Trevor Bolder
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Trevor Bolder (9 June 1950 – 21 May 2013) was an English rock musician, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his long association with Uriah Heep and his tenure with the Spiders from Mars, the backing band for
David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...
, although he also played alongside a variety of musicians from the early 1970s.


Biography

Bolder was born in
Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually shortened to Hull, is a historic maritime city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Est ...
, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. His father was a trumpet player, and other members of his family too were musicians. He played
cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. There is also a soprano cor ...
in the school band and was active in his local R&B scene in the mid-1960s. Inspired by
the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
, in 1964 he formed his first band with his brother and took up the bass guitar. He first came to prominence in the Rats, which also featured fellow Hull musician
Mick Ronson Michael Ronson (26 May 1946 – 29 April 1993) was an English musician, songwriter, arranger, and producer. He achieved critical and commercial success working with David Bowie as the guitarist of the Spiders from Mars. He was a session musici ...
on lead guitar. In 1971 Bolder was called in to replace
Tony Visconti Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of man ...
in David Bowie's backing band, which would soon be known as the Spiders from Mars; he subsequently appeared in D. A. Pennebaker's 1973 documentary and concert movie '' Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars''. He is name-checked as "Weird" (Bowie's stage nickname for Bolder) in the song " Ziggy Stardust", in the lyrics "Ziggy played guitar, jamming good with Weird and Gilly, and the Spiders from Mars". Bolder "never looked comfortable as a glam-rock mannequin, tottering behind Ziggy Stardust in platform boots and a rainbow-hued outfit of latex and glitter"."Trevor Bolder", ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' (Obituaries), 23 May 2013, p. 67.
Bolder's bass (and occasional trumpet) work appeared on the studio albums '' Hunky Dory'' (1971), '' The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars'' (1972), '' Aladdin Sane'' (1973), and ''
Pin Ups ''Pin Ups'' (also referred to as ''Pinups'' and ''Pin-Ups'') is the seventh studio album by the English musician David Bowie, released on 19October 1973 through RCA Records. Devised as a "stop-gap" album to appease his record label, it is a ...
'' (1973), the Spiders'
swan song The swan song (; ) is a metaphorical phrase for a final gesture, effort, or performance given just before death or retirement. The phrase refers to an ancient belief that swans sing a beautiful song just before their death while they have been ...
with their leader. He went on to play on Mick Ronson's 1974 album '' Slaughter on 10th Avenue'' which made the British Top Ten. In 1976 Bolder joined Uriah Heep, replacing John Wetton. He worked on the albums ''
Firefly The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...
'', '' Innocent Victim'', ''
Fallen Angel Fallen angels are angels who were expelled from Heaven. The literal term "fallen angel" does not appear in any Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic religious texts, but is used to describe angels cast out of heaven. Such angels are often described ...
'' and ''
Conquest Conquest involves the annexation or control of another entity's territory through war or Coercion (international relations), coercion. Historically, conquests occurred frequently in the international system, and there were limited normative or ...
''; when the line-up that had recorded the latter disbanded, he alone remained, along with Mick Box, guitarist, founder member, and legal owner of the band's name. The attempt to put a new line-up together temporarily stalled; and Bolder, needing to earn a living, accepted an offer in 1981 to join
Wishbone Ash Wishbone Ash are a British Rock music, rock band who achieved success in the early to mid-1970s. Their albums include ''Wishbone Ash (album), Wishbone Ash'' (1970), ''Pilgrimage (Wishbone Ash album), Pilgrimage'' (1971), ''Argus (album), Argu ...
. Bolder had, coincidentally, again swapped places with John Wetton, becoming Wishbone Ash's bass player for their 1982 album '' Twin Barrels Burning''. It was another short-lived connection, as by 1983 he returned to the
rhythm section A rhythm section is a group of musicians within a music ensemble or band that provides the underlying rhythm, harmony and pulse of the accompaniment, providing a rhythmic and harmonic reference and "beat" for the rest of the band. The rhythm ...
with Uriah Heep, playing on the '' Head First'' tour (although
Bob Daisley Robert John Daisley (born 13 February 1950) is an Australian musician and songwriter. A bassist, he is perhaps best known for his intermittent relationship with vocalist Ozzy Osbourne, for whom he contributed bass, co-production and songwriti ...
played on the album) and all subsequent studio albums up to and including '' Into the Wild''. As well as his usual bass-playing and backing-vocal duties, Bolder produced Heep's 1991 album '' Different World''. In 2012 and early 2013, Bolder worked with Stevie ZeSuicide (Steve Roberts of the band
U.K. Subs U.K. Subs are an English punk rock band, among the earliest in the first wave of British punk. Formed in 1976, the mainstay of the band has been vocalist Charlie Harper (singer), Charlie Harper, originally a singer in Britain's Rhythm and blues ...
) as producer on singles "Wild Trash" (co-writer with ZeSuicide), "Lady Rocker" and a cover of "Ziggy Stardust". Bolder also played on these tracks. Bolder died in May 2013 at Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham from cancer, aged 62. He had undergone surgery for
pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...
earlier that year.


