Trevor Bolder - Biography

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 albums Hunky 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 written for 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 has become an avid collector of whippets and is highly regarded in the North of England for his knowledge and expertise of the breed.

He remains a member of Uriah Heep, and has also played with Cybernauts.