Post by petrolino on Aug 25, 2020 23:00:57 GMT
Punk Bass : Anarchy In The U.K.
Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols / Rich Kids)
"I don't want to just play the bass. I like playing the bass when someone else is singing. I've finally worked it out. All the songs I've ever written, I've written on an acoustic guitar so I just want a chance to sing them and put a record out. Whether people like it or don't like it, at least they get to hear it and decide. That's my main frustration. Hopefully, then people start seeing you as an artist in your own right and not just a side man."
- Glen Matlock, Pop Matters
'Pretty Vacant' - Sex Pistols
Paul Simonon (The Clash / Havana 3AM / The Good, The Bad, & The Queen)
"Paul Simonon, the Clash. Art student naively learns to play bass guitar in such a way that he makes it accessible for everyone! F*cking punk rock! Now add the cool factor and the whole package becomes everything I want to be. My de-facto target player when I'm in doubt."
- Jay Bentley, There's Something Hard In There
'Remote Control' - The Clash
Tony James (London SS / Chelsea / Generation X / Sigue Sigue Sputnik / Sisters Of Mercy / Carbon/Silicon)
“The reason we formed groups was because, like, two years ago, there was, like, no exciting groups about, right? The vision we had of like, the Stones, the Who, Mott the Hoople, the New York Dolls, really didn’t exist on stage, OK? It was like we’d go to see groups and everyone just sat there, like, spending your time watching some dopey group. So like, our vision was, like, a really exciting Rock ‘n’ Roll group.”
- Tony James, 'Punk : The Early Years'
'Paradise West' - Generation X
Gaye Advert (The Adverts)
"I’ve always been drawn to skulls. I try to get away from them and they always seem to come back again!!! I’ve been doing this electronic photo-layering. Obviously I didn’t take the photographs of myself. That was a kind chap called Jeremy who took them at a live gig at The Nashville in 1977 or 1978. He doesn’t mind me using them. The background photographs I took in the Czech Republic.
I like layering photographs electronically and then eating away at bits, making whole new artworks. It’s a nice thing to do in winter when it’s dark and gloomy and you can’t really see what you’re doing. You can carry on working on a laptop into the night."
- Gaye Advert, Brighton And Hove News
'Fate Of Criminals' - The Adverts
Gina Birch (The Raincoats / The Hangovers)
"I call Gina Birch the Raincoats’ bassist, but it might be premature. At the time the band formed, she was an art student, and until about two weeks before their first show, did not actually own a bass guitar. The inspiration to start playing music came, in true punk fashion, from watching other people who didn’t know how to play music get in front of an audience and play it anyway-- in this case, the Slits, a mischievous punk-reggae trio whose frontwoman, Ari Up, was only 15 years old.
Birch had seen the show with a Portuguese doctorate student named Ana da Silva, who became the Raincoats’ guitarist. (In several interviews, Birch-- who has described herself as “whiter than white”-- recalls, almost wonderstruck, da Silva’s tan.) Eventually, the Slits’ drummer, a Spanish journeywoman who Clash bassist Paul Siminon nicknamed “Palmolive” because he found it difficult to say “Paloma,” joined, then turned around and recruited a violinist named Vicky Aspinall through an ad pasted on the wall of a bookstore. “Female musician wanted,” the ad read. “No style but strength.”
Punk, especially in its infancy-- and especially in England-- was built on loud, confrontational statements. A sampling of early English punk lyrics include the lines, “I wanna riot,” “I wanna be anarchy,” “Oh bondage, up yours,” and “AHHHHHHHHHHHH.” Disciples of punk wore mohawks, safety pins, brightly colored hair, and whatever else they hoped might get the attention of a society they simultaneously hated and yet desperately wanted to be acknowledged by."
Birch had seen the show with a Portuguese doctorate student named Ana da Silva, who became the Raincoats’ guitarist. (In several interviews, Birch-- who has described herself as “whiter than white”-- recalls, almost wonderstruck, da Silva’s tan.) Eventually, the Slits’ drummer, a Spanish journeywoman who Clash bassist Paul Siminon nicknamed “Palmolive” because he found it difficult to say “Paloma,” joined, then turned around and recruited a violinist named Vicky Aspinall through an ad pasted on the wall of a bookstore. “Female musician wanted,” the ad read. “No style but strength.”
