kusee pee

[quote name='philw' timestamp='1453395933' post='2959152'] Funny, I've been reminiscing with old Brand X stuff on Spotify all day. Percy was one of the reasons I started playing bass and one of the reasons I bought a fretless Wal as soon as I possibly could. I still reckon PJ's the best out there. [/quote] Good use of your time 🤘

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1453143300' post='2956818'] Not a song, but I've been listening to a lot of Bowie over the past few days. Black Tie White Noise is an album that I bought when it came out, but it sort of disappeared into my collection and didn't come out very often. I've played it a few times lately and it has very much grown in my estimation. It does have some outright pop on it and Wedding Song isn't the best starter, but IMHO as an album it works well as an album overall. [/quote] I've been revisiting Bowie too and reminding myself of some of his best work. Fascination from Young Americans is top of my list today; awesome vocals, really impressive. I'm also going to purchase the two Tin Machine albums which I never got round to investigating. Buddha Of Suburbia is another great album that is worthy of a revisit.

Always the music for me. I love the fact that great music can give real emotion to otherwise quite bland or meaningless lyrics. I think Simon Le Bon (an oblique lyricist for sure) said something like "good music can make lyrics that mean nothing sound like they mean everything".

Good thread. Particularly the bit where Blue lost the plot for a while 😉 The more music I find the more I realise how much more there is still to find. I have big blindspots with a few major acts and particularly the big bands of the 70s. BC has helped me find a few new acts and genres and I always enjoy finding new bands. Some stick, some are fads for me and some I discard. We are lucky we now live in an age where it's much easier to explore new music. In relation to Bowie, he's one of the few artists where the back catalogue is so diverse that it takes real time to get to know and understand. Dipping in to one album won't really tell you much about his musical output.

I find it's not always easy keeping the mojo going. I've just had a month break from gigging but about to begin a quite packed schedule. Although I haven't overtly missed playing I know that it'll come back when we get in the groove again. I find I need to remind myself of how good it is to play when the gigging downsides kick-in as it can get very tiring and a bit samey sometime. I remind myself that many people would be very jealous of being in a tight band that gigs so much. It's a privilege overall and I'm grateful for it.

[quote name='PaulGibsonBass' timestamp='1452637582' post='2952002'] I'd mention Les Nemes from Haircut 100, some nice tight funky playing on their track Favourite Shirts. Like JT, an SB1000 user too, I think? [/quote] Agreed. Funky and tight. So many great basslines and amazing players in the 80s. A golden age for pop. I'd throw in the bassist from Curiosity Killed The Cat. Some great lines. Not quite New Romantic admittedly. http://youtu.be/-3w3O3bDhZc

[quote name='pfretrock' timestamp='1452627657' post='2951859'] No, I can't see it. Am I logged in? [/quote] I think you must have log in trouble. Maybe ask the OP for advice? Via this thread.

Yep, all is good. Phew.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1452624515' post='2951828'] Well... can you see it..? [/quote] Ah, good thinking. I'll have a look.

Just checking that my log-in has worked ok. Can someone confirm that this message has posted please?

[quote name='toneknob' timestamp='1452597896' post='2951408'] Outside is a fantastic album. With some judicious editing it could be up there with his best. As well as Architect, I love Oxford Town, Heart's Filthy Lesson, Voyeur (already posted above). [/quote] Indeed. I saw him on the Outside tour and he was fantastic. I'm Deranged is another cracker.

Changed my mind whilst dreaming of Bowie songs last night. Thru These Architect's Eyes. A storming track.

So many awesome tracks. I go for Stay off Station To Station. An amazing track from his best album.

A very sad day indeed. An absolutely iconic artist and rightly hugely influential. I saw him on the Outside tour. Brilliant performer and beautiful singer.

[quote name='CHW' timestamp='1452463362' post='2950218'] I have a vague memory of seeing a documentary about Duran Duran where JT was saying that I. The studio he played the verse with a pick and the chorus with fingers. He had to learn to do it all fingers live. Re the whole they couldn't play thing. I have seen them state that at the time they toured the first album. That was the entirety of their repertoire. I decidedly remember them mentioning that as a band, they couldn't even play Johnny b Goode. [/quote] You may be thinking about Hold Back The Rain with regard to the chorus versus verse I think. He talks about it on the Classic Albums documentary for Rio.

[quote name='Old Man Riva' timestamp='1452441099' post='2949945'] Always liked this from the Rio album.. http://youtu.be/25m4P72FK6E [/quote] A great bassline. I love the harmonics thrown into the middle section. An example of the fact that JT took his playing seriously.

I've never had a reason to believe it wasn't JT. The style of playing on the first two albums is pretty consistent and the line is pretty straightforward to play with fingers. Every time I've seen them live he plays it with fingers and it doesn't seem problematic at all. Harder to play with a pick IMO. The first two Duran albums were the reason I started playing bass. Great sound, prominent mix and a real mix of driving basslines and melodic/funky interplay. I don't think JT had got close to BE by 1982. By the time this was recorded Duran were just getting a larger following. He adopted a similar line on Last Chance On The Stairway which works even better to my ears. The fact that he was the coolest looking and speaking dude in 80s pop helped distract from his bass playing quite easily.

We all have our wireless IEMs in my four-piece band with individual mixes. I love it, it gives ear protection plus the ability to have exactly the mix we each want. Particularly useful for BV mixes. Our sound guy mixes any changes we want through the gig. I'd never go back to stage monitors now.

Before And After Science was a great album.

Just received Unorthodox Behaviour in the post. Great stuff. Phil Collins is a pretty amazing drummer too

That all sounds exciting. I discovered him playing on the excellent album by Melon. http://youtu.be/ihOzRcQU85M

Just discovered his work over the Xmas break and wondered if anyone else is into his stuff? Gonna start exploring some Brand X. Some interesting techniques he uses in this series: http://youtu.be/cgUMguYktPE

I remember seeing this version at the time. He added some nice little touches to the slap. Sounds great. I'd love to play it in my mind but it's not dancefloor enough for us.

I realised whilst gigging the other night that the other reason I prefer playing bass is that I get to play pretty much every second of every song, no pauses or gaps, just grooving all the time.