford (replaced after months by Colin Sharp), and former Nosebleeds guitarist Vini Reilly, founded the post-punk band The Durutti Column. {{citation needed|date=March 2013}}
However, the five-piece line-up did not last long, and after releasing A Factory Sample, a compilation by various artists which contained two of their songs, Rowbotham, alongside Sharp, Bowers, and Joyce, left Reilly. Rowbotham and the latter two formed The Mothmen. During the early days of The Mothmen, he also re-joined Reilly in Pauline Murray and the Invisible Girls, with then ex-Penetration vocalist Pauline Murray, playing on their eponymous album. With The Mothmen, he released two albums, Pay Attention (On-U Sound, 1981) and One Black Dot (1982).{{cite book|author=Simmonds, Jeremy|title=The Enciclopedia of Dead Rock Stars|publisher=Chicago Reviews Press|date=2008|isbn=978-1-55652-754-8|pages=279–280}} By this time, he had also formed Motivation, along with ex-Buzzcocks bassist Steve Garvey.{{cite web|url=http://www.mdmarchive.co.uk/archive/showartefact.php?bid=683|title=Manchesyer District Music Archive|work=MANCHESTER DISTRICT MUSIC ARCHIVE|accessdate=21 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726160039/http://www.mdmarchive.co.uk/archive/showartefact.php?bid=683|archive-date=26 July 2011|url-status=dead}}
By 1981 or early 1982, shortly before the release of One Black Dot, he left The Mothmen. After that and Motivation, he played on sessions for Factory Records.{{citation needed|date=March 2013}}
On 2 November 1991, Rowbotham's girlfriend found him dead in his flat on Grangethorpe Drive in Burnage. He was lying on the living room floor in a pool of blood, and had been murdered with a plasterer's hammer. No one has yet been convicted of his murder.{{Cite news|url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/cowboy-dave-film-colin-otoole-14328430|title=The Madchester Murder Mystery that inspired an award-winning film|last=Abbit|first=Beth|date=26 February 2018|work=Manchester Evening News Online|access-date=10 March 2018}}
In his memory, the Madchester band Happy Mondays wrote a song called "Cowboy Dave", released on the album Yes Please!, in 1992.
The film Cowboy Dave, about Rowbotham's life, won a BAFTA in 2018.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110726160039/http://www.mdmarchive.co.uk/archive/showartefact.php?bid=683 A bit information about Motivation, another Rowbotham band]
{{The Invisible Girls}}
{{Murders in the United Kingdom in the 1990s}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowbotham, Dave}}
Category:1991 murders in the United Kingdom
Category:English rock bass guitarists
Category:British male bass guitarists
Category:English male guitarists
Category:Musicians from Manchester
Category:The Durutti Column members
Category:British post-punk musicians
Category:20th-century English musicians
Category:20th-century English bass guitarists
Category:English murder victims
Category:People murdered in Manchester
Category:Unsolved murders in England