Alastair Donaldson (27 April 1955, in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

– 18 June 2013, in Edinburgh) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments, often but not exclusively at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as woodwind doubler, doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and mor ...

, and was the bassist for the Scottish

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

band

the Rezillos The Rezillos are a punk and new wave band formed in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1976. Although emerging at the same time as other bands in the punk rock movement, the Rezillos did not share the nihilism or social commentary of their contemporaries ...

, for whom he played under the stage name of William Mysterious.Strong, Martin C.: "The Great Alternative & Indie Discography", 1999, Canongate, He was a formative member of the folk ensemble

Silly Wizard Silly Wizard were a Scottish folk band that began forming in Edinburgh in 1970. The founder members were two like-minded university students— Gordon Jones (guitar, bodhran, vocals, bouzouki, mandola), and Bob Thomas (guitar, mandolin, man ...

prior to his involvement with the Rezillos, and appears on many of their recordings under his real name. He appears on the Rezillos' second single for

Sire Records Sire Records (formerly Sire Records Company) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Records. History Beginnings The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gotteh ...

, featuring the songs "(My Baby Does) Good Sculptures" and "Flying Saucer Attack" and also on their debut studio album ''

Can't Stand the Rezillos ''Can't Stand the Rezillos'' is the debut studio album by the Edinburgh-based punk band the Rezillos, released on Sire Records on 21 July 1978. The album has a more mainstream pop and rock and roll sound than the punk music of the time, and incl ...

'' (1978). He took over the bass slot in the Rezillos whilst working as their saxophonist. He left the Rezillos after a UK tour supporting

the Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band formed in the New York City neighborhood Forest Hills, Queens in 1974. Known for helping establish the punk movement in the United States and elsewhere, the Ramones are often recognized as one of t ...

, although he did make a guest appearance at the Rezillos' final gig at the

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

, where he returned to his original role of saxophone player alongside his replacement on bass guitar, Simon Templar (born Simon Broomfield). This performance was captured on the Rezillos' live album, ''Mission Accomplished (But the Beat Goes On)'' (1979). He also appeared on the B-side of the single version of "Top of the Pops", playing saxophone on the instrumental track, "20,000 Rezillos under the Sea". This track itself was a re-imagining of the ''

William Tell Overture The ''William Tell'' Overture is the overture to the opera '' William Tell'' (original French title ''Guillaume Tell''), composed by Gioachino Rossini. ''William Tell'' premiered in 1829 and was the last of Rossini's 39 operas, after which he w ...

'' by the classical composer

Gioachino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote man ...

. After leaving the Rezillos, he released one single in 1982 as William Mysterious with Alastair Donaldson on the independent Mezzanine label, "Security of Noise" b/w "Alright". After The Rezillos split up for the first time in 1978, former members became

the Revillos The Rezillos are a punk and new wave band formed in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1976. Although emerging at the same time as other bands in the punk rock movement, the Rezillos did not share the nihilism or social commentary of their contemporaries ...

, and Donaldson rejoined them in 1979 for the ''Rev Up'' LP where he once again played bass. After this final outing with the Rezillos he retired from recording and touring, but was still semi active in live work in his native

up until his death on 18 June 2013. He is survived by a daughter, Ailsa, and a son, John, as well as his wife Ksenija Horvat.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donaldson, Alastair People educated at George Watson's College Scottish bass guitarists 2013 deaths 1955 births Silly Wizard members