In Memoriam: Bones Hillman (Wayne Stevens) (1958 – 2020)

Wayne Stevens (May 1958 – 7 November 2020), known by the stage name Bones Hillman, was a New Zealand musician best known as the bass guitarist for the Australian alternative rock band Midnight Oil, which he joined in 1987 and remained with until his death in 2020.

He played bass guitar in his first band the Masochists, an early New Zealand punk act, formed with Kevin Gray (vocals), Spike Nasty (drums) and Jimmy Sex (guitar), from the Auckland suburb of Avondale. They were alternatively known as The Metal Masochists, MM, Vandals, and The Avondale Spiders. In late 1977 he joined the Suburban Reptiles and appeared on their first single, “Megaton” (Vertigo, 1978). The name Hillman was coined by the make of car he drove. He left the band in early 1978 and joined the former Masochists in the Rednecks, a mainstay of the legendary Zwines punk scene in Auckland.

In late 1977, he joined the New Zealand band the Swingers with Phil Judd (ex-Split Enz) and Mark Hough (a.k.a. Buster Stiggs, ex-Suburban Reptiles). Their single “Counting the Beat” was a trans-Tasman number one hit before the band disintegrated in 1983. He appeared in the 1982 film Starstruck, as one of the Swingers. He was credited as Dwayne Hillman.

Moving to Australia as part of The Swingers in 1980 and living there until 2002, he was a member of internationally known Australian rock band Midnight Oil, replacing Peter Gifford in 1987 as bass player.

During the hiatus of Midnight Oil, Hillman returned to New Zealand, working as a studio and live musician with Dave Dobbyn and recorded the album Available Light. Hillman moved with his family to Nashville, Tennessee, in early 2007 to participate in the more active musical scene there.

In 2009, Hillman recorded albums for Anne McCue (Broken Promise Land) and Elizabeth Cook (Welder, produced by Don Was). Two years later he worked on the Musical adaptation of Diner, recording tracks for Sheryl Crow. In 2014, Hillman reunited with Midnight Oil producer Warne Livesey to record songs for his new musical project the Graysmiths. The following year, Hillman recorded and toured with Matthew Good.

In 2017, Hillman participated in a Midnight Oil reunion and tour.

Monday 11/8/2020 12am ET: Feature LP 2020: Feature LP: Midnight Oil – Makarrata Project (2020)

The Makarrata Project is the twelfth studio album by Australian band Midnight Oil, released on October 30, 2020 by Sony Music Australia. The album is the first new material from the band since 2002’s Capricornia and their first studio album to hit #1 on the ARIA Charts since Blue Sky Mining.

In a statement, Midnight Oil members said, “After centuries of struggle for recognition and justice, 2017’s Uluru Statement from the Heart called for the establishment of a ‘First Nations Voice’ enshrined in the Australian Constitution and the establishment of a ‘Makarrata Commission’ to supervise agreement-making and truth-telling between governments and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We will donate our share of any proceeds received from this release to organizations which seek to elevate The Uluru Statement from the Heart in particular and Indigenous reconciliation more broadly.”

Makarrata is a Yolngu word “describing a process of conflict resolution, peacemaking and justice”, or “a coming together after a struggle”, and delegates said that it “captures our aspirations for a fair and truthful relationship with the people of Australia”, and the Makarrata Commission would “supervise a process of agreement-making between governments and First Nations”.

Frontman Peter Garrett said, “It’s been 250 years since Cook landed, when Aboriginal and Islander peoples’ children, land & waters were first taken away. Yet the impacts of the original dispossession are still widely felt. We urgently need to up the ante on Reconciliation generally and follow through on the ground breaking Uluru Statement. These songs are about recognizing that our shared history needs settlement, and that more than ever, as the Statement From The Heart proclaims, we need to walk together to create a better future.”

Midnight Oil had recorded 20 tracks with Warne Livesey producing. The Makarrata Project is a seven-track mini-album, which features collaborations with Indigenous artists and First Nations people.

1. “First Nation” (featuring Jessica Mauboy and Tasman Keith) 4:51
2. “Gadigal Land” (featuring Dan Sultan, Joel Davison, Kaleena Briggs and Bunna Lawrie) 4:45
3. “Change the Date” (featuring Gurrumul Yunupingu and Dan Sultan) 5:58
4. “Terror Australia” (featuring Alice Skye)] 3:49
5. “Desert Man, Desert Woman” (featuring Frank Yamma) 3:09
6. “Wind in My Head” (Makarrata version) (featuring Kev Carmody and Sammy Butcher) 4:19
7. “Uluru Statement from the Heart / Come on Down” (featuring Pat Anderson, Stan Grant, Adam Goodes, Ursula Yovich and Troy Cassar-Daley) 6:40

