Trevor Bolder

Trevor Bolder (9 June 1950 – 21 May 2013) was an English rock bassist, 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 one-time backing band for David Bowie, although he has played alongside a variety of musicians since the early 1970s.

Biography 

Bolder was active in his local R&B scene in the mid 1960s. He first came to prominence in The Rats, which also featured Mick Ronson on lead guitar. His big break arrived in 1971, when he replaced Tony Visconti in David Bowie's backing band, which would soon be known as the Spiders from Mars. Bolder's bass (and occasional trumpet) work appeared on the studio albumsHunky Dory (1971), The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972), Aladdin Sane (1973), and Pin Ups (1973), the Spiders' swan song with their leader.

In 1976 Bolder joined Uriah Heep, replacing John Wetton. Bolder's tenure with Uriah Heep was, initially, relatively short-lived. Although he did contribute to the albums Firefly, Innocent Victim, Fallen Angel and Conquest, when the line-up that had recorded the latter disbanded Bolder alone was left 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. Bolder had, coincidentally, again swapped places with John Wetton, becoming The 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 with Uriah Heep, playing on the Head First tour (although Bob Daisley played on the album) and all albums since.

As well as his usual bass-playing and backing vocal duties, Bolder also produced Heep's 1991 album Different World. He sang lead on "Fear Of Falling", one of the tracks he had writtenfor Sea Of Light in 1995. Although credited on the album cover with lead vocals on "It Ain't Easy", the last track on Conquest (1980), it is not Bolder singing. It was simply too late to amend the sleeve. He does, however, contribute lead vocals to "Lost", a track on Uriah Heep's 2011 album Into the Wild.

While on tour with the Cybernauts he painted his face blue but then found out the paint was semi permanent and would not come off. Bolder had to sell his car to raise the money needed for a specialist skin peeling process at a Swiss clinic. To this day he still has traces of blue paint behind his left ear.

During his spare time in his hometown of Hull, Bolder was an avid collector of whippets and was highly regarded in the North of England for his knowledge and expertise of the breed.

He has also played with Cybernauts.

Equipment 

Bolder playing a Fender Precision Bass signature bass guitar in 2006

Throughout his career Bolder has used many different bass guitars including:

• Fender Mustang Bass

• Gibson EB-3

• Rickenbacker 4001

• Fender Precision Bass (1971 version - maple fretboard; with jazz bass pick-up added later; signature bass - as seen in the picture above)

• D'Alegria Defender TB

Discography

With David Bowie

• Hunky Dory (1971)
• The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972)
• Aladdin Sane (1973)
• Pin Ups (1973)
• Ziggy Stardust - The Motion Picture (recorded live 1973, officially released 1983)
• Santa Monica '72 (recorded live 1972, officially released 1994)

With Cybernauts 

• Cybernauts Live

With Dana Gillespie

• Weren't Born a Man

With Ken Hensley

• Free Spirit
• From Time to Time

With Mick Ronson 

• Slaughter On 10th Avenue (1974)
• Play Don't Worry (1975)
• Main Man
• Memorial Concert

With The Spiders From Mars 

• Spiders From Mars (1976)

With Uriah Heep 

• Firefly (1977)
• Innocent Victim (1977)
• Fallen Angel (1978)
• Conquest (1980)
• Equator (1985)
• Live in Europe 1979 (1986) – recorded 1979
• Live in Moscow (live, 1988)
• Raging Silence (1989)
• Different World (1991)
• Sea of Light (1995)
• Spellbinder (live, 1996)
• Sonic Origami (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 (2009)
• Into the Wild (2011)

With Wishbone Ash

• Twin Barrels Burning (1982)