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Punk/Post-Punk Bassists.

Cabal

By Cabal,
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YouMa Proficient

YouMa

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Toiler on the sea is brilliant the stranglers were in a class of there own,im not interested in anything after hugh left though.Im sure a lot of the agressive sound that came from the stranglers and other bands like them was amphetamine based (not to menion ripped cones) I also think the sound was a product of the feeling of the times,it will never be reproduced,and most modern "punk bands" sound like boyzone to me,gutless and pish.Ooops forgot about simon gallup out the cure he made me switch over from guitar to bass.

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Cabal Apprentice

Cabal

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[quote name='Deep Thought' post='298707' date='Oct 3 2008, 04:28 PM']Have you seen the new lineup? I totally lost interest after Cornwell left-before, in fact, as the last time I saw the original lineup live they were bloody awful (JJ was totally inaudible), and I never bought '10'. Not at all interested until 2006 when they played near me at Helston. Out of curiousity I bought a ticket, only later finding out that Roberts had left. I was blown away, almost as good as seeing the old band-better, in fact by miles than the last time I'd seen them. I think Baz is doing a superb job filling Cornwell's shoes, and I'm back to being the huge Stranglers fan I was 20 years ago. Roll on the 24th in Exeter!
I've finally come to the sad realisation that I will never be JJ Burnel, and thus am trying to do my own thing in blues and R'n'B, with hopefully a little hint of JJ thrown in.[/quote]
I haven't seen the new Stranglers lineup no, but i'm going on 25th, the day after yourself, so we'll be able to compare notes. :-) I saw the Paul Roberts lineup a couple of time, but it just made me really sad. I've never been one to deny a band the right to progress, hate that "i only like the early stuff" attitude, but i just couldn't get my head around The Stranglers without Hugh, and it didn't help that Paul Roberts was sh*te either. That said, i thought "Norfolk Coast" was a great album. I agree that La Folie was the last great bass album, although i think he continued to do interesting stuff, just not as prominent in the mix and without "the sound". Great sound on Norfolk Coast and Suite XVI though.

My own main bass influences would be Burnel/Entwistle/Lemmy. I've always tried not to plagiarise of course, tried to develop my own thing, but seeing as so few other bass players have ever really gone there, comparisons do arise. I see myself as carrying on the tradition of those players, because not many others do. I reckon its a forgotten way of playing the instrument, and it should be kept alive. Its alway been a problem for me trying to find lead guitarists who can tolerate my playing, and its not because i'm crap either, before anyone says it. :-) They just don't get it, and they don't want to. It must shatter their cosy little illusions of the lead guitarist's ultimate superiority in the band. Its been a millstone to be honest, but i've always stuck to my "lead bass" guns.

Anyone else with a similar approach had the same problem?

As i recall, my first bassline was PIL's Public Image, a great one for a beginner.

Cheers,

Jake M

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silverfoxnik Grand Master

silverfoxnik

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[quote name='Jake_M' post='298219' date='Oct 3 2008, 02:34 AM']Here's one for all the old punks out there.

JJ Burnel of The Stranglers was the reason i first picked up a bass guitar. My personal all time favourite bass guitar album would have to be Black & White.

For me, bass players back in the day did stuff you just don't hear anymore, unless you come round my house that is. :-)

To name but a few: Barry Adamson, JJ Burnel, Bruce Foxton, Lee Gorman, Steve Hanley, Peter Hook, David Jay, Segs Jennings, Lemmy, Stuart Morrow, Tracy Pew, Paul Raven, Steve Severin, Algy Ward, Jah Wobble, Youth.

Anyone care to add to the list?

I reckon the whole "post-punk" era in particular was a great time for bass players. Killing Joke, Birthday Party, Bauhaus, Cure, Joy Division, Sisters Of Mercy, Theatre Of Hate etc. Songs that were obviously written around strong bass riffs, always loud in the mix.

Anyone's else's first bass line Love Song, Public Image, Peaches or Warhead?

Cheers,

Jake M[/quote]

+1

Great thread!

Love Barry Adamson's playing, especially on Magazine's first album 'Real Life'.. Did some gigs with The Stranglers in 1980 and JJ Burnell was fantastic, as were the band themselves.. Definitely +1s for Norman Watt-Roy, Bruce Thomas & Bruce Foxton, especially for writing great pop basslines that were hooks in themselves.

Got to throw in a +1 regarding XTC and mustn't leave out Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads - so groovy!! Can't remember the bass player in The Cure but the the basslines on their first album were brilliant..

But my all time favourite was Leigh Gorman from BowWowWow. Totally unique style and sound and a real inspiration to me!

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Marky L Mentor

Marky L

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Wow!! How did I miss this thread?!?!

I was fretting (ha ha) that Paul Gray was going to be missed out. His era in the Damned was their most innovative and his playing was utterly fantastic. Inventive, melodic and driving. Better than those before or after BUT.. Algy's sound on MGE.. oh man! That and JJ's sounds are just awesome. So hard and aggressive and in your face. I believe Algy used a metal pick or was it a coin to get that evil sound!

For me THE JJ tone is also from the Black & White/Raven period. The intro to Toiler needs to played on the old stereo at 11 and get the neighbours complaining!

