Ian Charles Burden (born 24 December 1957) is an English musician who played

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

and

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

with

The Human League The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their third album ''Dare' ...

, initially as a session musician, and later full-time, between 1981 and 1987. He attended The King's School in

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

, as a boarding pupil, where he played in several amateur bands. Formerly of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

band Graph, Burden was employed as a session keyboard player for the Human League's October 1980 tour, covering for

Martyn Ware Martyn Ware (born 19 May 1956) is an English musician, composer, arranger, record producer, and music programmer. As a founding member of both the Human League and Heaven 17, Ware was partly responsible for hit songs such as "Being Boiled" and " ...

and

Ian Craig Marsh Ian Craig Marsh (born 11 November 1956) is an English musician and composer. He was a founding member of the electronic band the Human League, writing and playing on their first two albums and several singles, until leaving in 1980 to form the ...

's keyboards after their departure. In March 1981 he returned to the band full-time, and would co-write much of their early 1980s material. He left the band in 1987. Burden recorded a

solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, ''Loot'', in 1990. In 1995, Burden released a CD through Inertia Records entitled ''A Swim in the Ocean''. This was a collaboration with Human League session player and contributor Russell Dennett. The band called themselves Deep Down Crazy, and consisted of Dan Boulton on vocals, Chris Broadhead on drums, Russell Dennett on guitar/keyboards/vocals and Burden on bass/keyboards. The recording took place at The Stockyard in

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

. Burden played bass guitar on the 2006 debut eponymous release for The Tenth Stage, a Melbourne-based band, and also on their second album, ''Grand Guignol''. The bass guitar used on these recordings (a

Fender Telecaster Bass The Fender Telecaster Bass (also referred as the Tele Bass) is an electric bass introduced in 1968 by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. With few physical changes through the 1970s, it was discontinued in 1979 and reissued in 2007 by Fender ...

) was the same one he used to record "I Love You Too Much" and " (Keep Feeling) Fascination" (although in the Fascination video he is playing its technical direct successor, the

Fender Precision Bass The Fender Precision Bass (often shortened to "P-Bass") is a model of electric bass guitar manufactured by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. In its standard, post-1957 configuration, the Precision Bass is a solid body, four-stringed instrum ...

). He played an Ibanez Musician Bass on " Mirror Man" and " The Lebanon", and in some live performances (including their ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'' performance of "Fascination"). Burden also contributed bass guitar to

Parralox Parralox is an Australian synthpop band formed by John von Ahlen in 2008. Originally featuring lead vocalist Rowena "Roxy" Martin and producer, songwriter John von Ahlen of dance act Nova; the band has undergone a number of line-up changes, m ...

's ''State of Decay'' album, released in Germany in 2009. In 2018, he released the second solo album ''Hey Hey Ho Hum ''.

Awards

* 1982

BRIT Awards The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

- (with The Human League) - 'Best British Breakthrough Act'

References

External links

Interview 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burden, Ian 1957 births Living people People from Newark-on-Trent English keyboardists English new wave musicians The Human League members People educated at The King's School, Peterborough Musicians from Cambridgeshire