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07-10-2006, 04:59 PM
| | Howzit brah | | Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Kauai, HI | | | Colin Moulding
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I searched and he's been mentioned a few times but I can't believe he's never had his own thread here?! Granted - some of XTC's music is cheesy and just not that great but his playing was pretty amazing IMO... and his Tone. I've been wanting to make a little compilation for a while now and am just getting down to it. What are your favorite albums? Black Sea, English Settlement? and how about favorite songs or favorite 'bass songs'?
I've already got a bunch of songs and my favorites are probably the usual suspects:
Melt the Guns
This World Over
Senses Working Overtime
Making Plans for Nigel
Generals and Majors
All Along the Watchtower (a very funky rendition)
what else do I need???
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Last edited by Muzique Fann : 07-10-2006 at 05:11 PM.
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07-10-2006, 08:28 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Boston, MA | | | I'll grant you that some of tehir production can sound a bit dated, but I'm afraid I haven't discovered much XTC that's "just not that great". I'm a fan, though. One of my proudest posessions is a letter from Mr. Moulding that I received while on tour and playing in Swindon, XTC's home town. I had mentioned the band in an interview with the local paper and had a very nice letter waiting for me at the bar- as well as Andy Partridge's daughter, Holly.
Anyway, he's just one of the best bas splayers in pop- incredibly musical bass lines with a fine sense of counterpoint. I'd say that the major thing missing form yoru list is the "Dukes Of Stratosfear" material which is a virtual lexicon of 60's bass styles. There's great bass playing all over Mummer, English Settlenment and through to Skylarking. I personally even love Nonesuch and Apple Venus. He's just the business, isn't he?
By the way, for anybody reading this who doesn't know who XTC is: absolutely amazing pop rock band that put out 10 awesome albums in the 80's and early 90's, a total cult band with ridiculously obsessed fans. Their only real American hits being "Mayor Of Simpleton" and "Dear God", but there's about 10 more that got significant airplay in Europe. WELL worth checking out.
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07-10-2006, 10:25 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Los Angeles | | | ++1 on Colin Moulding. XTC did not always hit home runs, but they created many great tunes that are uniquely their own, beautiflly realizied in a band concept. Moulding, and the bass player from Elvis Costello's band in the late 70's through the '80's, are my favorite pop bass players from that period in the context of devising parts that really complement the tunes. |
07-10-2006, 10:32 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: San Francisco, CA (finally!) | | | I love Colin's work and some of my favorite lines are:
Rocket from a Bottle
Watchtower
Helicopter
Melt the Guns
actually there's too many to mention. Their body of work is pretty large and he did so many great lines on White Music, really quirky stuff on Go 2, then pretty much everything on the next 3 or 4 records...Nonsuch and Oranges and Lemons are great also, check out Scarecrow People! |
07-10-2006, 10:56 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Edinboro, PA | | | Yeah, I gotta give a shoutout to Helicopter, that's just a great song. Drums and Wires is their best album, followed by Oranges and Lemons, IMO.
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07-11-2006, 05:42 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: New York City | | | +1 to Colin, a fine player, and a very good song writer.... |
07-11-2006, 06:38 AM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Last House on the Block-Texas | | | Great bassist, great songwriter, great vocalist. XTC's production has been all over the place through the years, but my favorite CD's are Skylarking and Nonesuch. Oranges and Lemons has some cool stuff too.
Favorite tracks:
Earn Enough for Us
My Bird Performs
Mayor of Simpleton
Peter Pumpkinhead
The Smartest Monkeys
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07-11-2006, 09:37 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: San Francisco, CA (finally!) | | | although he has written some WEIRD stuff:
Bungalow
Set Myself on Fire
there's more... |
07-11-2006, 02:00 PM
| | Pat's the best! | | Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Northern Virginia, USA | | | Find the Sam Phillips albums he played on. Amazing lines. |
07-11-2006, 03:37 PM
| | Howzit brah | | Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Kauai, HI | | | Nice - I've got a little more digging to do.
I guess this could have gone in recordings too, oh well.
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The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side.
Hunter S. Thompson
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07-11-2006, 06:28 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: San Francisco, CA (finally!) | | | weird Colin stuff cont'd...
Cross Wires
Do What You Do (love the chromatic bass break after the 'solo'!)
Buzzcity Talking
his early stuff was really weird. He's got some great ones, though; I am the Audience, Nigel, Generals and Majors, everything he wrote on English Settlement.
Andy's definitely the better writer. I really love a lot of his songs. |
07-11-2006, 07:01 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: LONDON UK | | | Weird XTC story: Damon Albarn hired Andy Partridge to produce the second Blur album because he liked "Generals and Majors" and "Making Plans For Nigel". When Damon told Alan this halfway through the demo sessions Alan remarked that both of these songs were in fact written by Colin Moulding. OOPS!! |
07-11-2006, 07:21 PM
| | I call shotgun! | | Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Columbia MD USA | | Glad to see a thread on my favorite bass player ever. 
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07-13-2006, 11:14 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Malmö, Sweden | | | Moulding is brilliant, so he is. Can't say that I have any favourite bass lines though, 'cause there are so many good ones, and, more importantly, so many good songs. Black Sea and White Music have most of my favourite tunes, and "Mechanic Dancing" from Go 2 always puts a smile on my face. Sadly enough, I think they went downhill after Black Sea, and I haven't liked an entire album since. |
07-14-2006, 07:57 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota | | | An overlooked player. Loved Skylarking and Black Sea.
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07-14-2006, 12:11 PM
| | Registered User
Owner/designer; SGD Lutherie | | Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Montclair, NJ, USA | | One of my favorite players, and bands! Drums and Wires, Black Sea, and English Settlement are filled with great bass lines!
Some of my faves (in no particular order):
Respectable Street
Rocket From a Bottle
Towers of London
Paper and Iron
Burning with Optimism's Flame
When Your Near Me...
Roads Girdle the Globe
Scissor Man
Runaways
Senses Working...
No Thugs in Our House
Yacht Dance
Leisure
Knuckle Down
Down in the Cockpit
Too Many Cooks...
Punch and Judy
I can go on...
Colin has also written some of their best, and worst songs. "Standing in for Joe"? I don't think so!
What a great band though! I got to see them (with Barry Andrews) open for the Talking Heads back when Go2 came out.  Too bad Dave quit... 
Now if they'd just record some new music.... |
07-15-2006, 01:36 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: San Francisco, CA (finally!) | | no need. That's a great list!! A 'Best of Colin Moulding' for sure! |
08-08-2006, 07:21 AM
| | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by BASLONDON Weird XTC story: Damon Albarn hired Andy Partridge to produce the second Blur album because he liked "Generals and Majors" and "Making Plans For Nigel". When Damon told Alan this halfway through the demo sessions Alan remarked that both of these songs were in fact written by Colin Moulding. OOPS!! | But what did Andy say? |
08-08-2006, 07:29 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Mar 2000 Location: Metro NYC | | | +1 for Colin Moulding. I'm a fan. I'm particularly fond of Mummer, Skylarking, and Oranges and Lemons, though there's great bass stuff all over XTC's body of work.
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08-08-2006, 10:41 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Cincinnati OH | | | I think of Colin Moulding as an evolution of Sir Paul with that great musicality more developed technique...his playing and approach are outstanding and continually improving IMO.
Last edited by nysbob : 08-08-2006 at 11:40 AM.
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