Occupation(s) Musician Name Dave Rowbotham | Years active 1977–1991 | |
 | ||
Also known as David Rowbotham, Cowboy Dave (posthumously) Associated acts Similar People The Durutti Column, The Mothmen, Tony Bowers, Chris Joyce, Bruce Mitchell | ||
Dave Rowbotham (1958 – 8 November 1991) was an English rock musician who played guitar and bass with various Manchester bands in the 1970s and the 1980s, and as studio musician.
Biography
Born in Didsbury, Manchester, England, 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. During the punk era, he, alongside drummer Chris Joyce, played in a band called Fast Breeder and was managed by Alan Erasmus, who later cofounded Factory Records with Tony Wilson. 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.
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 rejoined 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). By this time, he had also formed Motivation, along with ex-Buzzcocks bassist Steve Garvey.
By 1981 or early 1982, shortly before the release of One Black Dot, he left The Mothmen. After that and Motivation, he was played on sessions for Factory Records.
On 8 November 1991, Rowbotham was found dead at his Burnage flat. He had been murdered with a lathe hammer.
In his memory, the Madchester band Happy Mondays wrote a song called "Cowboy Dave", released on the album Yes Please!, in 1992.