He joined Harrow County School for Boys at the age of 14, being known for being good at Ancient Greek and Latin, and playing the guitar.
[4] After a brief excursion into archaeology at West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village,[1] in 1975 Rew formed the Waves with Alex Cooper,[1] before joining the Soft Boys in 1978, recording the A Can of Bees and Underwater Moonlight albums.
The group survived a slow career climb by tours of RAF bases and Canadian club gigs, then teamed up with the producers Pat Collier and Scott Litt to record Rew's compositions "Going Down to Liverpool", covered by The Bangles, and, in 1985, "Walking on Sunshine", which became the group's first and biggest hit.
[6] In 1997, Katrina and the Waves won the Eurovision Song Contest for the United Kingdom with the Rew composition "Love Shine a Light".
In 2001 Rew reunited and toured with Robyn Hitchcock, bassist Matthew Seligman, and Morris Windsor for the Soft Boys' re-release of their 1980 album Underwater Moonlight.