On May 17th 1980, the quarry where Rheinallt H. Rowlands had been working for the previous thirteen years was forced to close, making all the workers redundant. Despondant almost to the point of suicide, Rheinallt walked the thirteen miles back to his isolated cottage for the final time and sat down in his old wooden chair with a bowl of broth. Finding the silence unbearable, he turned on his old valve radio and, fumbling to tune it to the Home Service, he inadvertently came across the John Peel programme on Radio One. Rheinallt would not normally have paused for more than one second on such new-fangled nonsense, but on this occasion the voice that came from the crackly speaker was so deeply mournful it seemed to have a special resonance with his current state of mind. When the record finished, Rheinallt heard that the voice was that of Ian Curtis of the then popular group Joy Division and that he had comitted suicide that very day. Far from deepening Rheinallt's depression, this news brought a profound inspiration to him and he decided that moment that he would forge a new career as popular singer. The rest, as they say, is history.
Ar Fai 17eg 1980, fe fu’n rhaid i’r chwarel a oedd yn weithle i Rheinallt H. Rowlands ers tair mlynedd ar ddeg gau gan ddiswyddo y gweithwyr i gyd. Yn isel ei ysbryd, cerddodd Rheinallt y tair milltir ar ddeg yn nôl i’w fwthyn anghysbell am y tro ola. Yn y distawrwydd anioddefol eisteddodd yn ei hen gadair pren i fwyta bowlen o gawl. Mentrodd Rheinallt i dorri ar draws y tawelwch drwy droi ei hen set radio ymlaen. Tra’n ceisio cyrraedd safle’r ‘Home Service’ fe ddaeth Rheinallt ar draws, trwy ddamwain, rhaglen John Peel ar Radio 1. Yn arferol, ni fuase Rheinallt wedi oedi am eiliad cyn symud y deial oddiar y sdwff cyfoes yma, ond ar yr union eiliad yna clywodd Rheinallt lais dwfn, llawn emosiwn yn tasgu allan o’r ‘speakers’ craclyd - llais a oedd rhywsut yn ei alw. Pan ddaeth y cân i ben, clywodd Rheinallt fod y llais yn perthyn i Ian Curtis, canwr gyda’r grwp poblogaidd Joy Division, a hefyd y newyddion ei fod o wedi lladd ei hyn yn gynharach yn y dydd. Yn hytrach na creu fwy o iselder ysbryd tu fewn i Rheinallt, yn wir i’r gwrthwyneb oedd ymateb Rheinallt - mi oedd y newyddion yma yn ysgogiad ysgytwol a penderfynodd Rheinallt yn y fan a’r lle i lawnsio ar yrfa newydd fel canwr poblogaidd. "The rest, as they say, is history."
All three critically acclaimed albums by Rheinallt H. Rowlands are now available to buy on
