Drummer who was born David Francis O’Brien and nicknamed “Frenchy” in Worcester, Massachusetts who studied who graduated from high school in 1965 before studying at Mt. San Antonio College and California State University, Los Angeles.
He began to play the drums while a teenager and went on to perform with several bands in the Los Angeles area, including Red Zone. He and three other members of Red Zone and the singer Billy Wadhams became a co-founder of the band Animotion in 1983.
Animotion saw success when their song “Obsession” became a Top 10 hit in the charts in America as well as reaching the Top 10 of several other international charts and becoming a gold album in Canada. It was later named as a Top 100 One Hit Wonders of the 80s by VH1.
After he had left Animotion around 1985, and later his work as a professional drummer, he went to take up a position in the public library system in Los Angeles, California, where he remained for the rest of his working life.
Recordings he performed on include Animotion and The Language of Attraction by Animotion and Living on Lust by Red Zone.
He died in Kaiser Permanente in Los Angeles, California in 2019 when he was 71 years old.
He performs here…
Sources:
- https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/latimes/name/david-o-brien-obituary?id=6973887
- https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/196225048/david-francis-o’brien
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animotion
- https://talkaboutpopmusic.com/2022/01/08/where-are-they-now-animotion/
- https://earofnewt.com/2023/05/06/animotion-looks-past-current-obsession-in-hopes-of-avoiding-one-hit-wonder-status/
- https://www.discogs.com/artist/478580-Frenchy-OBrien