Barking Spiders

Yep, in terms of influence on bass playing, PM is definitely among the top 10 along with Jamerson, Entwhistle, the P-Funk players and a few others.

I cant stand the RHCP though that's mainly down to the terrible vocals and the thin guitar sound. No doubting the quality of the rhythm section though. I do rate Flea as a player who trades off nicely between slap and fingerstyle,

I'm not a big fan of either The Beatles, Wings or his solo stuff but I far prefer his way of playing to all the bass shredders out there. IMO if you don't have the tunes then all that technical stinky poo isn't worth cr@p. I've heard Stanley Clarke, Geddy Lee, Jeff Berlin, Vic Wootten etc etc but none of the guys can hold a tune in a bucket IMO even though they are masters of technique.

Fraid it's a sign of the times. When I first moved to Cheltenham 20 years ago there were four instrument shops, down to 0.5 of a shop now, only open a few days a week and with much less stock. Playing guitars etc is mostly an older man's game.

Just to be fair I've listened to it twice more to see if it's a grower but no. It's not ugly but it doesn't go anywhere. Then again that's something that can be said about most music especially of the common or garden verse chorus verse variety

Bluddy well love IMonster's cover which is x 1000 better than the original Walk on by by The Stranglers. Give me this any day over the Warwick version I'm Free by The Soup Dragons. Way way better than the Stones original IMO + another for the Banshees take on Prudence. And another Beatles tune done much better by another band... The Tubes live version Of I Saw Her Standing There

Don't care for her folk warbler -come-Morrissette voice nor the guitar sound. She can play for sure but I've yet to hear any music she's played on that does owt for me, especially not the jazz rock stuff with Jeff Beck. Cant say I hear AIC or Soundgarden here though

IMO this is the best new British band of the millennium so far..

Contrary to popular belief Elvis Costello's Pump It Up isn't about certain advice to lonely men and their 'partners'

I'm puzzled by the fact we're defined by the jobs we do. Step back and think about it rationally. It's fine to say 'I'm an engineer' etc during work hours but we can't describe ourselves as that when we're not at work so what are we then? Yet one of many examples of us having to pigeon-hole ourselves. I'm definitely not a musician as I've pretty modest sight reading skills, have never depended on playing for my living and only want to play stuff I like. I could never be like a lot of you guys and be prepared to play sets where I didn't even like some of the tunes on the playlist

I'd no more call my myself a musician cos I noodle about on instruments than I'd call myself a chef cos I can turn out a decent moussaka for the family dinner. It would denigrate the term for those highly schooled players with advanced technical skills and theory who make their living from it.

Like with women, for me it's all about looks first with basses and guitars 😉 . When looking for a new instrument it's shape and colour first and foremost, then how they play. If it looks wrong or ugly, even if it sounded sweet as a nut, I wouldn't buy it. As with leather jackets and denim jeans if a bass or guitar looks a bit battered through extensive use then they look cool. A fake worn look is anything but!

I hope this fad for fake aged basses and guitars takes a dive and never comes back. Same goes for the off the peg ripped jeans look. Both look utter c@k. I make every effort to keep my gear as new and shiny looking as the day I bought them by playing them as little as possible

I'm firstly a drummer but there are some excellent drum machines around if you want to guarantee reliability, consistency, sobriety and a quick getaway after the gig. One of the reasons I switched to bass when playing gigs was the hassle with transporting kits to venues, setting them up, fixing the mics, taking them down and putting them back in the van. With a machine all you need to do is plug in, switch on and way to go! I no longer have an acoustic kit preferring my Roland which takes little time to set up but I've had other past band members complain about its look.

I've a narrowboat moored near Stroud and can offer a much better budget deal. A two hour round trip via Sharpness and you can have a go on my Cort, plus a can of wifebeater and a Breville toastie. £20 all in!

Just wondering if there are any really good pro bassists, or guitarists for that matter, who might have got their gear from Argos or the like? Imagine a whole band kitted out with Stagg stuff. Could be something in it I reckon?

IMO there's something really satisfying about going on stage with cheap and unassuming and even cr@p looking gear and tearing the place up. I think if you go on stage with expensive(looking) equipment you already have a lot to live up to and might come up short! Reminds me of the richer kids at school who had all the branded cricket clobber but would get out for a duck. Best band I ever played in I had my unbranded EB copy which I had picked up for about £30, the lead guitarist had a Hohner 'Strat' , the drummer had some beat up Premier 4 piece kit and the keyboardist/singer had a Casio from Dixons or some such. And we were no slouches either.

Just saw this on the BBC News site. Being a massive fan of all things techno and of The Prodge this has come right out of the leftfield. A big, sad shame as KF was the face of the band and spooked a generation of parents of teens with the Firestarter vid. Saw the band 4 times and KF was a top frontman. Not sure they can carry on after this

when I did most of my gigs in my 20s the only bass I had was a slightly battered short-scale EB copy. Cant remember the make but the sound was good and it did the job required even if bandmates thought its looks let the set down 😊

I never had any records for most of my teens so could only ever listen to what other people had. One mate had a small number of albums including DSOTM and the one thing that stood out for me was the bassline to Money. Either that or The Chain was the first thing I learnt.

Music used to be a big deal when I was in my teens and 20s but from my 30s it's become much less so and I've felt like giving up playing instruments completely a few times . However, on the advice of others I'm glad I haven't. You might take a break from bass for a few years but what's the betting you'll get an itch to pick it up again at a later date?

Rocco Prestia is one of my fave bassists, Dave Garibaldi one of my fave drummers and the horn section is elite but.....I once had the first 6 albums but for me the soul ballads, - as with the Ohio Players and EW&F - spoilt my enjoyment. The uptempo stuff is mostly, but not always, good. After Urban Renewal I thought they really lost the plot. For me the What is Hip Anthology is all I need.