Brothers in Arms
Rod De'Ath
Position: Drummer
Joined: 1972
Left: 1978
First album played on: "Blueprint", 1973
Last album played on: "Calling card", 1976
Born: 1950
The strange thing is, that actually is his name! You'd think it would be made up: sounds like something a heavy metal drummer would concoct to sound cool, doesn't it? But the story of Rod De'ath is stranger even than his name. Joining Rory as a temporary drummer in 1973 to replace the departing Wilgar Campbell, he ended up being signed permanently and was one of the mainstays of Rory's music through the seventies. When he left the band in 1978 he joined a band called Ramrod and then later moved to the US. When he returned to Europe in the mid eighties many strange stories circulated about him, some of them claiming he had died. His non-appearance at Rory's funeral seemed to prove that to many people: if Rod were alive, considering the times they had had together, surely he would have been there to pay his respects to his friend?
But it turned out that De'Ath was alive. He had apparently fallen down a flight of steps while running to catch a train, in the process injuring himself so badly that he ended up losing the sight of one eye and also hitting his head so hard that he had brain damage. He was given a maximum of four years to live, but is still around today, having beaten the odds. His eyesight returned mostly, but he was never again able to play. He cleared up the mystery about his missing the funeral in an interview in "Classic Rock" magazine only last year, when he explained that when he had been told by the doctors he had only four years at best left to live, he withdrew from public life, as he had been away for some time already and did not want to reacquaint himself with friends, only to tell them he wouldn't be around in a few years. He was afraid therefore that if anyone he knew saw him at Rory's funeral it would shock them and cause too much consternation, and perhaps detract from the importance and solemnity of the occasion. He did however attend a later memorial service for Rory, squashing once and for all the rumours of his death, and also was present at the funeral of both Rory's and his bandmate Lou Martin when he died in August last year.
Surely then, Rod De'Ath is one person who can confidently and accurately state: rumours of my death have been wildly exaggerated!