Bauhaus and David J (also check his stuff in Love & Rockets).. wicked fretless sounds with distortion and god knows what else going on at times. A very inventive band with a humour that many miss and with so many influences, funk, dub, glam.. mmmm

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Cabal Apprentice

Cabal

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I was thinking about my own comment that JJ Burnel was the reason i first picked up a bass guitar, and what a thing it is to have actually inspired others to play an instument in the first place. Literally thouands of bass players of my generation wouldn't have been it weren't for the influence of The Man. All those lives changed forever, including my own.

I must have been fourteen years old when i first picked up a bass and formed my first band (of a sort) with the three other school punks. I didn't even want to be the bass player at first. My mate claimed lead guitar before me, i wasn't interested in drums and i didn't have the confidence to sing. So that just left bass, and i wasn't keen. I could never even hear the bass at the time, didn't understand what it did and couldn't see any point in it. I thought i'd copped for the booby prize.

Then i heard The Stranglers, and realised i didn't HAVE to play like that, and we all know the rest.

I had to get a paper round to pay for my first bass, a sunburst Precision copy with the single word "Rock" on the headstock. Its no longer with us unfortunately. I sprayed it metallic blue without bothering to take it to bits first. It was kind of hard to play with the neck and strings covered in car paint, so i sawed it in half.

How i wish i hadn't done that now. :-)

Cheers, Jake M

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bremen Mentor

bremen

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[quote name='rjb' post='298338' date='Oct 3 2008, 08:44 AM']Obviously Holger Czukay from Can deserves a mention. Indeed, it was Can that provided much of the initial influence to Punk/Post Punk.[/quote]

He was one of my inspirations, and must have influenced me but I'm not sure how. No-one else sounds like him.

[url="http://www.furious.com/perfect/holger.html"]http://www.furious.com/perfect/holger.html[/url] :



WHERE [sic] YOU SURPRISED WHEN THE PUNK MOVEMENT CAME ALONG AND PEOPLE LIKE JOHNNY LYDON AND THE BUZZCOCKS SAID THEY WERE BIG FANS OF CAN?

I was more than surprised actually. I remember that in England I met Jah Wobble, of Public Image at that time, who had a six pack of beer. I didn't know what to think of him at the time but he said 'come on, I've booked a studio in Soho somewhere.' We recorded our first piece 'How Much Are They.' It was in a cellar of a chinese restaurant. Someone came in, it was two American girls who thought that this was a part of the restaurant. The engineer had an intercom microphone on to record this conversation. They were asking us these questions like 'how much are they?' This is the kind of interaction I like. When it comes up to this point with these spontaneous things, I think you're lucky when this happens. I should kiss the feet of these two girls.

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WHUFC BASS Mentor

WHUFC BASS

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[quote name='Jake_M' post='298219' date='Oct 3 2008, 01:34 AM']Anyone's else's first bass line Love Song, Public Image, Peaches or Warhead?[/quote]

Warhead was for me! I love the UK Subs. They're playing this Sunday in London which I'll be going to. Other first basslines include "Wonderful World" by the 4Skins, "Tube Disasters" Flux of Pink Indians and "When ya Get Drafted" by the Dead Kennedys.

[quote name='markytbass' post='298348' date='Oct 3 2008, 08:49 AM']What about Norman Watt-Roy and Bruce Thomas?[/quote]

Two fantastic bass players, especially Bruce Thomas. I really rate his playing and his sound too. Get Happy is an absoloute milestone for new wave basslines.

As for JJ Brunel. He carried my bass amp into a rehearsal studio on the Holloway Road back in the 1980s. He's a really nice down to earth geezer.

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4000 Veteran

4000

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[quote name='Jake_M' post='299053' date='Oct 3 2008, 11:52 PM']My own main bass influences would be Burnel/Entwistle/Lemmy. I've always tried not to plagiarise of course, tried to develop my own thing, but seeing as so few other bass players have ever really gone there, comparisons do arise.
Cheers,

Jake M[/quote]

Well I draw upon influences from all over the place, and at home noodle around like a (very) poor man's Matt Garrison (or possibly more like if Yngwie was a bassplayer- which of course he is), but stick me in a room with a band, and the Lem/JJ/Entwistle/Squire thing comes right out. I guess that style is in many ways [i]my[/i] style. Like Nik, my fave from that period is Leigh Gorman (I don't count Lemmy who in his Hawkwind days was my main early influence), but he was closely followed by JJ. However I was also massively influenced by Phil Lynott and Geddy Lee (Squire and others came later), but Geddy is again that distorted, melodic, aggressive bass thing. That's always been my thing, driving, melodic, big, slightly distorted bass. Not that I only like that of course ( I love people like Clarke, Zender and McVie for instance), but I guess that's where my heart lies. I'm slightly jealous about the Hiwatt BTW. ;)

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Pookus Contributor

Pookus

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JJ Burnel also inspired me to pick up the bass. Soon after I discovered Can, so Holger Czukay became a big influence (mainly Delay 1968, Ege Bamyasi, Tago Mago). Has anyone mentioned Dave Alexander from the Stooges yet? I would say he would also be a major influence. If you want to check out my band on myspace see if you can spot the influences!

[url="http://www.myspace.com/gentlebenbandgb"]http://www.myspace.com/gentlebenbandgb[/url]

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Kirky Proficient

Kirky

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[quote name='WHUFC BASS' post='376561' date='Jan 11 2009, 01:02 AM']Thats a really good shout, fantastic bass player...

[url="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jd-VSJ0pQ9g"]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jd-VSJ0pQ9g[/url][/quote]

+1 I was lucky enough to see him play in Firehose many years ago. One of the best gigs ever.

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