JJTee

I love Pick of the Pops on Radio 2. Currently hosted by Gary Davis. I always find any chart between 1977 and 1982 to be absolutely packed full of superb tunes, and some cracking bass lines. 1978 was one from last week: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001y2kd?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile Baker Street Wuthering Heights Night Fever Everyone’s A Winner Denis …oh and Brian and Michael’s Matchstalk Men & Matchstalk Cats & Dogs… I was 3 in 1978, so I think this period is fused with my early life and memories. But there did seem to be some high quality music in those five years.

Maple board, then! Looks like he had two, or switched pickguards from time to time.

Everyone* in this video: *In reality, I do appreciate their technical ability, and musical knowledge. But the vast majority of this video leaves me stone cold…!

Champagne Supernova Don’t Look Back in Anger Wonderwall. You’ll see a pattern emerging. Appalling, over played, over-rated rubbish.

Can’t beat a bit of Beato when it comes to theory…

If only you there was a way to translate what the dog was chipping in with. Probably a helpful comment like, “don’t forget to retune it”, or “I told you to get a chair with five casters, much more stable”.

And here he is on a BC Rich… Marvellous stuff!

Have to disagree on the strings front. I saw a great interview with Nile on, I think, a Top Ten of Disco (hosted by Huggy Bear I think!) programme which I recall very clearly as I watched it over and over again. Nile said it was in an interview with both of them for Guitar Player magazine where: ‘the interviewer asked “Bernard, you have that fantastic sound - like, what kind of strings do you use?”, to which Bernard replied “I dunno? What kind of strings come on a Stingray?” - he hadn’t changed the strings since he bought, he didn’t even care what they were!’.

Fantastic - never seen a live version of Everybody Dance with Bernard showing off his chucking technique before. There it is, at 08:00, in all its glory!

I think it’s a P bass on the first album (i.e. for Dance, Dance, Dance and Everbody Dance) and then his 1978 Stingray for everything else. And with the unchanged halfwound strings it came with, for every session. I read that he used the P bass and BC Rich for live work because he thought they looked better, and Marcus Miller I think confirmed this when he asked Bernard how he got his tone on the records using (he wrongly assumed) the BC Rich he’d seen him playing live.

Interesting to hear Le Freak played on something other than a Stingray by the great man himself. Definitely one of those players where it’s all in the fingers…(although, is it my ears or is his bass a bit flat?)

During the bridge of Dr Hook’s ‘When You’re in Love with a Beautiful Woman’, as a nipper I thought it was: ”Maybe it’s just an eagle problem…’. In fairness, I don’t think I knew ‘ego’ was a word back then…

You’ve inspired me to order this…

Exactly what I though it was, too.

Here’s how it was done in the 80s. Mullet? Check. Short shorts (with integral underpant lining)? Check. Risk assessment and safe system of work? Hmmm. There are some gloves though (and a pair of sandals). Interesting technique at the 8min mark…

https://playbasslines.sellfy.store/embed/checkout/product/slbxd1/?referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fplaybasslines.sellfy.store%2Fembed%2Fcategory%2Febooks%2F%3Fpage%3D2

Fantastic bass player. Lovely, quirky fun to play stuff. And for those who want a helping hand in learning his lines, this is highly recommended: http://aidanhampson.co.uk/blur

I’m knackered and really want to go to bed, but I just can’t drag myself away from this master class…

Liked the fact that Duff still essentially uses the same £500 bass he grabbed off the wall in LA with his advance from Appetite for Destruction (albeit this is one of the copies that the custom shop made for him). Shame I can’t here much of it through the cr@p TV speakers!

I was looking at the cab and thought I was seeing things and had forgotten how to count! Currently watching Skrillex, Fred Again and something or other. Strangely compelling, no idea what genre it is…even if it does look like two blokes from an IT helpdesk having some kind of fit.

So ‘The Churnups’. Who are they, place your bets: 1. Foo Fighters 2. Blur 3. Pulp 4. Someone else

Well someone had to start it, so I thought why not me?! Seeing as the reason why I picked up the bass in the first place - Duff McKagan - will be playing with GN’R, I will be watching at least that performance!

I can only just about breathe and play bass at the same time!

He does love at bit of the old Autotune that there lead singist…

Blue Peter missed a trick by not getting John Noakes to play the w@nkaphon atop Nelson’s Column. The Uber phallic imagery would have made the National Viewers and Listeners Association apoplectic. That REALLY would have been something for the BBC archive: