Guitarist and bassist Dave Rowbotham was something of a fixture in the iconic music scene of Manchester, England in the 1970s and 1980s. A free-spirited, bohemian individual, he started out playing rhythm guitar in a cover band called Flashback, and later formed a punk band called Fast Breeder, which was managed by Alan Erasmus, famous for co-founding Factory Records with Tony Wilson.
In 1978, Dave joined perhaps his highest-profile outfit, post-punk band The Durutti Column, and after their collapse, formed a band called The Mothmen. He would also later co-found the group Motivation with Buzzcocks bassist Steve Garvey.
Dave Rowbotham worked off and on as a studio musician in the mid to late 1980s, and did other odd jobs to make ends meet. He also struggled with drug addiction during this period. On November 2nd, 1991, however, his life came to a horrific end. His girlfriend entered his flat in Burnage and found him dead on the floor in a huge puddle of blood. Forensic examination suggested he had been bludgeoned to death with an axe or a plasterer’s hammer.
The murder remains unsolved. In 1992, Manchester legends The Happy Mondays released a song in his honor called “Cowboy Dave” on their Yes Please! album, and in 2018, filmmaker Colin O’Toole won a BAFTA for his short film, also called Cowboy Dave, proving that the murder mystery is still a source of fascination for the people of Manchester.
Crime Immemorial 