Discography

;Solo *''Sail the Rivers 2012-2013'' (2020) ;With
David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...
*'' Hunky Dory'' (1971) *'' The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars'' (1972) *'' Aladdin Sane'' (1973) *''
Pin Ups ''Pin Ups'' (also referred to as ''Pinups'' and ''Pin-Ups'') is the seventh studio album by the English musician David Bowie, released on 19October 1973 through RCA Records. Devised as a "stop-gap" album to appease his record label, it is a ...
'' (1973) *'' Ziggy Stardust – The Motion Picture'' (recorded live 1973, released 1983) *'' Santa Monica '72'' (recorded live 1972, released 1994) ;With Cybernauts *''Cybernauts Live'' ;With Dana Gillespie *''Weren't Born a Man'' ;With
Ken Hensley Kenneth William David Hensley (24 August 1945 – 4 November 2020) was an English musician, singer, songwriter and producer, best known for his work with Uriah Heep (band), Uriah Heep during the 1970s. He wrote or co-wrote the majority of ...
*''Free Spirit'' (1980) *''From Time to Time'' (1994) ;With
Mick Ronson Michael Ronson (26 May 1946 – 29 April 1993) was an English musician, songwriter, arranger, and producer. He achieved critical and commercial success working with David Bowie as the guitarist of the Spiders from Mars. He was a session musici ...
*'' Slaughter on 10th Avenue'' (1974) *'' Play Don't Worry'' (1975) *''Memorial Concert'' (1997) *''Main Man'' (1998) ;With The Spiders from Mars *''Spiders From Mars'' (1976) ;With Uriah Heep *''
Firefly The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...
'' (1977) *'' Innocent Victim'' (1977) *''
Fallen Angel Fallen angels are angels who were expelled from Heaven. The literal term "fallen angel" does not appear in any Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic religious texts, but is used to describe angels cast out of heaven. Such angels are often described ...
'' (1978) *''
Conquest Conquest involves the annexation or control of another entity's territory through war or Coercion (international relations), coercion. Historically, conquests occurred frequently in the international system, and there were limited normative or ...
'' (1980) *''
Equator The equator is the circle of latitude that divides Earth into the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Southern Hemisphere, Southern Hemispheres of Earth, hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, about in circumferen ...
'' (1985) *''Live in Europe 1979'' (1986) *''Live in Moscow'' (live, 1988) *'' Raging Silence'' (1989) *'' Different World'' (1991) *'' Sea of Light'' (1995) *'' Spellbinder'' (live, 1996) *''
Sonic Origami ''Sonic Origami'' is the 20th studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Casset ...
'' (1998) *''Future Echoes of the Past'' (live, 2000) *'' Acoustically Driven'' (live, 2001) *''Electrically Driven'' (live, 2001) *''The Magician's Birthday Party'' (live, 2002) *''Live in the USA'' (2003) *"Magic Night'' (live, 2004) *'' Wake the Sleeper'' (2008) *'' Celebration – Forty Years of Rock'' (2009) *'' Into the Wild'' (2011) *'' Totally Driven'' (recorded 2000–2001, released 2015) ;With
Wishbone Ash Wishbone Ash are a British Rock music, rock band who achieved success in the early to mid-1970s. Their albums include ''Wishbone Ash (album), Wishbone Ash'' (1970), ''Pilgrimage (Wishbone Ash album), Pilgrimage'' (1971), ''Argus (album), Argu ...
* '' Twin Barrels Burning'' (1982)


References


External links


Uriah Heep official websiteInterview with Bolder
*

*Trevor Bolder at NND

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolder, Trevor 1950 births 2013 deaths 20th-century English musicians Musicians from Kingston upon Hull Uriah Heep (band) members Wishbone Ash members Deaths from pancreatic cancer in England English rock bass guitarists English male bass guitarists English heavy metal bass guitarists English male songwriters English record producers English trumpeters English male trumpeters Glam rock musicians The Spiders from Mars members People from Rowley, East Riding of Yorkshire Cybernauts members