Mark Hough
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Mark John Hough (8 December 1954 – 7 January 2018), known by the
stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...
Buster Stiggs, was an English-born New Zealand drummer. Hough was born in
Harold Wood Harold Wood is a suburban neighbourhood in East London in the London Borough of Havering. It is situated east-northeast of Charing Cross. Harold Wood was part of the ancient parish of Hornchurch, which became the Liberty of Havering. Most o ...
,
Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
, England, in 1954, moving to New Zealand as a child. His family settled in
Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay () is a region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region is named for Hawke Bay, which was named in honour of Edward Hawke. The region's main centres are the cities of Napier and Hastings, while the more rural ...
, and he attended
Hastings Boys' High School Hastings Boys' High School is a boys' secondary school in Hastings, New Zealand. The school is part of the Super 8. The school was founded in 1904 as Hastings High School. In 1922, it became Hastings Technical School under the leadership of Wi ...
before studying art at
Elam School of Fine Arts The Elam School of Fine Arts, founded by John Edward Elam, is part of the University of Auckland Faculty of Creative Arts and Industries, Faculty of Creative Arts and Industries at the University of Auckland. It offered the first Bachelor of ...
in
Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
from 1972 to 1975. He began studying to be a teacher in 1976, but his primary interests were art and rock music, especially the nascent New Zealand
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 ...
scene.Dix, J.
Buster Stiggs
" ''audioculture.co.nz'', 9 August 2017. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
Hough's first band was After Hours, the first band of a teenage
Neil Finn Neil Mullane Finn (born 27 May 1958) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and musician. He is best known for being a principal member of Split Enz and for being the lead singer of Crowded House. He was also a member of Fleetwood Mac from 2018 ...
, which lasted until 1977 when Finn was asked to join his brother's band,
Split Enz Split Enz were a New Zealand band formed in 1972. Regarded as the first New Zealand band to gain significant recognition outside of Australasia, they were initially noted for their progressive rock, progressive/art rock sound, flamboyant visua ...
. From here, Hough moved to the short-lived Fang, for whom he played drums. By late 1977 he was playing with up-and-coming Auckland punk band
Suburban Reptiles The Suburban Reptiles were one of the first two punk rock, punk bands to form in New Zealand, the other being the Scavengers. History The Suburban Reptiles were conceptualised by Auckland students Simon Grigg and Brett Salter in late 1976, w ...
using the stage name Buster Stiggs, which would remain with him for his whole musical career. He was a main songwriter of the band,Van Beynen, J.,
Buster Stiggs of The Swingers and Suburban Reptiles dead at 63
" ''stuff.co.nz'', 8 January 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
writing their single "Saturday Night Stay At Home". After briefly playing guitar with
The Scavengers The Scavengers were a New Zealand-Australian punk rock band that formed in 1977. They moved to Melbourne, Australia, in November 1978 and became Marching Girls. History The band was formed in 1976 at Auckland Technical Institute by graphic d ...
for a couple of gigs in 1978, Stiggs and fellow Suburban Reptile
Bones Hillman Wayne Stevens (7 May 1958 – 7 November 2020), known by the stage name Bones Hillman, was a New Zealand musician best known as the bass guitarist for the Australian rock band Midnight Oil, which he joined in 1987 and remained with until his de ...
joined Split Enz founder
Phil Judd Philip Raymond Judd (born 20 March 1953) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter known for being one of the founders of the bands Split Enz and The Swingers. Split Enz In 1972, Judd and Tim Finn founded the arty folk band Split Enz. In its early d ...
— a former schoolmate at Hastings Boys' — in a new three-piece band,
The Swingers The Swingers were a New Zealand rock band who were together from 1979 to 1982 and whose biggest single was the song " Counting the Beat". Background Formed out of the remnants of the Suburban Reptiles, the founding members were Phil Judd (gui ...
. The Swingers found quick success, and hit the charts with two singles, "One Good Reason" (1980) and " Counting the Beat" (1981). The latter reached the top of the charts in both New Zealand and Australia. Stiggs left The Swingers just as their second single was starting to hit the charts, joining Australian band
Models A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided int ...
. He stayed with the band for under a year, failing to gel fully with the band's sound. After leaving Models, he moved to the back room of the rock industry, working as a graphic designer and designing record covers and tour posters. Stiggs struggled with kidney disease and
multiple myeloma Multiple myeloma (MM), also known as plasma cell myeloma and simply myeloma, is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell that normally produces antibody, antibodies. Often, no symptoms are noticed initially. As it progresses, bone ...
in the last few years of his life, and finally succumbed to their combined effects in his adopted city of
Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
, Australia, on 7 January 2018. He is survived by one son.


External links



- AudioCulture profile.
R.I.P. Buster Stiggs (The Swingers)
— Tribute to Stiggs by former bandmate Bones Hillman.


References

1954 births 2018 deaths New Zealand rock musicians New Zealand drummers New Zealand male drummers People from Harold Wood English emigrants to New Zealand People educated at Hastings Boys' High School Elam Art School alumni Deaths from multiple myeloma Deaths from cancer in Western Australia Deaths from kidney disease New Zealand expatriates in Australia {{NewZealand-musician-stub