Who?
Bones Hillman, born Wayne Stevens, was a New Zealand bass player who is famous for his involvement in two bands from down under – The Swingers and Midnight Oil.
The Swingers, the brainchild of Split Enz founder Phil Judd, had a huge hit with Counting The Beat in 1981, and a couple of other hits before dissolving a few years later. Bones lasted slightly longer with Midnight Oil, joining them in 1987 (great story about how that happened in the Audio Culture article) for 15 years, and then again – he’s on their latest record.
I actually shared a house with Phil Judd in Auckland when The Swingers were forming – his bedroom was full of tape recorders and he never spoke to anyone – and he is still making absolutely brilliant pop records. I never met Bones, who was by all accounts the classic Kiwi top bloke.
I’ll put some more clips and links in the comments. He was a great musician.
Midnight Oil’s latest
Another great Swingers song
And another
Recent song by Phil Judd
Bones also played on some early Crowded House demos (from the period in between Split Enz and the formation of Mullanes, the original CH). Some debate exists about if it’s him playing on Can’t Carry On from the first CH album. Also worked with the Finn brothers on the first recording of Everyone is Here, although his tracks are mostly on b-sides.
Poor old Phil Judd seems to have had a rather difficult life in recent years, but that’s another story.
I put this under the obituaries thread 11 days ago. I saw him in front of a tiny crowd at CHADS theatre in Cheadle Hulme, Manchester in July 2010. He was playing with Elizabeth Cook and her husband, and they were great. There were little over 20 punters there and the gig was in the bar rather than the theatre. To be fair, I went to that venue several times to see Americana acts and never once got to see inside the theatre, the gig was relegated to the bar every time and after about 2 years the promoter cut his losses and gave up. I was accompanied on this occasion by my sister in law who is an Australian citizen and was over on a visit. She assured me he’d be used to bigger gigs back home. We had a brief chat with him after he gig. He was pleased to be recognised and seemed to be enjoying the tour. They had no roadie and were sharing the driving in a touring van. RIP Bones
@Vince-Black – sorry should have checked the Obits thread. Great story and pic (on the other thread)