Dave Edmunds

David William Edmunds (born 15 April 1944) is a Welsh retired singer, songwriter, guitarist and record producer. He is mainly associated with pub rock and new wave, having produced hits in these genres during the 1970s and early 1980s. Edmunds spent the 1980s collaborating with and producing an assortment of artists, including Paul McCartney, King Kurt, Stray Cats, Fabulous Thunderbirds, and Status Quo. His 1983 release, Information produced a US Top 40 hit with "Slipping Away". It was followed in 1984 by the album Riff Raff.

Edmunds recorded less frequently after the mid-1980s. In 2013, he released a compilation album "...Again" followed, in 2015, with an instrumental album On Guitar... Dave Edmunds: Rags & Classics. After playing a final show in July 2017, he was reported to have retired from the music business.

Career Early life Edmunds was born 15 April 1944 in Cardiff, Wales. The first group that Edmunds fronted was the Cardiff-based 1950s style rockabilly trio the Raiders formed in 1961, along with Brian 'Rockhouse' Davies on bass (born 15 January 1943, Cardiff) and Ken Collier on drums. Edmunds was the only constant member of the group, which later included bassist Mick Still, Bob 'Congo' Jones on drums (b. 13 August 1946, Barry, South Wales) and John Williams (stage name John David) on bass. The Raiders worked almost exclusively in the South Wales area.

In 1966, after a short spell in a Parlophone recording band called the Image (1965–1966) with local drummer Tommy Riley, Edmunds shifted to a more blues-rock sound, reuniting with Congo Jones and bassist John Williams and adding second guitarist Mickey Gee to form the short-lived Human Beans, a band that played mostly in London and on the UK university circuit. In 1967, the band recorded a cover of "Morning Dew" on the British Columbia label that failed to have any chart impact. After just eighteen months, the core of Human Beans formed a new band called Love Sculpture that again reinstated Edmunds, Jones and Williams as a trio. Love Sculpture released their debut single "River to Another Day" in 1968. Their second single was a quasi-novelty Top 5, a reworking of Khachaturian's classical piece "Sabre Dance" as a speed-crazed rock number, inspired by Keith Emerson's classical rearrangements. "Sabre Dance" became a hit after garnering the enthusiastic attention of British DJ John Peel, who was so impressed that he played it twice in one programme on "Top Gear". a Smiley Lewis cover, which he came across while producing Shakin' Stevens and the Sunsets' first album titled A Legend. The recording was the first release on Edmunds' manager's MAM Records label. This single also reached No. 4 in the US, making it Edmunds' biggest hit by far on either side of the Atlantic Ocean. It sold more than three million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. Edmunds had intended to record Wilbert Harrison's "Let's Work Together", but when he was beaten to that song by Canned Heat, he adapted the arrangement he intended to use for it to "I Hear You Knocking". The success of the single caused EMI's Regal Zonophone Records to use an option that it had to claim Edmunds' album, 1972's Rockpile, and the momentum from the single's success on a different label went away.

Edmunds' only acting role followed, as a band member in the David Essex movie Stardust. After learning the trade of producer, culminating in a couple of singles in the style of Phil Spector, "Baby I Love You" (No. 8 in the chart) and "Born to Be with You" (No. 5 in the chart), he became linked with the pub rock movement of the early 1970s, producing (among others) Brinsley Schwarz, Ducks Deluxe, Flamin' Groovies, and blues rock band Foghat, using a stripped down, grittier sound.

Edmunds had bought a house in Rockfield, Monmouth, a few miles away from Charles and Kingsley Ward's Rockfield Studios, where he became an almost permanent fixture for the next twenty years. His working regimen involved arriving at the studio in the early evening and working until well after dawn, usually locked in the building alone. Applying the layered Spector Wall of Sound to his own productions, it was not unusual for Edmunds to multilayer up to forty separately recorded guitar tracks into the mix.

Rockpile and other collaborations

His own solo LP from 1975, Subtle as a Flying Mallet, was similar in style. The Brinsley Schwarz connection brought about a collaboration with Nick Lowe starting with this album, and in 1976 they formed the group Rockpile, with Billy Bremner and Terry Williams.

1990 onwards

Edmunds recorded less frequently after the mid-1980s, living in Wales in semi-retirement but occasionally touring. He joined up with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band for tours in 1992 and 2000. However, 2007 marked a return to touring for Edmunds alongside Joe Brown on a lengthy UK tour. He made an appearance on stage alongside Stray Cats at the Brixton Academy in London on 10 September 2008, playing "The Race Is On" and "Tear It Up" with the band.