Punk, especially in its infancy-- and especially in England-- was built on loud, confrontational statements. A sampling of early English punk lyrics include the lines, “I wanna riot,” “I wanna be anarchy,” “Oh bondage, up yours,” and “AHHHHHHHHHHHH.” Disciples of punk wore mohawks, safety pins, brightly colored hair, and whatever else they hoped might get the attention of a society they simultaneously hated and yet desperately wanted to be acknowledged by."
- Mike Powell, Pitchfork
'No One's Little Girl' - The Raincoats
Jean-Jacques Burnel (The Stranglers)
"When I was 14 or 15, my parents – who were French – had a restaurant in Godalming near Guildford, and there was a pub there called the Angel which ran a blues club every Sunday night. I was smuggled in by my older friends and I saw Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, and Free before they were called Free, Duster Bennett, Aynsley Dunbar. Chicken Shack… all before they had recording contracts."
- Jean-Jacques Burnel, Guitar World
'Peaches' - The Stranglers
Bruce Foxton (The Jam / Sharp / Stiff Little Fingers)
"Sometimes I wish I hadn’t have done it, especially after the show when I’ve got back ache or leg ache (Laughs). But again it’s not choreographed. It has become, I suppose, a bit on the set where I jump up. But I can’t help myself. It really is, without sounding pretentious, where the music takes me and I get excited, and I can’t help it, I love it."
- Bruce Foxton, Penny Black Music
'The Place I Love' - The Jam
Simon Gallup (Lockjaw / The Magspies / The Cure)
"Simon Gallup was The Cure’s bass player in the definitive early line up (Gallup had first crossed paths with Robert Smith while playing in another band, Lockjaw, at the Rocket pub in Crawley in February 1978). Always volatile, the relationship between frontman and bassist had taken a turn for the worse recording 'Pornography'.
Drugs and alcohol were becoming a dangerous crutch for the musicians. To further darken the mood, someone had suggested that they explore disturbing imagery (they have never gone into the details). It added up to six months of unexpurgated hell. “During Pornography, the band was falling apart, because of the drinking and drugs. I was pretty seriously strung out a lot of the time,” Smith confessed to Rolling Stone. “I know for a fact that we recorded some of the songs in the toilets to get a really horrible feeling, because the toilets were dirty and grim. Simon doesn’t remember any of that, but I have a photo of me sitting on a toilet, in my clothes, trying to patch up of some of the lyrics. It’s a tragic photo.”
“We immersed ourselves in the more sordid side of life, and it did have a very detrimental effect on everyone in the group,” he continued. “We got ahold of some very disturbing films and imagery to kind of put us in the mood. Afterwards, I thought, ‘Was it really worth it?’ We were only in our really early twenties, and it shocked us more than I realised – how base people could be, how evil people could be.“
Drugs and alcohol were becoming a dangerous crutch for the musicians. To further darken the mood, someone had suggested that they explore disturbing imagery (they have never gone into the details). It added up to six months of unexpurgated hell. “During Pornography, the band was falling apart, because of the drinking and drugs. I was pretty seriously strung out a lot of the time,” Smith confessed to Rolling Stone. “I know for a fact that we recorded some of the songs in the toilets to get a really horrible feeling, because the toilets were dirty and grim. Simon doesn’t remember any of that, but I have a photo of me sitting on a toilet, in my clothes, trying to patch up of some of the lyrics. It’s a tragic photo.”
“We immersed ourselves in the more sordid side of life, and it did have a very detrimental effect on everyone in the group,” he continued. “We got ahold of some very disturbing films and imagery to kind of put us in the mood. Afterwards, I thought, ‘Was it really worth it?’ We were only in our really early twenties, and it shocked us more than I realised – how base people could be, how evil people could be.“
- Ed Power, The Independent
'Another Journey By Train' - The Cure
Mick Karn (Japan / Dali's Car)
"Mick Karn rose to fame as a member of the group Japan and played the bass guitar with such a subtle, intelligent artistry that he became one of the most highly respected British musicians of the 1980s. Although Karn's time in the pop spotlight was relatively brief, he continued to make adventurous music throughout his life."
