Barking Spiders

Yes indeed. Most definitely they not qualify as being humble neither in terms of price nor in the level of skill needed! Viz my OP other than the glorious cowbell some other suggestions for humble instruments have been mentioned e.g. claves, vibraslap, triangle. I'm also thinking of cabasas, guiros, kazoos, tin whistles, shaky eggs, tambourines, shekeres etc

free beer

I'm printing this to show the missus that my collection of 4 basses, 3 electric, two acoustics , djembe, cajon, caixa, bodhran and talking drum is nowt for her to worry about 😊. If you have kids have you packed them off to boarding school or got them living in a Travelodge by any chance to make room for storage?

Here's a really obscure but overlooked slab of Brit alt funk from the early 80s by forgotten combo Set the Tone

No I haven't and I don't know any non musicians who give a flying one about how well someone can play. There's a good reason why the likes of Oasis, Robbie Williams, Ed Sheeran, Coldplay etc are minted and why any mention of Weather Report, Dream Theater, Rush etc to most people elicits a ' who the fook are they' look.

IMO a good bass player is one who makes the bass look cool enough for non-players to want to take it up. That may sound facile but when I was young it was never jazz fusion virtuosos that made me wanna play bass but JJ Burnel. JJ made bass playing look cool. For me noodly fusion players made it look as hip as the oboe. Just my view you understand.

check out this classic ... https://vimeo.com/241311990

Supreme cowbelling here and the drumming ain't half bad too boot. Actually when I was much younger Ian Paice was the main reason I used to listen to DP.

Classic rock isn't my bag but there are a few tunes I've got time for; Hey You & You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet (BTO), Don't Fear The Reaper, Art for Art's Sake (10cc) , Sweet Emotion, Clampdown (Clash), You Fool No One (Deep Purple), Ladies Night in Buffalo (Dave Lee Roth) and Dr Feelgood (Motley Crue). What links these together? Is it the guitar riffs? Nah. The basslines ? no way Jose? The drumming? who cares. The vocals? as if! What then?...the cowbell of course! Without the mighty cowbell these songs would be lacking the vital spark. So, surely there are more tunes where the cowbell bit is what you wait for! Maybe there are some tunes which are 'made' by claves clacking away in the background or the maraccas a-shakin ?

I think the bass player in the Lemon Twigs must've been watching a few Sweet vids on You Tube judging by his choice of eye make up and nail varnish and that the skinny boy in the T shirt copped a few fashion tips from the Ramones and Primal Scream

OK , will 'alternative rock' do?.

hah hah I'm guess you're talking about episode 3, in which case I fully agree. One of the worst in recent years with absolutely nothing to going for it. They really should stop dragging back these old lags from yesteryear, especially the 80s what with dreary current efforts put in by Echo ATB and Soft Cell. And as for The Lemon Twigs, a band who encapsulate everything I detest about Indie.

watched episode 4 on catch up and at the risk of sounding like a dirty old man I was captivated by Sigrid's performance and I like her songs too! I'm a red blooded male so i cant help it, sorry☺️ . Also quite enjoyed Rosalia, a bit different and quirky. And though not my usual bag Joe Bonamassa was pretty good too. So 3 acts to like ain't bad for me.

But the days when TV was the only medium for watching music are long gone. You Tube does more than a good enough job of making music vids and live footage available. I guess the BBC and independent broadcasters have done their research and found the music listening market is too fragmented and that younger listeners aren't sufficiently interested, which is why they aren't making music TV. Music isn't as culturally important to the younger crowds as it used to be in the 60s - early 2000s.

Soz fellas but I think it's a bit of a case of rose-tinted specs here. Back in the 70s - 90s we had TOTP, which was entertaining enough family viewing up to the late 80s; the OGWT was a bit too earnest for many and shows like The Tube and The Word were pretty tacky and sometimes a bit gross. Terry Christian was one of the most irritating people of the time with his nasal twang. Kate Pukerick was a one-woman argument against immigration and then there were assorted posh airheads like Amanda de Cadenet who only got the job cos of who they were dating/married to. Hit Man and Her was bluddy dreadful. And MTV was too geared towards terrible nu-metal bands like Puddle of Mudd and Staind and woeful rap & r n b. Nope, I was more than glad when these shows bit the dust. If we have to have music on TV then keep Later, though it could do with some major rebooting, which should be enough. Bottom line is, younger people today generally aren't the music 'fans' we used to be, what with them having social media and gaming, so there possibly wouldn't be sufficient demand for more music TV.

I'm a drummist before I'm a bass player and haven't managed to see this series so will have to catch up but I'm perplexed at some of the inclusions here considering these are meant to be drummers' drummers. I've never been a fan of Bonham, all power and no finesse IMO. Moon was just messy, Starr was functional, Grohl is there cos he's more famous than most. I'd have Art Blakey, Zigaboo Modeliste, JR Robinson, Michael Shrieve, Sly Dunbar, Stewart Copeland, Tony Thompson, Dennis Chambers, Dave Garibaldi, Tony Allen, Elvin Jones, Bernard Purdie and Terry Bozzio, instead of some of those listed. All these have idiosyncratic styles , supreme technical skills, widely recorded and influential

A classic example of a band who've gone on too long and should've jacked it in when that 80s long overcoat indie sound died. Even their fanbase has shrivelled since they made their supposed comeback

I can't get enough of Solar Fields at the mo and have been going through his back catalogue and this afternoon I have this on while I've been repainting my 11 year old's bedroom. Well recommended if you like atmospheric electronica

ha ha, this reminds me why I've stopped playing in bands. In the last band I ever played in when the set began to feature more c@ck songs than good ones I jacked it in once and for all. And as for Jeff Beck, his appeal has totally passed me by. Maybe he's a groundbreaking player but boy is his jazz rock duller than any stretch of ditchwater

and her singing has always sounded like a goat ..to my ears of course

I've basses for sale but the only ones I'll be keeping are my two Corts, a B4FL OPN and a GB74 . I've tried out many more expensive basses in my time but wouldn't swap any of them for my Corts. I've had a 50W Marshall keyboard amp for 25 years - which also doubles up for my guitar - and that still does me just fine.

an off switch for Autotune

Good time for them to call it a day and head off to their retirement complexes in Palm Springs and why would anyone be bothered!

Great tips......if you aspire to be the kind of player who is happy to stand in the shadows ignored by punters while the rest of the band rips it up. I get irked by this type of advice that lays down rules. The great innovators in any walk of life are those that don't follow convention and break the rules. In fact IMO all her tips are total ballcocks. If there is one one tip any newbie needs and that is just play to suit the tune. If it demands 16ths up and down the fretboard with double taps, slaps and sweeps , do it. Don't do it if the song is a melancholic ballad.

The first three Jamiroquai albums with Stuart Zender The first half dozen by Tower of Power - fingerstyle funk at its finest by Rocco Prestia any by Graham Central Station -if you want some heavy funk by the godfather of slap bass the first two New Model Army - Stuart Morrow excelling with the plectrum Sulk by The Associates - several great fast played basslines by Michael Dempsey New Gold Dream by Simple Minds - chock full of tasty basslines these should keep you busy