Blackie Lawless is Good

[DoggBisket]

The notorious front man from WASP. He might not be a bass soloist but he plays what the song requires and is one of the most under rated bassists. Nuf sed.

[TheDarkReaver]

I am writing a song. A song of total cacophony that it will sound like the world is falling down around my ears.

I plan to have the bass parts recorded by a tone deaf monkey. The monkey will play exactly what the song requires and thus will become one of the most underated bassists.

Tone deaf monkey is good. nuff said.

[Greevus]

I love Blackie's voice. Saw him open for the 'solo' Black Sabbath and he wasn't actually playing.
There was a roadie plugged in behind the curtain! I met Joey Belladona from Anthrax shortly after and they had just been kicked off the tour. Joey said he couldn't stand Blackie/WASP primarily for the fact he wasn't even plugged in. He confirmed it for me, as I noticed during the show that Blackie was pointing and yanking his arm around when bass parts were going. That being said, I LOVE the first WASP album!! Who knows if he can really play or not??? At least Gene Simmons and Nikki Sixx plug in!

[John Wentzien]

Blaaaaaackie

[RCCollins]

Originally Posted by Greevus

I saw him open for the 'solo' Black Sabbath and he wasn't actually playing. There was a roadie plugged in behind the curtain! I met Joey Belladona from Anthrax shortly after and they had just been kicked off the tour. He confirmed it for me, as I noticed during the show that Blackie was pointing and yanking his arm around when bass parts were going.

Quoted so we can all hate on this dork

[Bryan R. Tyler]

Originally Posted by DoggBisket

The notorious front man from WASP. He might not be a bass soloist but he plays what the song requires and is one of the most under rated bassists. Nuf sed.

Bad hair metal songs require boring, uninspired bass parts?

[hrgiger]

bringing this thread up again, IMHO Blackie played some cool basic bass lines on their debut album, W.A.S.P. on capitol records, 1984. He also played a cool bass that he designed himself, you may have heard of it, the BC Rich "Widow."

Also IMHO, one of the downfalls of Blackie is that he liked to model himself after others too much, especially Kiss. I saw them on their "Last Command" tour with Kiss in 1986. Right during and after that tour, all of a sudden Blackie becomes Paul Stanley! Wearing the same boots, playing a guitar now, and doing more waving, etc. than playing - that was Paul Stanley's trademark (esp. in music videos, perhaps Blackie studied them in the evenings.) So he started out as Gene (with the blood etc. and the bass) and then became Paul. In the process he fired one of the honest-to-god guitar heros of the 80's, Randy Piper - and for what? So he could wave his hands around and not even play guitar at all half the time, leaving his band without a killer guitar duo that had been a secret weapon since the band's inception.





Blackie with one of his widow basses around 1984

[Tituscrow]

Hmmm, where to start. Blackie dropped his (attempts at) bass playing, deeming it "the tool of ignorance", then recruited the almighty Johnny Rod (!). I think that should be enough to highlight any pretence he had of anything resembling credentials. Good singer though, even if he has gone all 'born-again' on us...

[rtslinger]

Yeah Blackie kicks a@@ amazing voice for rock'n roll as a guitar player turned to bass after this WASP bass player split in the early 80's he does what he needs to do for the guitar riff happy songs he writes always a fan!

[Thundar]

Originally Posted by Tituscrow

Hmmm, where to start. Blackie dropped his (attempts at) bass playing, deeming it "the tool of ignorance", then recruited the almighty Johnny Rod (!). I think that should be enough to highlight any pretence he had of anything resembling credentials. Good singer though, even if he has gone all 'born-again' on us...

+1 ... The day WASP got a "real" bass player! Johnny was The Man!
Notice too the presence of the great Frankie Banali on drums in this video

W.A.S.P. - The Real Me - YouTube

[jaywa]

Oh come on... wearing a codpiece with a Skilsaw blade embedded has to count for something...

[loopmantra]

too much of blood spitting,and a little less bass playing, this guy...
he reminds of a typical heavy metal bass playing singer who thinks riding the "e" string is all that it takes...
i would rather go for Araya T. then this,middleaged-crisis muppet.

[L.A. BASS]

Mike Duda kicks ass!!! He has been part of W.A.S.P. for almost 2 decades now!!! He now holds the thrown next to Blackie as the longest remaining member of the band in their history. He also moonlights with Stephen Pearcy of RATT and Dizzy from Guns & Roses among many others. Above and beyond all of this information, he is an amazing bass player to watch live, full of energy and really draws in your attention. A real lost art for most in the metal scene these days. He can play so many other types of music and keeps busy doing tons of session work in L.A. Trust me, he is way more than what you see in W.A.S.P. not belittleing that gig. But people have a way of only seeing things that are presented to them and not looking beyond or more in depth!

Whether your a fan of W.A.S.P. or of heavy metal or of non of the above, you still have to admire that it takes a talent pool that is pretty deep to get that kind of gig as a sideman and or become a member of a band that famous. Those guys see a lot of players with crazy skills walk through the door at that level when they need someone. But it's always more than just playing at that point! So, the next time you decide to have an opinion about a musician of that stature, try and remember to think of the bigger picture and what got them to that point to begin with and you will have more respect for more players.

With that said, W.A.S.P. rules and so does Mike Duda and he's a super cool guy!!!

[TNCreature]

Kee-Riiist!