Val Haller (born Adrian Osborne) (1952 – 16 December 2012) was a British musician. Primarily a bass guitarist, he was also a vocalist, keyboardist, and composer. Haller played with

Wayne County & the Electric Chairs Wayne County & the Electric Chairs were part of the first wave of punk bands from the 1970s. The band was headed by Georgia-born singer Jayne County and became known for their campy, foul-mouthed ballads, glam punk inspired songs and image which ...

, The Flying Lizards,

The Lords of the New Church The Lords of the New Church were an English/American supergroup with a line-up originally consisting of four musicians from 1970s punk bands. This line-up comprised vocalist Stiv Bators (ex-the Dead Boys), guitarist Brian James (ex- the Damn ...

Paint Paint is any pigmented liquid, liquefiable, or solid mastic composition that, after application to a substrate in a thin layer, converts to a solid film. It is most commonly used to protect, color, or provide texture. Paint can be made in many ...

and

Savage Republic Savage Republic (originally named Africa Corps) is an American, Los Angeles-based post-punk band, formed in the early 1980s. The group reformed in 2002 and remains active with a different lineup. They are known for lengthy songs with an emphasis ...

. He was half of the duo Autumnfair.

Career

Haller grew up in the west of England. An orphan, he was raised by a minister and his wife. Haller's first venture into the music industry was promoting a

Roxy Music Roxy Music are an English rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry—who became the band's lead vocalist and principal songwriter—and bassist Graham Simpson. The other longtime members are Phil Manzanera (guitar), Andy Mackay (saxophone and ...

concert in

Chippenham Chippenham is a market town in northwest Wiltshire, England. It lies northeast of Bath, west of London, and is near the Cotswolds Area of Natural Beauty. The town was established on a crossing of the River Avon and some form of settlement is ...

in July 1972. He had the foresight to book the band for a low fee while they were relatively unknown. It was a great success. In 1975, Haller moved to London and formed the Rockets, recruiting guitarist Andy Colquhoun later of the

Pink Fairies Pink Fairies are an English rock band initially active in the London (Ladbroke Grove) underground and psychedelic scene of the early 1970s. They promoted free music, drug use, and anarchy, and often performed impromptu gigs and other stunts, ...

. Haller was a founding member of

, the only constant member throughout the band's history. As part of the burgeoning

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 bands were subject to

gobbing Spitting is the act of forcibly ejecting saliva or other substances from the mouth. The act is often done to get rid of unwanted or foul-tasting substances in the mouth, or to get rid of a large buildup of mucus. Spitting of small saliva dro ...

and the band was forced to take a brief hiatus after Haller developed

hepatitis Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver parenchyma, liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), Anorexia (symptom), poor appetite ...

as the result of a direct hit into his mouth. Wayne County & The Electric Chairs released an EP ''Electric Chairs 1977'', plus a single on

Illegal Records Illegal Records was an independent record label, founded in 1977 by Miles Copeland III with his younger brother Stewart Copeland and the manager of The Police, Paul Mulligan. The label released The Police's debut single, " Fall Out". Copela ...

. This was followed by "

Fuck Off Fuck off may also refer to: * ''Fuck Off'', an art exhibition that ran alongside the Shanghai Biennial Festival in 2000 * "Fuck Off", a 1977 song by Wayne County & the Electric Chairs * "Fuck Off", the preliminary title of "Le Freak", a 1978 so ...

" / "on The Crest", recorded as a single for

Safari Records Safari Records was a British independent record label based in London, England, and operating between 1977 and 1985. Safari Records was formed early in 1977 by Tony Edwards (former co-manager of Deep Purple), Andreas Budde (the son of German mus ...

and supported with a European tour. In 1978 the band released their first, self-titled album, as well as an EP, ''Blatantly Offensive. The band performed the song "Paranoia Paradise" in the movie ''

Jubilee A jubilee is a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term is often now used to denote the celebrations associated with the reign of a monarch after a milestone number of ...