In 1993 Edmunds was in Cardiff Crown Court as a co-defendant along with Shakin' Stevens facing charges of non-payment of playing royalties from former Sunsets' band members Robert Llewellyn, Carl Petersen, Steve Percy, and Paul Dolan. The prosecution asserted that the former band members were due a share of additional royalties that Stevens and Edmunds had received from the successful reissue of the album A Legend during the early 1980s. The judge agreed. While the unpaid royalties only amounted to around £70,000 to be divided among the four musicians, the associated court costs to be paid by Stevens and Edmunds amounted to £500,000.

On New Year's Eve 2008, he appeared on Jools' Annual Hootenanny, performing "Girls Talk" and "I Hear You Knocking". He was Holland's guest again at Borde Hill Garden on 20 June 2009, on 28 August at an open-air concert at Carrickfergus Castle, on 31 October at Ipswich Regent, on 7 November at Stoke Victoria Hall and on 14 November at Nottingham Concert Hall. Edmunds also played a five-song set, including "I Hear You Knocking," "I Knew the Bride" and "Sabre Dance" with the Holland Big Band at the Royal Albert Hall on 27 November 2009.

He returned and performed "Sabre Dance" on Jools' Annual Hootenanny on the 2009/10 edition. An album release on 19 November 2013 called ...Again, featured recordings from the 1990s plus four new tracks. This was Edmunds' first release in almost 20 years, with the title track released as a digital download single. In 2015, Edmunds released his first instrumental album On Guitar... Dave Edmunds: Rags & Classics, which featured instrumental covers of classic songs, such as The Beach Boys' "God Only Knows" and Elton John's "Your Song". The album was Edmunds' final album, and after playing a final show in July 2017, he was reported to have retired from the music business.

Personal life In July 2025, Edmunds experienced a major cardiac arrest before being revived with CPR according to his wife Cici Edmunds. He has since recovered.

Selected discography Studio albums with Love Sculpture: Blues Helping (December 1968) Forms and Feelings (January 1970)

with Rockpile: Seconds of Pleasure (October 1980)

as Dave Edmunds: Year Album Peak chart positions Certifications UK NZ 1972 Rockpile — — — — 1975 Subtle as a Flying Mallet — — — — 1977 Get It — — 42 — 1978 Tracks on Wax 4 — — 17 — 1979 Repeat When Necessary 39 54 17 45 BPI: Silver CAN US IRL NLD NOR SWE 1968"Sabre Dance" (with Love Sculpture) 5 — — — x — — — — — 1970"I Hear You Knocking" 1 4 3 4 x 1 4 4 — 3 RIAA: Gold 1971"I'm Comin' Home" 52 — 36 75 x — — — — —"Blue Monday" — — — 104 x — — — — — 1972"The Promised Land" — 5 — — x — — — — —1973"Baby I Love You" 8 48 — — x 6 — — — —"Born to Be With You" 5 96 — — x 11 2 7 — — 1976"Here Comes the Weekend" — — — — x — 28 — — — "Where or When" — — — — x — — — — —1977"JuJu Man" — — — — x — — — — —"I Knew the Bride" 26 32 — — x — — — — —"Get Out of Denver" (US only) — — — — x — — — — — 1978"Deborah" — — — — x — — — — —"Television" — — — — x — — — — —1979"A1 on the Jukebox" — — — — x — — — — —"Girls Talk" 4 9 18 65 x 11 24 — — 23 BPI: Silver "Queen of Hearts" 11 59 — — x 12 — — — —"Crawling from the Wreckage" 59 — — — x — — — — —1980"Teacher, Teacher" (by Rockpile) — 83 31 51 x — — — — — "Singing the Blues" 28 67 — — x 19 — — 7 —1981"Almost Saturday Night" 58 — — 54 18 — — — 15 —"The Race Is On" (with Stray Cats) 34 — — — — 17 — — — —1982"From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)" — — — — 28 — — — 15 — "Me and the Boys" — — — — 47 — — — — — "Run Rudolph Run" — — — — — — — — — — 1983"Slipping Away" 60 — — 39 7 — 47 — — —"Information" — — — 106 — — — — — — 1984"Something About You" — — — — 16 — — — — — 1985"High School Nights" — — — 91 — — — — — — 1987"The Wanderer" (live) — — — — 35 — — — — —1990"Closer to the Flame" — — 86 — 38 — — — — —"King of Love" 68 — — — — — — — — — "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. "x" denotes that the chart did not exist at the time.

Music videos