Rowland Stuart Howard (24 October 1959 – 30 December 2009) was an Australian

rock music Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdo ...

ian, guitarist and songwriter, best known for his work with the

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

group The Birthday Party and his subsequent solo career.

Early life

Rowland Stuart Howard was born on 24 October 1959 in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, to John Stanton Howard and Lorraine (née Stuart), the second of three children. His siblings were sister Angela Howard and brother Harry Howard, both also musicians. In a 2016 interview, his brother Harry Howard stated the family is of paternal English descent from

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

and maternal Scottish descent.

Career

1978–1990

Rowland Stuart Howard wrote " Shivers" at the age of 16 while in the band

Young Charlatans Young Charlatans were a briefly existing Australian punk rock band comprising Janine Hall on bass guitar, Jeffrey Wegener on drums, Ollie Olsen on vocals and guitar and Rowland S. Howard on guitar. They formed in 1977 and disbanded in the followi ...

. Howard gained acclaim after joining Melbourne-based band The Boys Next Door, when the song was released as a single. The band changed their name to The Birthday Party and Howard's discordant guitar remained a major factor in their sound. The Birthday Party relocated from Australia to London in 1980 and subsequently to West Berlin. The Birthday Party's early records were released by

Missing Link Records Missing Link Records was an Australian-based independent record label established in 1977. The Missing Link label was created by Keith Glass (singer-guitarist ex- Cam-Pact) and David Pepperell (journalist and vocalist, ex-The Union) who were th ...

in Australia and 4AD Records in the UK. They later became associated with Mute Records in Europe. Howard was also a member of the short-lived project,

Tuff Monks Tuff Monks were a short-lived band consisting of Nick Cave, Mick Harvey and Rowland S. Howard (each a member of the Birthday Party) with Robert Forster, Lindy Morrison and Grant McLennan (each a member of the Go-Betweens). Their only release ...

with Birthday Party bandmates, Nick Cave and Mick Harvey. However, Howard and singer Nick Cave suffered 'creative differences', and Howard left the Birthday Party as they transformed into The Bad Seeds. He soon became a member of Crime & the City Solution, a band led by Simon Bonney. Howard, with Crime & the City Solution, appeared in the 1987 movie ''

Wings of Desire ''Wings of Desire'' (, ; ) is a 1987 romantic fantasy film written by Wim Wenders, Peter Handke and Richard Reitinger, and directed by Wenders. The film is about invisible, immortal angels who populate Berlin and listen to the thoughts of its hu ...

'' by German filmmaker

Wim Wenders Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders (; born 14 August 1945) is a German filmmaker and photographer, who is a major figure in New German Cinema. Among the honors he has received are prizes from the Cannes Film Festival, Cannes, Venice International Film ...

playing the song "Six Bells Chime" in a Berlin Club. Later he formed

These Immortal Souls These Immortal Souls were an Australian post-punk band formed in London in 1987 by Harry Howard on bass guitar, his older brother Rowland S. Howard on guitar and vocals, Epic Soundtracks (a.k.a. Kevin Godfrey) on drums (all three ex- Crime & ...

with girlfriend

Genevieve McGuckin Genevieve McGuckin is an Australian musician, songwriter, film producer and graphic designer who was born in Brisbane. In 1986 she was a founder of These Immortal Souls on keyboards and has collaborated with fellow founder, and sometime domesti ...

, brother, Harry Howard, and

Epic Soundtracks Epic Soundtracks was the stage name of the British musician Kevin Paul Godfrey (23 March 1959 – 6 November 1997). Born in Croydon, Surrey, he was brought up in Solihull, West Midlands with his brother Adrian Nicholas Godfrey, who was known a ...

. Howard also collaborated with

Lydia Lunch Lydia Lunch (born Lydia Anne Koch; June 2, 1959)Martin Charles Strong. ''The Great Indie Discography''. 2003, page 85 is an American singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker. Her career began during the 1970s New York City no ...

Nikki Sudden Adrian Nicholas Godfrey (19 July 195626 March 2006), known professionally as Nikki Sudden, was a prolific English singer-songwriter and guitarist. He co-founded the post-punk band Swell Maps with his brother, Epic Soundtracks, while attending ...