'', produced by

Derek Jarman Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman (31 January 1942 – 19 February 1994) was an English artist, film maker, costume designer, stage designer, writer, gardener and gay rights activist. Biography Jarman was born at the Royal Victoria Nursing Home ...

. Prior to the band's third album, Haller bought a synthesizer and began learning to play it. In subsequent rehearsal sessions with the group he would often play synthesizer or

Farfisa Farfisa (Fabbriche Riunite di Fisarmoniche) is a manufacturer of electronics based in Osimo, Italy, founded in 1946. The company manufactured a series of compact electronic organs in the 1960s and 1970s, including the Compact, FAST, Professiona ...

organ instead of bass. After the band's third album, County departed, returning to the States. The Electric Chairs continued as a three-piece, Haller (bass, keyboards, vocals), Henri Padovani (guitars, vocals) and John "JJ" Johnson (drums, percussion). A single, "So Many Ways" (on which Haller took lead vocals) / "J'attends Les Marines", was released in late 1979. The record, produced by David Cunningham, took a more electronic and atmospheric direction. However the band could not sustain themselves commercially, and fell out with management and label. The three former Electric Chairs then formed a new group, the Mystere Five's, with vocalist/guitarist Chris Reeves and non-musician Marc "Frenchy" Gloder. A single, "No Message" / "Shake Some Action", launched Gloder's label Flicknife Records. A second single, "Never Say Thank You" / "Heart Rules The Head" soon followed. Both were well received but by 1980 the band moved on to other projects. Haller contributed synthesizer to the Flying Padovanis debut single "Western Pasta" / "Vas Plus Haut", released in 1981 and formed Paint with vocalist Jonathan Hughston. Paint never took off and Haller was soon recruited by

to play keyboards on a tour. On his return he joined Johnson in The Flying Lizards, playing bass on two songs on the 1981 ''Fourth Wall'' album, "In My Lifetime" and "A Train". Haller relocated to Los Angeles in 1983, working as a motorcycle messenger to get by. Within a couple of years he hooked up with Thom Fuhrmann of

to form the duo Autumnfair, who were accompanied by a revolving line up of Savage Republic associates. The band finished playing in 1989, however a 10" EP ''Glaciers And Gods'' was released in 1991. In 2002, an Autumnfair retrospective CD ''Autumnfair – 1986 - 1989'' was released. In 2007, Haller joined a reformed Savage Republic. An EP ''Siam'' was released, followed by an album ''1938'' and the band toured widely including the North East United States, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Poland and Greece. In March 2010, Fuhrmann stated that AutumnFair would return to the studio to record.

Death

Haller died December 16th 2012, in

Claremont, California Claremont () is a suburban city on the eastern edge of Los Angeles County, California, United States, east of downtown Los Angeles. It is in the Pomona Valley, at the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. As of the 2010 census it had a popu ...

Discography

(Wayne County and the) Electric Chairs

*''The Electric Chairs'' EP

1977 *" (If You Don't Wanna Fuck Me, Baby) Fuck Off!!" / "On The Crest" Single Sweet FA 1977 *''The Electric Chairs'' LP

1978 *''Blatantly Offensive'' EP,

1978 *"So Many Ways" / "J'attends Les Marines" 45

1979

Mystere 5's

* "No Message" / "Shake Some Action" Single Flicknife Records 1979 * "Never Say Thank You" / "Heart Rules The Head" Single Flicknife Records 1979

Flying Padovani's

*"Western Pasta" / "Vas Plus Haut" Single Demon Records 1981

Flying Lizards

*''Fourth Wall'' LP Virgin 1981

Autumnfair

*''Glaciers And Gods'' 10" EP Independent Project Records 1990 *''1986 - 1989'' CD Mobilization Records 2002

References

External links

Val Haller
at Allmusic
Discography
at discogs.com
Autumnfair
at Allmusic * video of Electric Chairs, France, 20 October 1977 {{DEFAULTSORT:Haller, Val 1952 births 2012 suicides English rock bass guitarists Male bass guitarists English male singers Suicides in California