Peter Garrett – lead vocals
Bones Hillman – bass guitar, vocals
Rob Hirst – drums, vocals, percussion
Jim Moginie – guitars, keyboards, vocals
Martin Rotsey – guitars

Jessica Mauboy – lead vocals (track 1)
Tasman Keith – lead vocals (track 1)
Dan Sultan – lead vocals (tracks 2, 3)
Joel Davison – lead vocals (track 2)
Kaleena Briggs – lead vocals (track 2)
Bunna Lawrie – lead vocals (track 2)
Gurrumul Yunupingu – lead vocals (track 3)
Alice Skye – lead vocals (track 4)
Frank Yamma – lead vocals (track 5)
Kev Carmody – lead vocals (track 6)
Sammy Butcher – lead vocals (track 6)
Pat Anderson – lead vocals (track 7)
Stan Grant – lead vocals (track 7)
Adam Goodes – lead vocals (track 7)
Ursula Yovich – lead vocals (track 7)
Troy Cassar-Daley – lead vocals (track 7)

 

Thursday 6pm: Across The Tracks: Featuring – One (Part 5)

This installment of Across The Tracks feature tune with “ONE” in the title.  We’ll feature music from Joe Walsh, War, Cher, Nelson, Stevie Nicks, Monroe, Santana, Ed Sheeran, Black Keys, Midnight Oil, Shirelles and much more across the tracks and genres.  

Artist Countdown: Midnight Oil Top 25 6p ET

Midnight Oil (also known informally as “The Oils” to fans) were an Australian rock band originally performing as Farm from 1972 with drummer Rob Hirst, bass guitarist Andrew James and keyboard player/lead guitarist Jim Moginie. While vocalist Peter Garrett was studying at Australian National University in Canberra, he answered an advertisement for a spot in Farm, and by 1975 the band was touring the east coast. By late 1976, Garrett moved to Sydney to complete his law degree, and Farm changed its name to Midnight Oil by drawing the name out of a hat.

Important to their development was manager Gary Morris who was able to negotiate favourable contracts with tour promoters and record companies and frustrate rock journalists. Guitarist Martin Rotsey joined in 1977 and Midnight Oil, with Morris, established their own record label Powderworks, which released their debut eponymous album in November 1978, and their first single “Run by Night” followed in December. Founding bass guitarist James, forced to leave due to illness in 1980, was replaced by Peter Gifford. Gifford was himself replaced by Bones Hillman in 1987. Through a long and distinguished career, the band became known for its driving hard-rock sound, intense live performances and political activism, particularly in aid of anti-nuclear, environmentalist and indigenous causes.

Midnight Oil’s albums which peaked in the Australian Top Ten were 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Red Sails in the Sunset, Species Deceases, Diesel and Dust, Blue Sky Mining, Scream in Blue (Live), Earth and Sun and Moon, Breathe, 20,000 Watt R.S.L., Redneck Wonderland, The Real Thing, Capricornia and Flat Chat. Australian Top Ten singles were “Power and the Passion”, “The Dead Heart”, “Beds Are Burning” and “Blue Sky Mine”. Aside from chart success, both “Power and the Passion” and “Beds Are Burning” were listed by Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) in the Top 30 best Australian songs of all time in 2001, a chart in which Midnight Oil are the only artists to feature twice. In December 2002, Garrett announced that he would seek to further his political career and Midnight Oil disbanded. But they would reform for two warm-up shows in Canberra leading up to their performance at one of the “Sound Relief” charity concerts, in honour of the victims of the 2009 “Black Saturday” fires in Victoria and floods in Queensland.

Midnight Oil won eleven Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Awards during its career, including induction into the Hall of Fame in 2006. At the induction, ARIA chairman Denis Handlin described Midnight Oil as true legends that always led by example in a uniquely Australian way with music that is powerful, uncompromising, inspiring, entertaining and enduring.

In 2010, their album Diesel and Dust ranked no. 1 in the book The 100 Best Australian Albums by Toby Creswell, Craig Mathieson and John O’Donnell. – Wikipedia

1	Blue Sky Mine
2	Beds Are Burning
3	The Dead Heart
4	Truganini
5	Forgotten Years
6	King of the Mountain
7	Put Down That Weapon
8	Dreamworld
9	Outbreak of Love
10	Power and the Passion
11	Drums of Heaven
12	US Forces
13	Underwater
14	Armistice Day
15	Don’t Wanna Be the One
16	Bedlam Bridge
17	The Real Thing
18	One Country
19	Redneck Wonderland
20	Land
21	Surf’s Up Tonight
22	Back on the Borderline
23	When the Generals Talk
24	Best of Both Worlds
25	What Goes On