, ex-Barracudas singer

Jeremy Gluck Jeremy may refer to: * Jeremy (given name), an English male given name * Jérémy, a French given name * ''Jeremy'' (film), a 1973 film * "Jeremy" (song), a 1992 song by Pearl Jam * Jeremy (snail), a left-coiled garden snail that died in 2017 * ...

, guitarist

Gavin Poolman Gavin is a Celtic male given name. It is the Scottish variation of the medieval Welsh name Gawain, meaning 'God send' or 'white hawk/falcon'. Sir Gawain is a knight of King Arthur's Round Table. ''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' is an epic poem ...

, French electro group

KaS Product KaS Product are a French electronic duo. Their music has been considered part of the French cold wave and electropunk movements. Formed in 1980, the duo consisted of Spatsz (Daniel Favre) on electronics and rhythm machines with Mona Soyoc on guit ...

Barry Adamson Barry Adamson (born 11 June 1958)Biography
. Barryadamson.com. is an English pop and rock music ...

Einstürzende Neubauten (, 'Collapsing New Buildings') is a German experimental music group, formed in West Berlin in 1980. The band currently comprises founding members Blixa Bargeld (lead vocals, guitar, keyboard) and N.U. Unruh (custom-made instruments, percussion, ...

, guitarist

Chris Haskett Chris Haskett (born 1962) is an American guitarist. He was a member of the rock band Rollins Band from 1986 to 1997 and again for the band's reunion in 2006. He has also recorded or performed with David Bowie, Foetus, Pigface, The Cassandra Co ...

The Gun Club The Gun Club were an American post-punk band from Los Angeles that existed from 1979 to 1996. Created and led by singer-songwriter and guitarist Jeffrey Lee Pierce, they were notable as one of the first bands in the punk rock subculture to i ...

singer and songwriter

Jeffrey Lee Pierce Jeffrey Lee Pierce (June 27, 1958 – March 31, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and author. He was one of the founding members of the band The Gun Club, and released material as a solo artist. Early life Pierce was born ...

Fad Gadget Francis John Tovey (8 September 1956 – 3 April 2002), known also by his stage name Fad Gadget, was a British avant-garde electronic musician and vocalist. He was a proponent of both new wave and early industrial music, fusing pop-struc ...

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are a Rock music, rock band formed in Melbourne in 1983 by lead vocalist Nick Cave, multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and German guitarist-vocalist Blixa Bargeld. The band has featured international personnel throug ...

Henry Rollins Henry Lawrence Garfield (born February 13, 1961), known professionally as Henry Rollins, is an American singer, writer, spoken word artist, actor, comedian, and presenter. After performing in the short-lived hardcore punk band State of Alert in 1 ...

, and A.C. Marias. Lydia Lunch and

Thurston Moore Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter best known as a member of the rock band Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running ...

recorded a version of Howard's song "Still Burning" for Lunch's ''In Limbo'' (1984). "Still Burning" had previously been recorded as a bass-heavy track with Howard on vocals, during the '' Honeymoon In Red'' recording sessions (1983–1987).

released their first album ''Get Lost, (Don't Lie!)'' in 1987 and played shows in Europe and America, returning to Australia for a short tour in 1988.

1990–1999

After the release of These Immortal Souls' second album, ''I'm Never Gonna Die Again'', (1992) and another Howard/Lunch collaboration ''

Shotgun Wedding A shotgun wedding is a wedding arranged in response to pregnancy resulting from premarital sex. The phrase comes from the figurative imagining that the relatives of the pregnant bride threaten the reluctant male groom with a shotgun in order to ...

'', Howard, Lunch and members of The Beasts Of Bourbon performed live on tour in Australia and Europe with guitarist Link Benka. ''Shotgun Wedding'' was re-released with a second compact disc of live recordings. ''Shotgun Wedding'' featured

cover versions In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song released ...

of "

In My Time of Dying "In My Time of Dying" (also called "Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed" or a variation thereof) is a gospel music song by Blind Willie Johnson. The title line, closing each stanza of the song, refers to a deathbed and was inspired by a passage in the ...

" and

Alice Cooper Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusion ...

's "Black Juju". Recorded in Memphis with Link Benka (rhythm guitar), Joseph -Joe- Drake (bass) and Brent Newman (aka Glyn Styler) (drums). Howard sang backing vocals on the

album '' Let Love In'' (1994). In 1995 These Immortal Souls contributed their version of "You Can't Unring a Bell" to a

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on society's underworld and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He began in the American folk music, fo ...

