r.i.p. Paul Hester

[Wenchie]

Aussie rock legend found dead
By Nui Te Koa and Kathy McCabe
March 28, 2005
From:

LEGENDARY Crowded House drummer Paul Hester was found dead yesterday in a public park.

Hester, 46, the father of two young girls, failed to return from walking his two dogs, Stan and Rose, on Saturday night.
Police later found his body in Elsternwick park near his Melbourne home. They said there were no suspicious circumstances and friends said they had been unaware of Hester having been depressed.

Last night, former Crowded House members, singer Neil Finn and bassist Nick Seymour, said they were reeling from the tragedy.

"I am devastated," Finn told The Daily Telegraph from London. "I have lost one of my best mates."

Finn, on tour with his brother Tim, is due to start four dates at the Royal Albert Hall in London, but may postpone the performances to fly to Melbourne today.

As news of Hester's death swept Sydney's Cockatoo Island Festival last night, You Am I singer Tim Rogers dedicated a song to the drummer during his set.

Split Enz and Crowded House members were contacted by Peter Green, from Neil Finn's office, yesterday. "I can't imagine a sadder day than today," Mr Green, Hester's long-time friend, said last night.

"I feel for Paul's little girls. We are still, all of us, asking why?"

Mr Green said Hester, a perennial joker on stage and off, had been in good spirits in recent times. "Paul had some dark moments. Some good days and some bad days, like all of us," Mr Green said.

Hester had returned from Dublin two weeks ago, where he enjoyed an upbeat visit with former Crowdies bassist, Nick Seymour.

"It was all good," Seymour said from Dublin last night. "The last words Paul told me were: 'I love you, mate. See you in town [Melbourne] in a month'."

Hester quit Crowded House in 1994, but had reinvented himself into a drummer-for-hire, cafe owner and charismatic frontman of MusicMax Sessions on Foxtel. Hester also played drums in Split Enz from 1983 to 1984.

He lived in Elwood - a fashionable bayside suburb of Melbourne - with his girlfriend, Mardi Sommerfeld, and their two daughters, aged 10 and 8.

Mr Green dismissed music industry speculation that Hester was battling illness at the time of his death.

"Paul never said anything about that and I never, ever, heard he was suffering from any illness," he said. "Then, after today, I wonder if anybody really knew anything."

Last night, music industry leaders were in mourning for a drummer, who, in Crowded House, cracked the US market with the 1987 hit, Don't Dream It's Over.

"We have lost a mate," Mr Green said. "We have lost the heart and soul of Crowded House.

"I know how much Paul loved his kids, I know how much he loved life. None of this makes sense. Anyone who saw Hessie at his finest knew he grabbed life by the balls.

"People who worked with Paul are in tatters. Neil Finn wants to come home, but we have urged him to stay in London and do the shows for Paul."

Hester performed with the Finns during their national tour late last year.

"When Paul played those shows, it was like it should be," Mr Green said.

Hester was born and raised in Melbourne. His father, Mulga Mike Hester, was a legendary bushman and his mother, Ann, a jazz drummer.

Hester joined Split Enz in 1983, then, with Neil Finn formed Crowded House. In 2003, Hester and Seymour joined forces in the band, Tarmac Adam.

Dont Dream its Over - Crowded House
There is freedom within, there is freedom without
Try to catch the deluge in a paper cup
There’s a battle ahead, many battles are lost
But you’ll never see the end of the road
While you’re travelling with me

Hey now, hey now
Don’t dream it’s over
Hey now, hey now
When the world comes in
They come, they come
To build a wall between us
We know they won’t win

Now I’m towing my car, there’s a hole in the roof
My possessions are causing me suspicion but there’s no proof
In the paper today tales of war and of waste
But you turn right over to the t.v. page

Hey now, hey now
Don’t dream it’s over
Hey now, hey now
When the world comes in
They come, they come
To build a wall between us
We know they won’t win

Now I’m walking again to the beat of a drum
And I’m counting the steps to the door of your heart
Only shadows ahead barely clearing the roof
Get to know the feeling of liberation and relief

Hey now, hey now
Don’t dream it’s over
Hey now, hey now
When the world comes in
They come, they come
To build a wall between us
Don’t ever let them win

[multi]

i was in the same class grade 5 and 6 and same school form 1 and 2 with this guy....never knew him as an adult sadly
he was the class clown and he was a fun person..pretty depressing news

RIP Paul

i cant quite make it out it all sounds a bit vauge -was it suicide?
edit: it was...

[Jadesun]

RIP

[JackSpratts]

sorry to hear about your school mate multi. i remember split enz and the true colors lp we got in the states. not sure if it was a commercial pressing but the dj copies were "lazer etched" and had these random geometric symbols cut right into the playing surface. they refracted light like a cd does today but it was all very tricky back then and we could never quite figure out how you could score up an album without affecting the sound. hadn't thought about that in ages, nor the hits "i got you" & the great "message to my girl" til i saw this thread. it was a good band.

- js.

"I don't want to say I love you
That would give away too much
Hip to be detached and precious
The only thing you feel is vicious

I don't wanna say I want you
Even though I want you so much
It's wrapped up in conversation
Whispered in a hush
Though I'm frightened by the word
Think it's time that it was heard

No more empty self-possession
Vision swept under the mat
It's no new years resolution
It's more than that

Now I wake up happy
Warm in a lovers embrace
No one else can touch us
While we're in this place
So I sing it to the world
Simple message to my girl

No more empty self-possession
Vision swept under the mat
It's no new years resolution
It's more than that

Though I'm frightened by the word
Think it's time I made it heard
So I sing it to the world
Simple message to my girl

No more empty self-possession
Vision swept under the mat
It's no new years resolution
It's more than that

No there's nothing quite as real
As a touch of your sweet hand
I can't spend the rest of my life
Buried in the sand."

1983

[Belle~]

That is so sad.....I remember that song "Dont Dream its Over". Very very sad

[multi]

lots of little things coming back now,,,going to his place once or twice after shcoo making faces at each other infront of the headmasters office.....he was always cracking people up in class, even the teachers...
i had 2 chances to just walk up to him since we were adults..and tell him ,you probably wont remember me but,hey i knew you from shcool... but both times i decided against it

wasnt into crowded house at the time it was around....(was a bit wishy washy for my tastes in those days )..but have grown to appreciate a lot of it since...and will probably have to listen to it with a whole new ear yet again..

[gazdet]

I grew up with Paul's drumming which was an inspiration to me in a time when I was playing in bands in Perth City.

To me, Paul was a creative and talented Syncopate, an infectuous clown who's "eccentric spirit" was the life within the bands he played in.

What a tragic loss that nobody saw his signs of depression, quite often it's the "surface happy ones" that are the best at disguising their inner torment.

Here's a Local News (Right Click Save As) report I "found" for those of you who are interested.

...Edit- he hung himself.

(sorry for ur loss of an old school mate multi)

R.I.P Paul.

[Belle~]

This sort of thing just tears me apart, I guess coz it's just such a waste. Also, it seems like lately, death has been everywhere, like a mist.