super al

I must check out The The, I remember them from TOTP but never ventured into buying any of their stuff (I was young and unsophisticated!). My "overlooked" album would be Jellyfish's debut Bellybutton. Among my diet of RHCP, Faith No More, PWEI and the WonderStuff this band crossed my path one night in a boozer in Andover (told you I was unsophisticated). Back in 1990 some pubs had video jukeboxes and 'the king is half undressed' came on, blew my tiny mind! I bought the LP, taped it (I think PWEI's cure for sanity was on the other side of a C90) then played it endlessly in my rusty old mini van everywhere I went. I think my mates enjoyed it or they were just tolerating it until the Poppies came on 🙉 It's a great pop album that crossed over into my alternative universe, catchy songs by a band not taking themselves too seriously. A little bit XTC, a little bit of Wings, maybe 10cc. Still love it now.

I love the look of that ibanez bass. Does it sound and play as good as it looks @Naigewron ? Btw welcome 😸

Do I have to wait another 20 years to offload my '87 Marlin Slammer at vintage prices?

From experience (I live near a small city) the good and the great musicians are nearly always in two or more bands. The singer's other band has five members, three of them have another band that takes precedence over date clashes. They manage to fulfill their bookings by having deps come in (myself included). For a pub band playing a 2 hour set for £250 they seemed better organized than our function band! Rehearsals were amazing, all the set (28 songs) in two and a half hours then down the pub. That's how it should be 😁

We had problems in our function band with the singer already booked up for a lot of weekends with his other band. We didn't realise how busy his other band were until he put his 'unavailable dates' in the calendar. It didn't help that the keyboard player seemed to be on holiday all the time too although we did have a dep available for him. I've learnt a lot about how a function band should work (and get work!) just from being in a non functioning function band 😂

Tis indeed. In this age of the internet I've discovered that just getting out there and playing with a smile on your face can get you as much work as having a slick website, flash video and a nice suit. Our drummer and keys player both refuse to lower themselves to play pubs yet the singer's other band play good time soul music to anyone who will listen, guess which band hasn't played since November 4th last year and which band plays most weekends? Not frustrated at all😡

An ex brother in law is a chef and worked at the Brits one year. The staff were finishing up afterwards and JK was the only star to go out of his way to say thanks for the great food! I have the image of JK as a bit of git but maybe he has his nicer moments (you just need to feed him properly 😂).

I was a Gil Scott Heron fan and when Emergency came out I was into that straight away. Loved SZ's bass playing, just a great funky groove in every tune. Learnt a few of the lines by myself which gave me confidence in my own ability at the time (the bass being very prominent in the mix helped!). After Emergency came out I went to the Phoenix Festival and Jamiroquai were playing the jazz tent. Never actually saw them, the tent was rammed so we stood outside and listened! One of those rare bookings where the artist goes stratospheric in the intervening weeks. Ah, my carefree days in the early 90s, I miss them sometimes 👴

That's true Blue but I don't really tut and roll my eyes, that's our drummer's job 😁

Never been a big fan of my Christian name, so glad when peeps starting calling me big al and super al. Dyslexics tend to think I'm anal (OK,OK, I'm getting my coat. Apologies to dyslexics)

Strengths - Any new covers we do I listen to the song, learn it and then practice it until my fingers bleed. I hate being the guy who turns up for rehearsal and stops the song halfway through to ask "how does that bit go again". I prefer to tut and roll my eyes 😎. - I got pretty decent lightweight, small rig so my set up and take down time is pretty quick and I don't take up half the stage (I usually have time to help the drummer carry his case of doom) Weaknesses - BVs, I'm rubbish at them. Any hints and tips would be welcome, I'm trying to learn at the mo. - I can't read music - I don't solo very well (drums stop, very bad...) Overall - A solid, ok-ish, no frills bass player...any takers?