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...

''Step Right Up''. He left London to return to Melbourne in 1995. Paul Godfrey a.k.a.

, the UK drummer for These Immortal Souls, was found dead in his London apartment on 5 November 1997. These Immortal Souls played their last show, at the Greyhound Hotel in St Kilda, with Lydia Lunch in 1998. Howard lamented in a 1999 television interview (''Studio 22'', ABCTV) with

Clinton Walker Clinton Walker is an Australian writer, best known for his works on popular music. He wrote the books ''Highway to Hell'' (1994; a biography of Bon Scott), '' Buried Country'' (2000), ''History is Made at Night'' (2012), and others. He has als ...

that people still asked him about "Shivers", a song he wrote when he was sixteen years old which first became well known when it was sung by Nick Cave. Howard released a solo album called '' Teenage Snuff Film'' in Australia in 1999. He was backed by

Mick Harvey Michael John Harvey (born 29 August 1958) is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, arranger and record producer. A multi-instrumentalist, he is best known for his long-term collaborations with Nick Cave, with whom he formed The ...

on drums, and Brian Hooper on bass.

2000–2009

An unofficial Rowland S. Howard fan website was established as the amount of Rowland S. Howard related information and file swapping grew steadily on the internet from the mid-1990s. Howard made a cameo appearance in the 2002 vampire movie ''

Queen of the Damned ''Queen of the Damned'' is a 2002 horror film directed by Michael Rymer from a screenplay by Scott Abbott and Michael Petroni, and based on the 1988 novel ''The Queen of the Damned'' by Anne Rice, the third novel of the book series ''The Vampi ...

'' as a musician in a vampire club band. In August 2005, Howard performed at the premiere party for

Scott Crary Scott Crary (also known as S. A. Crary; born 1978) is an American film director, producer and writer, best known for having directed, produced, filmed and edited the film '' Kill Your Idols'', a documentary examining three decades of New York a ...

's film ''

Kill Your Idols Kill Your Idols is an American hardcore punk band from New York, active from 1995 through 2007 and again from 2013 to the present. They were signed to SideOneDummy Records. Their releases on SideOne were Funeral for a Feeling (2001), a split ...

'' in Melbourne, Australia, along with the band

HTRK HTRK (pronounced "hate rock", formerly Hate Rock Trio) is an Australian band formed in 2003. The band is currently a duo of vocalist Jonnine Standish and guitarist Nigel Yang; bassist Sean Stewart was a member until his death in 2010. The ban ...

. French label Stagger Records released a double CD tribute album to Howard in 2007 featuring

, The Drones,

The Holy Soul ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The' ...

, Penny Ikinger,

Loene Carmen Loene Carmen (born 1970), better known by stage name Lo Carmen, is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician, music producer, author and actress with multiple albums in the indie rock vein. She records, performs and tours solo or with long tim ...

, Nikki Sudden, Noah Taylor and many more. In September 2007, Howard joined with

Magic Dirt Magic Dirt is an Australian rock band, which formed in 1991 in Geelong, Victoria, with Daniel Herring on guitar, Adam Robertson on drums, Adalita Srsen on vocals and guitar, and Dean Turner on bass guitar. Initially forming an alternative und ...

and

Beasts of Bourbon Beasts of Bourbon were an Australian blues rock band formed in August 1983, with James Baker on drums (ex-Hoodoo Gurus, The Scientists), Spencer P. Jones on guitar ( The Johnnys), Tex Perkins on vocals (Dum Dums), Kim Salmon on guitar and Bo ...

for a tour of the east coast of Australia. Howard appeared at the All Tomorrows Parties rock festival in Australia in January 2009, curated by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. He was backed by Mick Harvey on drums, and JP Shilo on bass. Howard's second solo album, ''

Pop Crimes ''Pop Crimes'' is the second solo album by Australian musician Rowland S. Howard, released on 16 October 2009. The album was released ten years after Howard's previous solo album '' Teenage Snuff Film'', and months before his death from liver ca ...

'', was released in October 2009 to acclaim from the musician

Robert Forster Robert Wallace Foster Jr. (July 13, 1941 – October 11, 2019), known professionally as Robert Forster, was an American actor. He made his screen debut as Private L.G. Williams in John Huston's '' Reflections in a Golden Eye'' (1967), followed ...

