An innovative Kent songwriter whose music propelled his band to the top of the charts has died.
David Cousins, who was the long-time leader of rock band the Strawbs, died peacefully at the Pilgrims Hospice in Canterbury on July 13.
He co-founded the Strawberry Hill Boys with Tony Hooper in 1963 – they then became the Strawbs in 1967 and released their first album in 1969.
Over 60 years, the band saw many musicians come and go, with David being the only constant.
The Sandgate resident also released a series of solo and collaborative albums with other artists between 1972 and 2015.
In a touching tribute, his family said: “Although he was known for most of his career as Dave Cousins, in later life he preferred to be called David.
“He died on July 13 at age 85 and is survived by a half-sister and five children.
“The final words should come from David himself, taken from his masterpiece solo album, Two Weeks Last Summer.
“‘Sad it is, but that’s the way it ends.’”
He was born at St Giles Hospital in South London on January 7, 1940, as David Joseph Hindson, and was the only son to Joseph Hindson and Violet Irene Luck.
His father was killed in action in the first year of the Second World War when he was seven months old.
When he was six, his mother married Jack Cousins, and his surname was changed to that of his stepfather.
David attended Thames Valley Grammar School in Twickenham, where he met future Strawbs member, Tony Hooper, on his first day.
After finishing school, he created a skiffle group with Tony and two friends called the Gin Bottle Four.
He attended the University of Leicester, where he studied for a general degree, majoring in mathematics and statistics.
He was heavily involved in the student music scene at the university, and he founded the University Folk Society in addition to being President of the jazz club – which ran in the basement of the students’ union building.
When he was 22, he took on the responsibility of supporting his family once his stepfather died.
After graduating from university, he worked in furniture delivery and then in meat production before being employed at Greenly’s Advertising.
He then became media manager of the Preprint and Publishing Company before setting up his own company, Centreplan – acting as a local press booking facility for advertising agencies.
The Strawberry Hill Boys had their first appearance on BBC radio in June 1963 in a line-up that included the Beatles.
Shortly after, the band supported the Rolling Stones at the Eel Pie Island Club.
In 1965, the Strawberry Hill Boys released an album with Steve Benbow called The Songs of Ireland.
At around the same time, David opened his own folk club at the White Bear in Hounslow.
In 1966, he embarked upon a solo tour of Denmark and supported the Who on TV.
He became a producer for Danmarks Radio and continued in this role until 1972 when his work with the Strawbs forced him to step temporarily away from radio to become a “full-time rock star”.
David returned to Denmark in 1967 to record All Our Own Work with Sandy Denny and the Strawbs.
However, the album was shelved until it finally appeared in 1973 at the height of the band’s fame.
The Strawbs released their own record, Oh How She Changed, in 1968, which persuaded American label A&M to sign their first British band. This led to the release of the band’s debut album in 1969.
At the same time, David was also working as a session player with artists such as Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Mary Travers, Mary Hopkin, the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem.
David was still running his advertising company and the folk club, and had also become a music promoter, launching the Hounslow Arts Lab while continuing in his role as a radio producer.
Following the release of their second album, Dragonfly in 1970, Rick Wakeman, joined the band but left after releasing two albums.
The band released the album Grave New World in 1972, which was a Number 11 hit and sold over 94,000 copies in the UK.
David released his first solo album, Two Weeks Last Summer, later that year. He also toured the USA and Canada with the Strawbs for the first time in 1972.
The band released several more records, including Bursting at the Seams, Part of the Union, Hero and Heroine, and Ghosts – with the band also touring North America and performing in Japan.
The band’s management split with A&M and released another album, Nomadness, in 1975 before putting out several more albums.
The recorded another album called Heartbreak Hill in 1978, but it was not released for 17 years.
During 1979, David toured with Brian Willoughby, releasing an album entitled Old School Songs that year.
The band fell apart in early 1980 as David resigned from the Strawbs.
In 1980, he was appointed as programme controller at Radio Tees, which he left in 1983 to join DevonAir Radio as station controller – where he later became managing director.
He played a major role in a merger between DevonAir and Capital Radio, which led to him becoming a senior executive, where he worked with Richard Attenborough, the chairman of the board at the time.
In 1996, David played a leading role in winning the last available London FM licence for a radio station called Xfm, which started broadcasting the following year.
In 1999, he launched a new radio station called Radio Victory, becoming chairman of the board. Six weeks after the establishment of the station, it was sold for £3.1M.
Throughout his 20 years in the radio business, he had occasionally performed in reincarnations of the Strawbs and as a solo artist.
He formed Witchwood Media and employed the label to release a long line of Strawbs albums, together with his own solo and collaborative projects.
The Strawbs’ 50th anniversary was celebrated with a three-day event in Lakewood, New Jersey in 2019. The most recent albums were released on the Cherry Red Records label, including The Magic of it All in 2023.
David continued to write and record new songs right up until the end of his life.
Towards the end of his career, he received significant awards and recognition for his outstanding contribution to music and radio.
In 2020, David was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Alumni Association of the University of Leicester and, three years later, the university awarded him the honorary degree of Doctor of Music.
He recently gave two lectures at Bangor University, sharing his “wisdom, humour, experience and expertise”.
David’s last concert with the Strawbs was at the Cropredy Festival in August 2023.
His final public performance was during a visit to Bangor University on March 21 this year.
Chairman of Sandgate Parish Council Tim Prater said: “He will be much missed, not just by his partner Marianne, and his friends and neighbours in Sandgate, but by his admirers across the world who have known and loved his music over decades.”
