Duncan C. Faure

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Duncan C. Faure was born in Pretoria, South Africa on December 16, 1956, the youngest of three boys.  As a student, he was not particularly interested in school but did persist in finishing high school to please his parents.  By this time he had already made up his mind to be a musician.  Playing guitar since the age of 7 and piano at age 12, he had his first professional gig by age 11.   By the time he was 15, he had become a certified guitar teacher. When the 70s hit, Duncan had already signed a solo record deal with Jo'burg Records, recording the single “When You’re Without Her / Ballad Of A Human Being”.  

He was asked to join Rabbitt after Trevor Rabin, Ronnie Robot and producer Patric Van Blerk attended one of his solo performances.  Within a day or two, he had replaced already departed Rabbitt member Selwyn Schneider.  Shortly thereafter, Rabbitt became the most popular rock band in South Africa creating mass hysteria similar to the Beatles at their peak wherever they played.  Two fantastic albums were released and overseas tours were planned, however; with a strong desire to branch out on his own, Trevor Rabin decided to quit thus leaving the remaining 3 members to carry on.  During this time, Faure's contribution to the band really began to shine.  Writing in what has often been called the 'Lennon influence' (due to his incredible love for Lennon and the Beatles), he wrote a number of songs, 10 of which were chosen to be on their final album "Rock Rabbitt".  The album earned them another gold record - a very high achievement due to their loss of their front man who was not replaced. Instead, Duncan readily took over the lead vocals and songwriting producing an album that showcased his and the others'  extraordinary talents. The group was still VERY popular and had an enormous following, but the continuing pressures on the band caused the group to break up for good in 1978.

Duncan then moved to Los Angeles, California where his oldest brother, Bill, worked as a producer.  Working as a session musician to  pay the bills,  he heard rumors that the group, the Bay City Rollers, were looking for someone to replace their already departed lead singer, Leslie McKeown.  Duncan had tapes of his work sent to the Roller management at Arista Records by his agent in the hope of filling the position.  When he didn’t hear from the group (the tapes had gone to London, but the Rollers had already moved on to Ireland in their tour), he thought they weren’t interested and was about to sign a solo deal.  Just before he did he got word that they had heard his tapes and wanted to see him.  He flew to Ireland and spent several days talking and playing with the group.  The two parties found they got along great both musically and personally and in January '79, Duncan became the Rollers' new lead singer.

Duncan’s influence in the Rollers produced a sharper, harsher edge to their music in contrast to their sugary songs of the ‘70s.  They produced 4 albums, “Elevator”, Voxx, “Ricochet” and the soundtrack, “Burning Rubber”.  Unfortunately it seemed that the critics and the public in the US had already formulated the opinion that the Rollers were just another disposable pop group before hearing any of their new work.  They were still wildly popular in Japan and Germany; however, after 3 years they called it quits.

Duncan then teamed up with a string of bands, two of which included former Roller members.  The first was Karu which was formed in 1981 with ex-Roller Stuart Wood.  They collaborated on one album "Karu Cuts" which produced the hit "Where Is The Music" in South Africa.  After a successful tour in South Africa and many gigs in Los Angeles, the members decided to go their separate ways.  Duncan continued to work with many other artists over the next few years including Jason Bonham and Trevor Rabin.  In 1987 he was asked to sing a song on Madonna's "Who's That Girl" soundtrack which sold over 5 Million copies. In 1991, he teamed up with Joe Stephanelli (The Mop Tops), Erik Lannon (American Heartbreak) and Ian Mitchell (ex-Bay City Roller) in the group The Joy Buzzers.  A cassette, "Welcome to the '90s", was recorded and the group had a great time in Los Angeles playing various venues and several radio shows.

Working solo again, the album "Come & Get It", which contained the hits "Let It Be Right" and "New Today", came out in 1993.  Both "Let It Be Right" and "New Today" charted in the top 10 in South Africa.  Duncan returned to his homeland to spend time with his family and sadly in 1994, he suffered the loss of both his brother Bill Faure Jr. and his father William Faure Sr.

A regrouping of his bandmates from the early days of Orange Cash Boat formed the First World Band.  The album, "For The Rights of all Man" came out in 1996.  Eighteen incredible songs emerged from this production, several of which are often heard on various South African radio stations.  In 1998 he teamed up with well-known guitarist Mark Townsend and came to the US to do some touring.  One album, "The Blue Bottles" was made and of which the single "Brother" was promoted.  They returned in 1999 with drummer Mali Sewell and bassist Gavin Muller to record and perform.  The group gained the attention of numerous people in the music business and had quite an enthusiastic following in the US.

In early 2000, "Pronounced Four-uh" was released.  This was a fantastic 13 track effort of which included 12 beautiful Faure creations and a cover of Nik Kershaw's "Wouldn't It Be Good".  2000 is also the year that he became a father when his wife, Laurie, gave birth to their son William Caldwell Faure on January 27, 2000.  Duncan continues in the music business as a songwriter and musician.