- Garth Cartwright, The Guardian
'Communist China' - Japan
Graham Lewis (Wire / Dome / FITTED)
"Wire's similarities to the other new groups gigging around London in 1977 were superficial: they witnessed punk's foundational moments; they had short hair and straight trousers; they played venues where punk bands performed; their songs were short, fast and noisy; they played the usual instruments, not entirely competently, and they had an intimidating live presence. They even briefly had punk aliases: Colin Newman was Klive Nice (in contrast with Johnny Rotten), Graham Lewis was Hornsey Transfer (a more abstruse pseudonym referencing his art-school background, nomadism and love of football). However, Wire's differences were more striking, as journalists noted almost immediately. "No Pun(k)s Please, We're Wire" proclaimed their first NME cover in December 1977. Wire weren't like the other punks: they shared some of the vocabulary but spoke another language."
- Wilson Neate, 'Pink Flag (33 1/3)'
'106 Beats That' - Wire
Tessa Pollitt (The Slits)
"There were so few female role models for us, and we felt that really, there was just something we had to do. There were so many limitations on women musicians that had to be broken. We didn't want to be labelled or categorised at all. People like to label and categorise: it makes things so much easier for people doesn't it? But we weren't having any of it.
A lot of people were disturbed or unsettled by us. We were too unpredictable, explosive even. But you know I wouldn't like to say I was even a musician at that time. The first Slits gig we played, we played with The Clash. It was in Harlesden. I had only picked up the bass two weeks before. I wasn't a musician. I was terrified, but you know I was just 17, and at that age you have so much energy and excitement in you, it carries you.
I remember at one point onstage, me and Palmolive (The Slits' drummer) looked at each other in amazement as if to say, "What the f*ck are you doing?" We were all playing a different song from each other! But we got away with so much, and the audience didn't care. The energy was what mattered. We were playing from our heart. Literally. With spirit. Our spirit was there."
- Tessa Pollitt, 3:AM
'Earthbeat' - The Slits
Steve Severin (Siouxsie And The Banshees / The Glove)
"Co-opting his stage name from the VU classic “Venus in Furs” the songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist, recording artist, soundtrack composer, and bassist born Steven John Bailey co-founded the iconic goth – post punk rockers Siouxsie and the Banshees.
A mostly no-frills roots player who uses “upstrokes” with a plectrum on a MusicMan Stingray bass, Steve Severin employs a myriad of ethereal effects ranging from flange, chorus, delay and countless variations thereof to create a signature tonal character."
A mostly no-frills roots player who uses “upstrokes” with a plectrum on a MusicMan Stingray bass, Steve Severin employs a myriad of ethereal effects ranging from flange, chorus, delay and countless variations thereof to create a signature tonal character."
- Thomas Semioli, Bass Player
'Monitor' - Siouxsie And The Banshees
Jah Wobble (Public Image Ltd.)
“Jah Wobble’s basslines became the human heartbeat in PiL’s music; the rollercoaster carriage that simultaneously cocooned you and transported you through the terror zone.”
- Simon Reynolds, 'Rip It Up And Start Again'
'Annalisa' - Public Image Ltd.
Youth (Killing Joke / Brilliant / The Fireman)
"The mind-bending saga of Killing Joke. Involves maggots, burned flats, gay brothels, police raids, black magic, electric shock therapy, pig’s heads, self-harm, decapitated wax figures, the Great Pyramid, Iceland, leylines, wizards with tattooed faces, Paul McCartney (bassist in the Beatles), immensely powerful music… and the restoration of antique furniture."
