Stuart Cable [1][2][3] was a Welsh rock drummer and broadcaster, best known as the original drummer for the band Stereophonics. | (19 May 1970 – 7 June 2010) |
Cable was born in Aberdare on May 19, 1970. When he was 10, his father died. Thereafter, Cable and his elder[4] brother, Paul, were raised by their mother Mabel (born 1930) on her own.[1] Cable grew up in the close-knit village of Cwmaman near Aberdare,[5] He attended Blaengwawr Comprehensive School with his friend, Stereophonics singer-songwriter and guitarist Kelly Jones, who also lived on the same street.[6]Together with Kelly Jones' school friend Richard Jones, the trio began playing covers in working men's clubs from 1992, under the title Tragic Love Company. The band later changed their name to The Stereophonics after Kelly, searching for a different name, saw the word on a Falcon stereophonic gramophone in Cable's brother's bedroom which belonged to their father.[7] Dropping the "The" from their name, they were the first artists signed to newly formed record label V2, created by Sir Richard Branson.[8]
As part of the Stereophonics, Cable toured the world. He also played a number of notable gigs in his native Wales. Of particular note is the 12 June 1998 concert at Cardiff Castle and the 31 July 1999 concert at the Morfa Stadium in Swansea, shortly before the stadium was demolished. Both concerts were filmed live and released on VHS and DVD.
Cable also played for other bands, including as a vocalist for Rhondda 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 [9], who were the first band to play the new Liberty Stadium in Swansea, supporting The Who.[8][10]
In 2002, Cable was given his own TV chat show, Cable TV, by BBC Wales. He was sacked by the rest of the band in September 2003,[11] because it was claimed he was spending too much time on his new media career at the expense of rehearsals.[12][8] 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.[13]In 2005, Cable co-hosted the Kerrang! Awards,[14] 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.[15] 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).[16]
Cable owned a flat in Cardiff Bay, and partly lived in Abernant, before moving to the neighbouring village of Llwydcoed in a Tudor-style house.[17] In 1999, he married Nicola[4] in Bridgend. Their son, Cian Damen, was born in 2001 in Cardiff.[18] In 2003 he had an affair with Welsh TV presenter Lisa Rogers.[19] Cable claims that it was differences between Rogers and Kelly Jones' partner Becka (Rebecca Walters) at the time which violently came to a head publically at a restaurant in Paris, eventually leading to his dismissal after he made a sarcastic joke about the incident the following day.[20] Around 2003, Cable and his wife divorced.[4] 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".[20] 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."[20]He patched up his differences with Kelly Jones in 2009 and at the time of his death were in regular contact again.[6]
Cable released his autobiography in April 2009, entitled Demons and Cocktails - My Life with the Stereophonics.[21] In his autobiography, he stated that he was the son of Vince Cable and that he had been a hard drinker and drug user, particularly whisky and cocaine.[11] Cable professed that fame had "turned him into a coke taking zombie" and that the other Stereophonics members strongly disapproved of it.[11] 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".[11] Cable claims that he was a close friend of Dirty Sanchez star Matthew Pritchard, with whom he would enjoy wild parties and drugs.[20] 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.[22][6]
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."[23]
Cable was found dead at his home in Llwydcoed (near Aberdare) at 5:30 am on 7 June 2010, aged 40.[1][2] His death came just hours after the Stereophonics played in Cardiff.[24] Cable was said to have been presenting on the radio at the same time that the Stereophonics were performing.[17] 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.[25] On arriving home, he continued drinking and has been reported by friends to have choked to death on his own vomit during his sleep.[17] However, a post mortem is yet to be conducted to officially determine the exact cause of death.[17][25] South Wales Police had previously ruled out any suspicious circumstances being involved in the death.[3] His death came in the week that his new band Killing for Company released a new album and were set to play in front of 100,000 at the Download Festival the following weekend.[6] Cable is survived by his two children,[11] his brother and mother.[1]
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