Andrew Bodnar

Bodnar grew up in Clapham, South London. After meeting drummer Steve Goulding, the two began playing together as a rhythm section while still at school. They spent their teenage years auditioning and busking whenever they could, and were gigging around London with a Cajun-influenced band called Bontemps Roulez just prior to forming The Rumour in 1975.^[1] Bodnar is probably best known for his membership with Graham Parker and The Rumour from 1975 to 1980, for playing the distinctive reggae-flavoured bassline on "Watching the Detectives" by Elvis Costello, and for bass playing and co-writing Nick Lowe's "I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass", which he co-wrote with Lowe and Goulding.

Bodnar went on to become the Thompson Twins' touring bassist, promoting their hit album Quick Step & Side Kick during 1982–83,^[2] and since played live, or on recording sessions for many artists, including Angie Bowie, The Pretenders, and Tina Turner. He also played bass for Graham Parker on his various solo albums from 1988 through the mid-1990s. Graham Parker and The Rumour reunited in 2011 to record two new albums, and they toured the UK, US and Europe through to late 2015.^[3]

He played himself in the Judd Apatow film, This Is 40, released in December 2012.^[4][5]

Bodnar died in January 2026, at the age of 71.^[6]