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Bass Heroes of Post-Punk
- Thread starter Peter McFerrin
- Start date
Holee sheez--this thread is FULL of WIN!!!
So great to see these great players mentioned.
My absolute first thoughts were Clint Conley and Dave Allen. Then I read through and see that they have both been mentioned several times.
I tell you...when I first started playing, aside from some classic stuff (Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Motorhead) and some hardcore punk I was into at the time, it was really the kind of stuff mentioned here that I copped to learn bass...
The great aforementioned Clint Conley (what a great band, Mission of Burma) and Dave Allen (his work with Go4 and Shriekback was very influential to me) along with David J., Mick Karn, Steve Severin of Siouxsie & the Banshees, Les Pattinson of Echo & the Bunnymen, Leigh Gorman of Bow Wow Wow, Peter Hook (of course), Mike Effing WATT (of course!!!), Andrew Warren of Adam & the Ants, Tracy Pew's pummeling, sinister lines, and fer god's sake, has anyone mentioned Steve Handley of The Fall?
Dave Riley of Big Black and David Wm. Sims of Scratch Acid and Jesus Lizard were also huge for me, but they came a little later...
So great to see these great players mentioned.
My absolute first thoughts were Clint Conley and Dave Allen. Then I read through and see that they have both been mentioned several times.
I tell you...when I first started playing, aside from some classic stuff (Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Motorhead) and some hardcore punk I was into at the time, it was really the kind of stuff mentioned here that I copped to learn bass...
The great aforementioned Clint Conley (what a great band, Mission of Burma) and Dave Allen (his work with Go4 and Shriekback was very influential to me) along with David J., Mick Karn, Steve Severin of Siouxsie & the Banshees, Les Pattinson of Echo & the Bunnymen, Leigh Gorman of Bow Wow Wow, Peter Hook (of course), Mike Effing WATT (of course!!!), Andrew Warren of Adam & the Ants, Tracy Pew's pummeling, sinister lines, and fer god's sake, has anyone mentioned Steve Handley of The Fall?
Dave Riley of Big Black and David Wm. Sims of Scratch Acid and Jesus Lizard were also huge for me, but they came a little later...
Clip of Barry Adamson playing with Magazine.... he uses his thumb the same way Larry Graham does....
+1!
I'm getting giddy as I go back and read more of the posts. So great these people are remembered, and to find out people in my age group have the same feelings about this music.
I also agree about the Echo albums. The first four are indispensible (my fave is Heaven Up Here) but after that, they lost me. I do recall getting the 7" of their "Bring on the Dancing Horses" song, which I thought was pretty lame, but the flipside was called "Over Your Shoulder" and it was pretty killer. It was noisy ala Jesus and Mary Chain. When I heard "Lips Like Sugar" I just couldn't care anymore.
By the way-- has anyone mentioned Will Heggie? He played on the real early Cocteau Twins stuff. Very cool player.
Don't know if anyone mentioned Colin Moulding from XTC, or even if this fits "post-punk" but I'll give it a go in a genre I don't know a whole lot about.
I agree, past a certain point a lot of those bands lost it. IMHO The Cure & Siousxie were among the few bands from that era that consistently put out interesting music up till the present. That's not to say they didn't have at least one bad album
We should create a post-punk/alternative music appreciation society here on TalkBass!
Did he think of all those open string drones and triads way up the neck, which is so typical of Cocteau Twins? If so, then I've shamelessly borrowed his ideas, numerous times
The fact that there are other people out there for whom this music still holds a special place in their hearts, has put a big smile on my face.
Really, if it weren't for all of these bands, I seriously don't think I'd be here today as a "well-adjusted adult". My teen-age years were really difficult emotionally, and hearing this music and playing my own music really saved my life.
I owe all of these folks who made their living creating this music a huge debt of gratitude. I am happy that the least I can do is contribute to the memory of their achievements.
He was on the cover of BP Magazine recently. Interesting how he' playing those Peavey Cirrus basses now. That's of heck of an endorsement!
BTW, I found out from the Steve Severin website that the rig behind him in the photo actually belonged to Simon Gallup. It was during a television appearance with The Cure, and he played through Simon's rig.
Another question for the 80s music pros on here. On that Cure song "Chain of Flowers", what do you think it was? The Stingray, or the black p-bass?
We have started a post-punk/new wave bassists club. Please join us:
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?p=6156338#post6156338
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?p=6156338#post6156338
I nominate Jonas Hellborg for his awesome playing on "Album" (or "Compact Disk," or if you can find it, "Cassette") by PiL.
And it was produced (and co-written) by another incredible bassist, Bill Laswell!
It's also the album that got Ginger Baker to start playing drums again, and Tony Williams is on it too.
Plus, Steve Vai still says it's one of the best albums he played on!
Can you tell how much I love that album?
Also, Youth and Paul Raven from Killing Joke.
And it was produced (and co-written) by another incredible bassist, Bill Laswell!
It's also the album that got Ginger Baker to start playing drums again, and Tony Williams is on it too.
Plus, Steve Vai still says it's one of the best albums he played on!
Can you tell how much I love that album?
Also, Youth and Paul Raven from Killing Joke.