. He appeared on the

EP ''White Boy'' playing guitar and supplying vocals on the track "Summer High".

Illness and death

Howard suffered from chronic

Hepatitis C Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) that primarily affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. During the initial infection period, people often have mild or no symptoms. Early symptoms can include ...

virus and had been told in 2003, when he was 44, that his liver was stricken with end-stage cirrhosis. Doctors compared it to the liver of a 74-year-old alcoholic. In an October 2009 interview, Howard said that the forthcoming album he was working on (''Pop Crimes'') was recorded quickly: "I contracted liver disease a while back and I've basically got liver cancer, I'm waiting for a transplant, if I don't get it things might not go so well...so..." . He died of

hepatocellular carcinoma Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of primary liver cancer in adults and is currently the most common cause of death in people with cirrhosis. HCC is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. HCC most common ...

secondary to

liver cirrhosis Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, chronic liver failure or chronic hepatic failure and end-stage liver disease, is a chronic condition of the liver in which the normal functioning tissue, or parenchyma, is replaced ...

on 30 December 2009. Howard was 50 years old. His funeral was held at Sacred Heart Church, St Kilda, Melbourne on 7 January 2010. His Birthday Party bandmates reflected upon his death: Nick Cave told WENN, "This is very sad news. Rowland was Australia's most unique, gifted and uncompromising guitarist. He was also a good friend. He will be missed by many". Mick Harvey remarked, "Sometimes people are ready to go because they have been sick for a long time, but Rowland really wanted to live. Things were going well for him outside his health and he wanted to take advantage of that, and he was very disappointed that he wasn't well enough to do so".

Legacy

In October 2011, filmmaker

Richard Lowenstein Richard Lowenstein (born 1 March 1959) is an Australian Filmmaking, filmmaker. He has written, produced and directed feature films such as ''Strikebound'' (1984), ''Dogs in Space'' (1986) and ''He Died with a Felafel in His Hand (film), He Died ...

(''Dogs in Space'') and Lynn-Maree Milburn (''We're Living on Dogfood'' – documentary maker), released a 110-minute documentary film on the life of Rowland S. Howard titled ''Autoluminescent: Rowland S. Howard'' which had a limited release for cinema. On 24 April 2013, Port Phillip Council approved a proposal to name a St Kilda laneway Rowland S. Howard Lane to honour Howard's contribution to the St Kilda music scene. ''Pop Crimes: The Songs of Rowland S. Howard'', an occasional band composed of Rowland's friends and bandmates began performing in 2013; they toured Europe in February 2020. In June 2020, Yves Saint Laurent used his song 'Shut Me Down' for an advertisement campaign. The Australian author Kirsten Krauth titled her 2020 novel ''Almost a Mirror'', a quote from Howard's iconic early song '' Shivers''. The novel has at its core the world of St Kilda's Crystal Ballroom in the 1980s, a venue in which Howard, Cave et al cut their performing teeth.

Discography

Albums

Bibliography

Publications about Rowland S Howard

* ''A Day in the Life of Rowland S. Howard'' by Peter Milne. M.33, Australia (2015) * ''Ephemerality is All Very Well'' by Tony Clark and Lyndal Walker. M.33, Australia (2019) * ''This Guitar Belongs to Rowland S. Howard'' by Harry Howard and Linsey Gosper (2021) * ''Still Burning'' by Keiko Yoshida and Danny Flynn. London (2023)

Awards

AIR Awards

The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as

AIR Awards The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. History The inaugural 2006 awards were held at Blacket Hot ...

) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. ! , - ,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, ''Pop Crimes '' , Best Independent Album , , , -

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Rowland S. 1959 births 2009 deaths Deaths from liver cancer in Australia Deaths from cancer in Victoria (state) Australian rock guitarists Australian record producers Musicians from Melbourne Australian people of English descent Australian people of Scottish descent Australian punk rock singers Punk rock guitarists Australian expatriates in the United Kingdom Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds members Post-punk musicians Fat Possum Records artists Deaths from hepatitis The Birthday Party (band) members Crime & the City Solution members 20th-century Australian guitarists Atavistic Records artists Australian male guitarists 20th-century Australian male musicians Tuff Monks members