Crime & The City Solution

Crime & the City Solution were a rock group headed by Australian singer/songwriter Simon Bonney and active between the years of 1977-1991. Despite roots dating back as far as 1978, Crime & the City Solution did not truly emerge until 1984, coming to life in the wake of the dissolution of the seminal Birthday Party. Crime & the City Solution had many members over the years, which can be divided into four distinct line-ups: Sydney in 1977-78, Melbourne in 1979, and two groupings in Berlin. The only common member in all four line-ups was Bonney.

For a complete list of the different line-ups see below.

In 1985, the quartet debuted on record for the first time with The Dangling Man E.P., a self-produced EP quickly establishing the band's moody, atmospheric blues-based aesthetic. Former Swell Maps drummer Epic Soundtracks joined Crime after the EP's release, freeing Harvey to alternate among a variety of instruments for the haunting follow-up, Just South of Heaven. Their full-length bow Room of Lights appeared in 1986 and featured the remarkable "Six Bells Chime", which so impressed acclaimed filmmaker Wim Wenders that he invited the band to perform the song live in his 1988 masterpiece Wings of Desire.

By the time the film appeared, however, the incarnation of Crime & the City Solution presented onscreen was no more; after Room of Lights, the Howard brothers and Soundtracks exited to form These Immortal Souls, leaving Bonney, Harvey and violinist Bronwyn Adams (also Bonney's wife and songwriting partner) to relocate to Berlin, where they recruited a number of local musicians, including Einst?rzende Neubauten guitarist Alexander Hacke, to cut 1988's ornate, intoxicating Shine. Even more baroque was the follow-up, 1989's The Bride Ship.

In 1990, Crime returned to the studio one final time to record Paradise Discotheque, a record built around Bonney's ambitious four-part suite "The Last Dictator", a song cycle inspired by the downfall of Romanian warlord Nicolae Ceaucescu. After contributing "The Adversary" to the soundtrack of Wenders' Until the End of the World, Crime & the City Solution disbanded; while Harvey rejoined former Birthday Party mate Nick Cave in the Bad Seeds, Bonney began work on his 1992 solo debut, Forever.

Band Line-ups:
Sydney, 1977-1978
Simon Bonney - vocals
Don McLennan - drums
Harry Zanteni - guitar
Phil Kitchener - bass
Dave MacKinnon - soprano & tenor saxophone

Melbourne, 1979
Simon Bonney - vocals
Don McLennan - drums
Dan Wallace-Crabbe - guitar
Lindsay O'Meara - bass
Chris Astley - keyboards
Kim Beissel - alto saxophone

Berlin/London, 1985-1986
Simon Bonney - vocals
Mick Harvey - guitar
Rowland S. Howard - guitar
Harry Howard - bass
Epic Soundtracks - drums

Berlin, July 1987-1991
Simon Bonney - vocals
Mick Harvey - drums
Bronwyn Adams - violin
Chrislo Haas - synthesizer
Alexander Hacke - guitar
Thomas Stern - bass