Ah, the Chilis. I remember watching a pre BSSM Chilis on a Jonathan Ross chat show doing Foxy Lady (I think!), Flea played the entire song hanging upside down!!! As for myself, I love playing a quirky cover version. I was in a covers band who played most songs as per the original artist but for an encore we did 'I can see clearly now' in a punk style complete with Sex Pistols intro. Totally ruined a great song but the audience always seemed happy!

A couple of bassists from my neck of the woods are in Edinburgh. You'll miss Grant Sharkey who's playing the Edinburgh fringe right now. He's a one man show of both comedy and music with a heavy dose of politics. About 5 years ago he threatened to go full time musician and release 2 albums a year for the next 20, so far he's kept to that threat 😁. T'other southern softie bassist is Dan from Hans Klammer. They're an Edinburgh based band who's influences are Can, Neu and Sigur Ros among others. Good luck with the move, been to Edinburgh a few times, lovely city.

3 words that, when put together, strike me with fear "trace elliot commando". Never had a knob like that on mine though, red too, that's not very Trace!

I'm a big fan of WRs Heavy Weather but for me Percy Jones with Brand X top the fretless bill (I've got the 4 CD set Nuclear Burn so can't decipher which album is best!).

You want to get yourself one of those envelope filters. Then step aboard the Mothership and suck up all that is Funkadelic, Parliament, George Clinton, Bootsy... When you come back down to earth, nothing will ever be the same again😎.

I used to love Grace and listened to it many a time. Whenever I scroll through the iPod these days I'll stop on Jeff Buckley and ponder for a second or 2 then think "Nah, Jellyfish and Jim White are nearby and deserve a listen". So poor old Grace gets overlooked on a "J" day

Another depping gig with The Flotonics from Amesbury. Same venue as before, The Duck Inn, Laverstock. Thoroughly enjoyable gig playing Motown and soul music. Not a big crowd but The Flos always attract a few of Salisbury's muso crowd. Tich from Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich was there watching. Word must be getting around about my bass playing😂

I love that 1st Dread Zeppelin album, the novelty never wears off in my opinion. I heard a rumour that Cher is going to tour with a Cher tribute act. The tour is called 'Cher and Cher alike'. I'll get my coat 😂

Definitely Uptight, great bassline (I got told off for not getting the intro right at rehearsal, extra homework that night )

Al Green's Take Me To The River seemed to go down well which surprised me. The band were playing the Talking Heads version and I was playing the AG bass line. I was depping and I assumed a soul band would play the original but it went well! They started with Sweet Soul Music which set the tone rather well. Ending with a couple of James Brown tunes, Papa's... And I Feel Good. Loads of Otis and Stevie in between and plenty of dancing including a conga during Love Train!!!

Just done my 1st depping job. Had the luxury of 4 months to learn 30 soul tunes and had 5 rehearsals with the band in that time. The regular bassist plays guitar in other bands mostly and I thought his style was very melodic with some neat fills so big boots to try on for a one off gig. I lived and breathed the material from the off, listening to original recordings and the band's versions of some of the tunes and practising as often as I could (dad of 2 young boys who think 'sleep' is a dirty word). I played it in my style and the band were very complimentary and surprised at how different a lot of the tunes sounded. I think I added some 'funky' to their soul and they appreciated that. I took a lot of confidence from a job well done too! My advice would be listen to the songs and learn them inside out. Then give a solid performance that serves the songs, nowt flashy. Oh and make sure you ask what the guys wear on stage, you don't want stand out

I think Wilton has high concentration of bassists then. On our road alone I've seen 3 other bass players. The middle school is in the next road to ours and is now a Plymouth Brethren school. 2 doors up from us are a couple of retired teachers from the school. When we 1st moved here I saw the giant Jim'll fix it badge but that has gone now!!! (Apparently the only giant badge given out by JS). I think the youth band are still going, we get a brass band going street to street every Christmas! No Toyah Wilcox though (thought I'd mention her to keep this post 'on thread' )