23 Facts About David McComb

David McComb was the singer-songwriter and guitarist of the Australian bands, The Triffids and The Blackeyed Susans.

David McComb had a solo career including leading David McComb and The Red Ponies.

Over his career McComb had bouts of alcoholism, and amphetamine and heroin abuse.

David McComb developed cardiomyopathy and in 1996 underwent a heart transplant.

David McComb died on 2 February 1999 "due to heroin toxicity and mild acute rejection of his 1996 heart transplant", according to the coroner.

On 1 July 2008 The Triffids were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame with David McComb's contribution acknowledged by a tribute performance.

David McComb was born in Perth, Western Australia, on 17 February 1962, the youngest of four boys.

David McComb's parents were both doctors, his father, Harold McComb, a plastic surgeon and his mother, Athel Hockey, a paediatrician and later the head of the Genetics Department at the University of West Australia.

David McComb studied journalism and literature at the Western Australian Institute of Technology.

David McComb became established as the band's main songwriter and common denominator in the band's various line-ups.

David McComb later said that he regretted selling the songs and that he had bought back "Too Hot to Move", which The Triffids began to perform again: they recorded it for their 1989 album, The Black Swan.

When he returned to Australia, David McComb settled in Melbourne, where he commenced studies at the University of Melbourne in art history.

David McComb recorded with the Blackeyed Susans, completed a solo album, Love of Will, for Mushroom Records, and undertook a solo tour of Europe with his backing band, The Red Ponies, consisting of Graham Lee, Warren Ellis, Peter Luscombe, Bruce Haymes and Michael Vidale.

David McComb performed in Australia with his last band, Costar, who recorded a three-track EP.

David McComb made occasional appearances with the Blackeyed Susans in Australia, giving Rob Snarski a break from vocals.

David McComb suffered from back pain which worsened over the years.

David McComb struggled with alcoholism, and amphetamine and heroin abuse, which greatly affected his health.

David McComb developed cardiomyopathy, a heart condition that, when found in young men, is most commonly caused by alcoholism.

David McComb's ashes were spread under the pine trees at the family farm at Jerdacuttup, approximately 22 kilometres north of Hopetoun, Western Australia.

On 21 February 2006 David McComb was posthumously inducted into the West Australian Music Industry Association Hall of Fame, as a composer.

David McComb's work is held in high regard in Europe, to the extent that The Triffids reformed and travelled from Australia to play live performances in Belgium and the Netherlands, in July 2006, with guest vocalists replacing David McComb.

On 1 July 2008 The Triffids were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame with David McComb's contribution acknowledge by a tribute performance.

In 2009 a collection of David McComb's poems, titled Beautiful Waste: Poems by David McComb, was published by Fremantle Press.