| B i o g r a p h y |
David Rhodes
was born May 2, 1956 in London, England, the third of five children, to
Philip and Elizabeth, a doctor and a homemaker, respectively. Among his
early musical influences were his father, who played banjo ukulele, as
well as the Telstars and the Beatles.
David started playing guitar in his early teens, while he was listening
to a great deal of blues and jazz music, but put music aside to follow
other passions - namely rugby and the fine arts. At the age of 21, he
met up with David Ferguson after both attended an unsatisfying concert,
and the pair decided to break new musical ground by forming a band,
unhampered by the fact that neither of them had any particular musical
expertise. They started as an experimental performance group, which
evolved first into Manscheinen and later into Random Hold, where they
were joined by bassist Bill MacCormick, vocalist/guitarist Simon Ainley
and drummer Pete Phipps.
The Randoms achieved some early success, came to the attention of Peter
Gabriel and were subsequently invited to open for Gabriel on his 1980
U.S. tour. Soon after the tour, David left Random Hold, and has
continued to record and tour with Peter Gabriel ever since (a 25-year
collaboration).
In addition to his work with PG, David has produced albums with T-Bone
Burnett, Akira Inoue, Indio and Massimo DiCataldo. He composed the
soundtrack for the Italian animated film "La Gabbianella E Il Gatto".
David also collaborated with Peter Gabriel and Richard Evans on the
Golden Globe nominated soundtrack "The Long Walk Home", music from the
film "Rabbit Proof Fence". He has lent his distinctive guitar style to
albums by a wide variety of artists, including Roy Orbison, Paul
McCartney, Joan Armatrading and The Pretenders (see discography for
complete listing).
When not tending to his garden, David continues to work and tour with
Peter Gabriel (when last seen, they were Still Growing Up), and
participates in other varied and sundry musical projects.