Stuart Cable
Encyclopedia
Stuart Cable was a Welsh
rock
drummer
and broadcaster, best known as the original drummer for the band Stereophonics
.
on 19 May 1970. When he was 10, his father died. Thereafter, Cable and his elder brother, Paul, were raised by their mother Mabel (born 1930) on her own. Cable grew up in the close-knit village of Cwmaman
near Aberdare, He attended Blaengwawr Comprehensive School with his friend, Stereophonics singer-songwriter
and guitarist
Kelly Jones
, who also lived on the same street.
, the trio began playing covers in working men's club
s from 1992, under the title Tragic Love Company. The band later changed their name to The Stereophonics in 1996. He also played a number of notable gigs in his native Wales. Of particular note were the 12 June 1998 concert at Cardiff Castle
and the 31 July 1999 concert at the Morfa Stadium
in Swansea
, the latter shortly before the stadium was demolished. Both concerts were filmed live and released on VHS and DVD.
band NailBombs. During 1992, they recorded the E.P. "Raw Sex for Breakfast" at Sound Space Studios
in Cardiff
, on which Cable sang lead vocals. After Cable fully committed to the Stereophonics, he was replaced by ex-Rag Dolls frontman J.J.Cruz.
He had been the temporary drummer for hard rock
band Stone Gods
, which was formed by former members of The Darkness, filling in in 2008 for Ed Graham
who had left the band for health reasons.
Most recently, Cable had been drumming in his new Welsh band, Killing for Company, who were the first band to play the new Liberty Stadium
in Swansea
, supporting The Who
.
chat show, Cable TV, by BBC Wales
. He was sacked by the rest of the band in September 2003, because it was claimed he was spending too much time on his new media career at the expense of rehearsals. After that, he had another television series of his own, Cable Connects (2005) and had his own radio
show on BBC Radio Wales
: Cable Rock.
In 2005, Cable co-hosted the Kerrang!
Awards, and he also presented two shows on Kerrang! 105.2
: the 'Cable and Caroline Show' with Caroline Beavon on Sunday mornings and "The Rock 'n' Roll Years" on weekday mornings until 2010. In November 2007, he joined XFM South Wales and hosted weekend shows until the station was sold on 30 May 2008. After leaving Kerrang! Radio, in April 2010 Cable returned to BBC Radio Wales as the presenter of Saturday Night Cable, a show playing both old and new rock music. Cable interviewed Slash
from Guns and Roses as a presenter and was scheduled to interview his favourite band, AC/DC
, on the weekend following his death at the Download Festival
(where his new band were also scheduled to play).
, and partly lived in Abernant
, before moving to the neighbouring village of Llwydcoed
in a Tudor-style house. In 1999, he married Nicola in Bridgend
. Their son, Cian Damen, was born in 2001 in Cardiff. In 2003, he had an affair
with Welsh TV presenter Lisa Rogers
. Cable claims that it was differences between Rogers and Kelly Jones' partner Becka (Rebecca Walters) at the time which violently came to a head publicly at a restaurant in Paris
, eventually leading to his dismissal after he made a sarcastic joke about the incident the following day. Around 2003, Cable and his wife divorced. In April 2009 he had spoken out about being sacked from the Stereophonics and describes the moment they played in front of 80,000 people in Cardiff without him as "the darkest time of my entire life". He had said, "Until that point in my life, I had never ever considered something as stupid as suicide
, but that night I could really understand why people get depressed enough to do it." He patched up his differences with Kelly Jones in 2009 and at the time of his death they were in contact again.
Cable released his autobiography
in April 2009, entitled Demons and Cocktails - My Life with the Stereophonics. In his autobiography, he stated that he had been a hard drinker
and drug user
, particularly whisky
and cocaine
. Cable professed that fame had "turned him into a coke taking zombie" and that the other Stereophonics members strongly disapproved of it. According to Cable, who vowed to quit drink and drugs, "I moved back to my old village because if I didn't I'd have probably ended up dead or round the bend - or both". Cable claims that he was a close friend of Dirty Sanchez
star Matthew Pritchard
, with whom he would enjoy wild parties and drugs. Like former Stereophonics bandmate Richard Jones, Cable was also a motorcycle enthusiast and according to a neighbour was planning on a motorcycle tour of Spain.
