Tickle was born on 6 September 1959 in Guildford, Surrey, the only son of a university professor father and an artistic mother.
Through a friend he was introduced to New Zealand band Split Enz and laid down some tracks with them in a Manchester studio in early 1978.
At Startling Studios, Tickle produced a further session with Split Enz, recording "I See Red", a punk-influenced single that became a hit in Australia and New Zealand.
The band always regretted the decision, sensing Earl's work had failed to reach the levels of intensity and creativity their earlier sessions with Tickle had achieved.
The ad had been placed by noted producer Mike Chapman, whose run of hits in Britain was almost over and who was by now working in New York with Blondie on their breakthrough Parallel Lines album.
Tickle was hired as a trainee producer and contributed mixing and engineering duties to Chapman's first US hits: Blondie's "Heart of Glass", The Knack's "My Sharona" and Exile's "Kiss You All Over".
In October 1979, Tickle reconvened with Split Enz, this time in Melbourne, Australia, to record what would become their breakthrough, multi-platinum album, True Colours, which included the single "I Got You".
As recording progressed and Tickle's strategy became clearer – creating more space in their sound over resolute drum tracks – the band became convinced the album would be a turning point.
The hooks were now prominent, almost naked, and the sparser rhythm tracks allowed lyrics to be heard.By mid-1980, Tickle was back in Melbourne to record a follow-up to True Colours.
The previous album was recorded by a band and producer both poised to crack their respective, mid-level reputations wide open and that is exactly what happened.
And while Split Enz, then in their late twenties and quite ready for huge success, had absorbed the attention and heady acclaim in an orderly fashion.According to the radio documentary Enzology,[2] Tickle particularly clashed heads with Tim Finn.
We'd be sitting eating lunch in the community kitchen and he and the producer would be extolling the virtues of The Dark Side of the Moon and we'd be talking about Kraftwerk and The Sex Pistols.
“It doesn’t sound like it was done super high end in a studio, particularly at that time, when a lot of stuff was very pristinely recorded.
Tickle continued to work as a producer during the late 1980s and 1990s, with credits on albums by Joan Armatrading, Belinda Carlisle, Toni Childs, and Joe Cocker among others.
David is married to well-known model, actress, and bassist Kate Elizabeth Tickle and they have two sons Jaxon and Daniel.