- Peter Watts, Uncut
'Primitive' - Killing Joke
Barry Adamson (Magazine / Visage / The Birthday Party / Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds)
"Since the late 1970s, the musician, composer, photographer and filmmaker Barry Adamson has carved out his own idiosyncratic path in music. Born and raised in the Moss Side area of Manchester, Adamson emerged from the punk/ post punk scene as an innovative bass player, first utilised to great effect by Magazine (1977-1981) and then as a founding member of Nick Cave’s Bad Seeds (1984-1986), whom he would briefly rejoin for the 2013 album Push The Sky Away album and the subsequent tour.
Following his departure from the Bad Seeds in 1986, Adamson announced the start of his solo career with his 1988 dynamic reinvention of Elmer Bernstein’s main theme from the 1956 film The Man With The Golden Arm. This single gave due notice of Adamson’s formidable talents, as a producer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist, and indicated the path that his career would follow. His debut album Moss Side Story (1989, Mute) was presented as a soundtrack album for a contemporary film noir crime motion picture that did not exist (long before this had become a trope) – the listener provided the visuals.
Following his departure from the Bad Seeds in 1986, Adamson announced the start of his solo career with his 1988 dynamic reinvention of Elmer Bernstein’s main theme from the 1956 film The Man With The Golden Arm. This single gave due notice of Adamson’s formidable talents, as a producer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist, and indicated the path that his career would follow. His debut album Moss Side Story (1989, Mute) was presented as a soundtrack album for a contemporary film noir crime motion picture that did not exist (long before this had become a trope) – the listener provided the visuals.
Early in his career, Adamson’s evocative soundscapes inevitably attracted the attention of film makers, keen to co-opt his inherent skill for mood manipulation, leading to him composing tracks and soundtracks for a number of motion pictures. These included Derek Jarman’s The Last Of England (1987), Carl Colpaert’s neo-noir Delusion (1991), Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers (1994), key score pieces for David Lynch’s crime mystery Lost Highway (1996), Michel Blanc’s The Escort (1999) and Carol Morley’s drama-documentary Dreams Of A Life (2011)."
- Ian Johnston, The Quietus
'The Great Beautician In The Sky' - Magazine
Dave Allen (Gang Of Four / Shriekback / King Swamp / The Elastic Purejoy / Low Pop Suicide)
"I always enjoyed the element of humour in Gang of Four. I remember when I was producing Killing Joke (their 2003 self-titled album) and Jaz Coleman the singer said, “What's that song about, I Love A Man In A Uniform? It’s crap!” I remember being quite annoyed at the time. Killing Joke are not known for their humour. They're not known for their subtlety. Or irony or sarcasm. So it went… [makes whistling noise while wafting hand over his head].
Yes, but you know what, it is a subtle song to the extent that the US Army was thinking of using it in an advert for recruitment in the 80s, but somebody had a word with General So-and-So and that was dropped. Man In Uniform feels – and is – accessible, but if you go just a little bit under the surface, there are other ideas going on. The song does have this rather nice duality between sexual macho-ness and militaristic macho-ness."
Yes, but you know what, it is a subtle song to the extent that the US Army was thinking of using it in an advert for recruitment in the 80s, but somebody had a word with General So-and-So and that was dropped. Man In Uniform feels – and is – accessible, but if you go just a little bit under the surface, there are other ideas going on. The song does have this rather nice duality between sexual macho-ness and militaristic macho-ness."
- Andy Gill, Louder
'I Found That Essence Rare' - Gang Of Four
Robert Blamire (Penetration / The Invisible Girls)
"In 1980, Pauline Murray collaborated with The Invisible Girls, which also included Penetration member Robert Blamire as well as other Manchester musicians such as Vini Reilly, guitarist in The Durutti Column, Steve Hopkins and John Maher (Buzzcocks). Produced by Martin Hannett, the resulting album spawned the singles ‘Dream Sequence’ and ‘Mr.X’, with a further non-album single ‘Searching for Heaven’ released in 1981."
- Nick Linazasoro, Brighton And Hove News
'Nostalgia' - Penetration
Steve Garvey (The Teardrops / Buzzcocks / Motivation / Blue Orchids)
"The Buzzcocks were among the most influential bands to emerge from the UK punk – new wave era with their deft combination of pop melodies as penned by Pete Shelley, stripped down arrangements, and boundless energy.
