As a child, Rudolph suffered from polio that affected his upper right arm and shoulder; at the age of 10 he took up guitar playing, which also served as physiotherapy for his condition.

[1] At the recommendation of his childhood friend Jamie Mandelkau, he relocated to London, England, joining the Mick Farren-led band The Deviants as a guitarist.

He was invited by Roxy Music producer John Porter in early 1973 to participate in demo sessions for Sparks, before that band had found British musicians (Adrian Fisher, Martin Gordon and Dinky Diamond) for their UK re-launch.

At the same time he became the main musical interpreter for Hawkwind collaborator Robert Calvert (with whose work Eno too became involved), recording the concept albums Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters and Lucky Leif and the Longships.

Powell and Rudolph formed the short-lived Kicks with Cal Batchelor and Steve York, before the pair of them worked on Mick Farren's Screwed Up EP.