Cable was outspoken about child safety and backed a campaign named 'Stuart’s Campaign', established following the death of Cowbridge
schoolboy Stuart Cunningham-Jones, who died aboard a school bus. He had said, "In this day and age every child should have the right to travel to and from school in absolute safety."
(near Aberdare
) at 5:30 am on 7 June 2010, aged 40. His death came just hours after the Stereophonics played in Cardiff. Cable was said to have been presenting on the radio at the same time that the Stereophonics were performing. Later that weekend, he began drinking at the local pub, the Welsh Harp Inn, where he left his car, and walked home with friends to continue partying at his house. On arriving home, he continued drinking and choked to death on his own vomit during his sleep. Cable is survived by one child, his brother and mother.
Cable's funeral was held at St. Elvan's Church in Aberdare on 21 June 2010.
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
and broadcaster, best known as the original drummer for the band Stereophonics
Stereophonics
The Stereophonics are a Welsh rock band now living in turners x that formed in 1992 in the village of Cwmaman in Cynon Valley, Wales. The band currently comprises lead vocalist and guitarist Kelly Jones, bassist and backing vocalist Richard Jones, drummer Javier Weyler, guitarist and backing...
.
Early life
Cable was born in AberdareAberdare
Aberdare is an industrial town in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Dare and Cynon. The population at the census was 31,705...
on 19 May 1970. When he was 10, his father died. Thereafter, Cable and his elder brother, Paul, were raised by their mother Mabel (born 1930) on her own. Cable grew up in the close-knit village of Cwmaman
Cwmaman
Cwmaman is a former coal mining pit village near Aberdare, South Wales. The name Cwmaman is Welsh language for "Aman Valley" . For postal purposes, it comes under Aberdare....
near Aberdare, He attended Blaengwawr Comprehensive School with his friend, Stereophonics singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
and guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
Kelly Jones
Kelly Jones
Kelly Jones is a Welsh singer-songwriter and guitarist and the lead singer of the band Stereophonics. Influenced by classic rock bands such as The Who, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC and the Sex Pistols, Jones is noted for his strong, gravelly voice, which has been described as "whisky" vocals...
, who also lived on the same street.
Stereophonics
Together with Kelly Jones' school friend Richard JonesRichard Jones (Stereophonics)
Richard Jones is the bassist and backing vocalist for the Welsh rock band Stereophonics, playing alongside Kelly Jones and Javier Weyler. Jones grew up in Cwmaman, an old mining village in South Wales...
, the trio began playing covers in working men's club
Working men's club
Working men's clubs are a type of private social club founded in the 19th century in industrial areas of the United Kingdom, particularly the North of England, the Midlands and many parts of the South Wales Valleys, to provide recreation and education for working class men and their families.-...
s from 1992, under the title Tragic Love Company. The band later changed their name to The Stereophonics in 1996. He also played a number of notable gigs in his native Wales. Of particular note were the 12 June 1998 concert at Cardiff Castle
Cardiff Castle
Cardiff Castle is a medieval castle and Victorian architecture Gothic revival mansion, transformed from a Norman keep erected over a Roman fort in the Castle Quarter of Cardiff, the capital of Wales. The Castle is a Grade I Listed Building.-The Roman fort:...
and the 31 July 1999 concert at the Morfa Stadium
Morfa Stadium
Morfa Stadium was an athletics stadium in the Landore area of Swansea, Wales. It has now been demolished and the land is occupied by the Morfa Retail Park and the Liberty Stadium, home of the city's football and rugby teams, which opened in 2005....
in Swansea
Swansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
, the latter shortly before the stadium was demolished. Both concerts were filmed live and released on VHS and DVD.
Other bands
Cable also played for other bands, including as a vocalist for RhonddaRhondda
Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley , is a former coal mining valley in Wales, formerly a local government district, consisting of 16 communities built around the River Rhondda. The valley is made up of two valleys, the larger Rhondda Fawr valley and the smaller Rhondda Fach valley...
band NailBombs. During 1992, they recorded the E.P. "Raw Sex for Breakfast" at Sound Space Studios
Sound Space Studios
Sound Space Studios is a recording studio and rehearsal facility located in Cardiff, Wales.The original Sound Space Studios existed in Cardiff in the early 1990s The Manic Street Preachers and Stuart Cable are among those to have used it, the former recording their third album The Holy Bible there...
in Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
, on which Cable sang lead vocals. After Cable fully committed to the Stereophonics, he was replaced by ex-Rag Dolls frontman J.J.Cruz.
