Daddy Cool’s Wayne Duncan passes at 72

Wayne Duncan, best known as the bass player and backing vocalist for Daddy Cool, passed away on December 4 after suffering a stroke in Melbourne last week.

The news was released yesterday by his family through a friend, Craig Horne, and confirmed by the band.

Daddy Cool said: “It is with the deepest regret that Daddy Cool announce the passing this morning of our wonderful friend and bass player Wayne Duncan at 72 after a short illness.

“Our condolences to his partner Anne and his daughters Catherine and Justine who have requested privacy at this time. R.I.P. brother Wayne.”

Duncan’s death came nine months after the passing of the band’s guitarist Ross Hannaford following a battle with cancer.

Described by Hannaford as “a very quiet kind of guy”, Duncan was an integral part of the music which saw the band enjoy phenomenal success in the early ‘70s.

By the time he and his drummer friend Gary Young helped co-form Daddy Cool with Hannaford and Ross Wilson, they had become one of the tightest rhythm sections in the country. This was through a rare chemistry and hard touring with a succession of bands including country duo Bobby & Laurie’s backing outfit The Rondells.

Duncan’s bass playing glued and sparked the interesting rhythms of their debut album Daddy Who? Daddy Cool! (1971), which included the anthems Eagle Rock and Come Back Again, and was the first Australian album to sell 100,000 (and later hitting 200,000).

The record, and the earlier Russell Morris single The Real Thing, helped squash the cultural cringe prevalent in Australian music fans that overseas music was naturally better.

On the band’s second album, Sex, Dope, Rock’n’ Roll: Teenage Heaven, they moved to a more complex music but again grounded by the Duncan-Young rhythm section. Notable was Duncan’s work on the hit single Hi Honey Ho.

After DC split in 1975, the pair stayed together in Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons and Rockin’ Emus And The Hornets. Even after he damaged his hand and had to have it re-set. He never lost his touch.

The original Daddy Cool reunited a number of times, including a one-off for victims of the 2005 tsunami and, most recently, in 2014 when they were inducted into The Age Music Victoria Hall of Fame.