Now that services like iTunes let you buy one song at a time, compiling a list of good tracks from forgettable (or forgotten) albums seems like a good idea.
First off:
Bonnie Tyler's
Faster than the Speed of Night(1983)
Interesting cast of players: Max Weinberg on drums, Rick Derringer on guitar and a bass player called Larry Fast handle most of the work (including the classic Total Eclipse of the Heart) except the track that follows it on the CD, called
It's a jungle out there with Hiram Bullock on guitar, Paul Shaeffer on Keys, Steve Jordan on drums and Will Lee on Bass. The production values are audibly higher on this track and the bass line is a smokin' shuffle with almost like reggae like in its inflections. It's a classic example of playing the spaces and just a great feat of musicianship.
People who are curious about fretless slap bass should check out Dream Academy's debut (1985). Their biggest hit
Life in a Northern Town is the opening track and most bass duties are handled by Guy Pratt, who did some work with Pink Floyd. Small wonder he's on, since the album was produced by David Gilmour. Anyway, the track
Bound to Be features a still relatively unknown guy called Pino Palladino and the groove and slap are very cool and obviously played on a fretless. The bassline makes the track. Peter Buck makes a cameo on this album too.
Those are my two. Others? By the way, they can be from other decades too.