He had been the temporary drummer for hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
band Stone Gods
Stone Gods
Stone Gods were a British hard rock / heavy metal band formed by ex-members of the then defunct UK hard rock band The Darkness. Their debut album, titled Silver Spoons & Broken Bones, was released on 7 July 2008, with the first single "Knight of the Living Dead" being released on 23 June 2008...
, which was formed by former members of The Darkness, filling in in 2008 for Ed Graham
Ed Graham
Edwin James "Ed" Graham is an English musician who is best known as the drummer of rock band The Darkness, as well as the subsequent successor band Stone Gods, before officially leaving in 2008 due to a physical inability to perform.Graham is one of four children and as a youth, he attended...
who had left the band for health reasons.
Most recently, Cable had been drumming in his new Welsh band, Killing for Company, who were the first band to play the new Liberty Stadium
Liberty Stadium, Swansea
The Liberty Stadium is a purpose-built sports stadium and conferencing venue in the Landore area of Swansea, Wales. The stadium is all-seated, with a capacity of 20,532 making it the largest purpose-built venue in Swansea and the third largest stadium in Wales after the Millennium Stadium and the...
in Swansea
Swansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
, supporting The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
.
Media career
In 2002, Cable was given his own TVTelevision
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
chat show, Cable TV, by BBC Wales
BBC Wales
BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the British Broadcasting Corporation for Wales. Based at Broadcasting House in the Llandaff area of Cardiff, it directly employs over 1200 people, and produces a broad range of television, radio and online services in both the Welsh and English languages.Outside...
. He was sacked by the rest of the band in September 2003, because it was claimed he was spending too much time on his new media career at the expense of rehearsals. After that, he had another television series of his own, Cable Connects (2005) and had his own radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
show on BBC Radio Wales
BBC Radio Wales
BBC Radio Wales is the BBC's national radio station broadcasting to Wales in the English language. Operated by BBC Wales, it began broadcasting on 12 November 1978 following the demise of the old "Radio 4 Wales" when BBC Radio 4 became a national network and moved from medium wave to long wave...
: Cable Rock.
In 2005, Cable co-hosted the Kerrang!
Kerrang!
Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper...
Awards, and he also presented two shows on Kerrang! 105.2
Kerrang! 105.2
Kerrang! Radio is a specialist rock music radio station broadcasting to the West Midlands, England. The station's format mixes modern & classic rock with speech programmes targeted at young people and an adult rock audience. Broadcasting on FM in the West Midlands and DAB & Freeview and online,...
: the 'Cable and Caroline Show' with Caroline Beavon on Sunday mornings and "The Rock 'n' Roll Years" on weekday mornings until 2010. In November 2007, he joined XFM South Wales and hosted weekend shows until the station was sold on 30 May 2008. After leaving Kerrang! Radio, in April 2010 Cable returned to BBC Radio Wales as the presenter of Saturday Night Cable, a show playing both old and new rock music. Cable interviewed Slash
Slash (musician)
Saul Hudson , known by his stage name Slash, is a British-American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During his later years with Guns N'...
from Guns and Roses as a presenter and was scheduled to interview his favourite band, AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...
, on the weekend following his death at the Download Festival
Download Festival
The Download Festival is a three day rock music festival held annually at Donington Park, England . It usually takes place in June...
(where his new band were also scheduled to play).
Personal life
Cable owned a flat in Cardiff BayCardiff Bay
Cardiff Bay is the area created by the Cardiff Barrage in South Cardiff, the capital of Wales. The regeneration of Cardiff Bay is now widely regarded as one of the most successful regeneration projects in the United Kingdom. The Bay is supplied by two rivers to form a freshwater lake round the...
, and partly lived in Abernant
Abernant, Rhondda Cynon Taf
Abernant situated in the Cynon Valley in the South Wales Valleys is a former coal mining village on the northeastern suburbs of Aberdare, in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales.-History:...
, before moving to the neighbouring village of Llwydcoed
Llwydcoed
Llwydcoed is a village in the Northern end of the Cynon Valley near the town Aberdare, in Rhondda Cynon Taf, south Wales.-History:Initial development of the village was based around the Tregibbon area, where in 1801 workers' housing was built by Thomas ap Shencin ap Gibbon of Fforchaman Farm....
in a Tudor-style house. In 1999, he married Nicola in Bridgend
Bridgend
Bridgend is a town in the Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of the capital, Cardiff. The river crossed by the original bridge, which gave the town its name, is the River Ogmore but the River Ewenny also passes to the south of the town...