Employing no frills four-to-the-bar roots passages to creative counter-melodic motifs, the bassist during the band’s glory years was Steve Garvey, who anchored some of their finest singles along with The Buzzcocks' essential early canon: Another Music in a Different Kitchen (1978), Love Bites (1978), and A Different Kind of Tension (1979).
Garvey, who also moonlighted with pop punks The Teardrops (which also included members of The Fall and PIL) and drummer John Maher were a ferocious rhythm section which grooved mightily at a frenetic pace."
Employing no frills four-to-the-bar roots passages to creative counter-melodic motifs, the bassist during the band’s glory years was Steve Garvey, who anchored some of their finest singles along with The Buzzcocks' essential early canon: Another Music in a Different Kitchen (1978), Love Bites (1978), and A Different Kind of Tension (1979).
Garvey, who also moonlighted with pop punks The Teardrops (which also included members of The Fall and PIL) and drummer John Maher were a ferocious rhythm section which grooved mightily at a frenetic pace."
- Thomas Semioli, Bass Player
'Fiction Romance' - Buzzcocks
Peter Hook (Joy Division / New Order / Revenge / Monaco / Freebass)
"He changed the main focus of the "bass" from the low notes to high ringing notes. Everyone had gone there, but Peter Hook STAYED THERE. Not that I would ever want to imitate that, but he made it possible for me to go there if I wanted. I remember distinctly the first time I heard them... "he can't do that, he cant do that! but he is doing that" and I still think about that to this day."
- Jay Bentley, There's Something Hard In There
'Candidate' - Joy Division
Bass Unit
Captain Sensible (Johnny Moped / The Damned)
Algy Ward (The Saints / The Damned / Tank)
Paul Gray (Eddie And The Hot Rods / The Damned / UFO)
Bryn Merrick (Victimize)
Jason 'Moose' Harris (New Model Army / The Damned)
“At one point Lemmy came up to me and said, ‘I wanna have a word with you about your drinking’. Well, when someone like Lemmy says that to you, you listen.
He said, ‘Remember: it’s not what you drink, or how much you drink, it’s how fast you drink.’
I’m pleasantly surprised to have come through it and still be alive.”
- Captain Sensible, Louder
'Liar' - The Damned
Bass Troupe
Andy Warren (Adam And The Ants / The Monochrome Set / Would-Be-Goods)
Leigh Gorman (Adam And The Ants / Bow Wow Wow / Chiefs Of Relief / Soho)
Kevin Mooney (The European Cowards / Adam And The Ants / MAX)
Gary Tibbs (The Vibrators / Adam And The Ants / Zu Zu Sharks / The Fixx)
"Bipolar, the term itself, means up and down, extremes, light and dark. I think any good songwriter has to draw on both – otherwise the music’s going to be pretty boring. So sometimes you have to search inside yourself to go to some pretty dark places to produce the work. So I think that’s why writers and creative people do succumb to it, because they have to go a bit deeper. But the first time I ever heard the term bipolar was in New York City at the end of the Wonderful tour in 1995, when I was told that I had contracted acute mononucleosis from drinking some water at a gig in Mexico. And one of the unfortunate symptoms of mononucleosis is a kind of depression. You get into a state where you literally can’t get out of bed, you can’t move. So unfortunately I did contract that at the time, and that was the first time I actually heard the term. But since then I’ve been fortunate enough to work with some very good medical people, who advised me to try and learn as much about the condition as I can in order to help them with either prescribing medication, or at least knowing what the medication is doing to those parts of the brain that need help. In my case a lot of it is due to overwork, stress and just not stopping. I did not stop from work 1980 until the mid-Nineties. It was like 24/7, and that’s not a sensible thing to do. But nobody could’ve stopped me. There’s that burning desire to create and be top dog, I suppose."
- Adam Ant, Rolling Stone
'Deutscher Girls' - Adam And The Ants
The Showman
Sting (The Police)
'Peanuts' - The Police