. Their son, Cian Damen, was born in 2001 in Cardiff. In 2003, he had an affair
Affair
Affair may refer to professional, personal, or public business matters or to a particular business or private activity of a temporary duration, as in family affair, a private affair, or a romantic affair.-Political affair:...
with Welsh TV presenter Lisa Rogers
Lisa Rogers
Lisa Rogers is a Welsh television presenter and occasional actress. She has appeared in films, television programmes, theatre and radio.-Early life:...
. Cable claims that it was differences between Rogers and Kelly Jones' partner Becka (Rebecca Walters) at the time which violently came to a head publicly at a restaurant in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, eventually leading to his dismissal after he made a sarcastic joke about the incident the following day. Around 2003, Cable and his wife divorced. In April 2009 he had spoken out about being sacked from the Stereophonics and describes the moment they played in front of 80,000 people in Cardiff without him as "the darkest time of my entire life". He had said, "Until that point in my life, I had never ever considered something as stupid as suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
, but that night I could really understand why people get depressed enough to do it." He patched up his differences with Kelly Jones in 2009 and at the time of his death they were in contact again.
Cable released his autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
in April 2009, entitled Demons and Cocktails - My Life with the Stereophonics. In his autobiography, he stated that he had been a hard drinker
Alcoholic beverage
An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...
and drug user
Substance abuse
A substance-related disorder is an umbrella term used to describe several different conditions associated with several different substances .A substance related disorder is a condition in which an individual uses or abuses a...
, particularly whisky
Whisky
Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Different grains are used for different varieties, including barley, malted barley, rye, malted rye, wheat, and corn...
and cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
. Cable professed that fame had "turned him into a coke taking zombie" and that the other Stereophonics members strongly disapproved of it. According to Cable, who vowed to quit drink and drugs, "I moved back to my old village because if I didn't I'd have probably ended up dead or round the bend - or both". Cable claims that he was a close friend of Dirty Sanchez
Dirty Sanchez
Dirty Sanchez is commonly mistaken to be an act where the faecal matter it purposefully smeared onto a partner's upper lip. The term 'dirty sanchez' originated in the porn industry, particularly films involving ass to mouth action. It describes the Dirty Sanchez is commonly mistaken to be an act...
star Matthew Pritchard
Matthew Pritchard
Mathew Pryderi Pritchard , is a Welsh professional skateboarder, daredevil and one quarter of the Dirty Sanchez crew, who have their own television programme on MTV and also appears on Balls of Steel with Pancho as the Pain Men.-Dirty Sanchez:Pritchard is often seen as the founder of Dirty Sanchez,...
, with whom he would enjoy wild parties and drugs. Like former Stereophonics bandmate Richard Jones, Cable was also a motorcycle enthusiast and according to a neighbour was planning on a motorcycle tour of Spain.
Cable was outspoken about child safety and backed a campaign named 'Stuart’s Campaign', established following the death of Cowbridge
Cowbridge
Cowbridge is a market town in the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales, approximately west of Cardiff. Cowbridge is twinned with Clisson in the Loire-Atlantique department in northwestern France.-Roman times:...
schoolboy Stuart Cunningham-Jones, who died aboard a school bus. He had said, "In this day and age every child should have the right to travel to and from school in absolute safety."
Death
Cable was found dead at his home in LlwydcoedLlwydcoed
Llwydcoed is a village in the Northern end of the Cynon Valley near the town Aberdare, in Rhondda Cynon Taf, south Wales.-History:Initial development of the village was based around the Tregibbon area, where in 1801 workers' housing was built by Thomas ap Shencin ap Gibbon of Fforchaman Farm....
(near Aberdare
Aberdare
Aberdare is an industrial town in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Dare and Cynon. The population at the census was 31,705...
) at 5:30 am on 7 June 2010, aged 40. His death came just hours after the Stereophonics played in Cardiff. Cable was said to have been presenting on the radio at the same time that the Stereophonics were performing. Later that weekend, he began drinking at the local pub, the Welsh Harp Inn, where he left his car, and walked home with friends to continue partying at his house. On arriving home, he continued drinking and choked to death on his own vomit during his sleep. Cable is survived by one child, his brother and mother.
Cable's funeral was held at St. Elvan's Church in Aberdare on 21 June 2010.