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BBC Slates Bass Players

#42
...eerrr, not many people with a sense of humour then, the whole series has clearly been very tongue in cheek and not supposed to be a serious documentary. It was laughing at a lot of the cliches perpetuated by the musicians, industry and fans (hence the selection of a lot of the talking heads). As such the "other one" episode seemed perfectly understated. I guess if you're one of the people offended by it, maybe you are possibly taking yourself a little bit too seriously.
 
#43
frankblackcat said:
...eerrr, not many people with a sense of humour then, the whole series has clearly been very tongue in cheek and not supposed to be a serious documentary. It was laughing at a lot of the cliches perpetuated by the musicians, industry and fans (hence the selection of a lot of the talking heads). As such the "other one" episode seemed perfectly understated. I guess if you're one of the people offended by it, maybe you are possibly taking yourself a little bit too seriously.
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I'd hardly say that Bob Geldof, Ginger Baker, Slash, Matt Bellamy etc etc etc are world renowned for their raw, comic talent so I'd disagree and say this was supposed to be a documentary rather than a sitcom, but way to go on telling us all we have no sense of humour! :D
Nope, I still agree with the vast majority of people who've posted here - the whole thing could have been done a whole lot better and did come across as rather lazy and poorly done.

P.S. - The BasicBassist: if you're stil watching this thread, you were right - Michael Anthony is a lot better than I gave him credit for now I've gone back and given him a re-listen. I still don't think he's anywhere near as good as Chris Wolstenholme, though!
 
#46
All the other programs were great, but it seemed as if they just gave up on bassists and keys.
And did anyone else notice a distinct lack of Chris Squire, considering everyone else from Yes had been on?

They really should have done a full program for each.
 
#49
Bit of a shame.

People couldn't vote by phone - ok, I can live with that.

But not even spending 5 minutes on bassists? That was a bummer.

And Flea shouldn't have won, but that's a matter of taste indeed :)

I liked the bassists half of the "the other one" episode, and really ended up thinking they could've EASILY spent the entire episode on bass. I mean come on, not even showing bits of interview with Sting or the Led Zep members they had in other episodes?
 
#50
Jools4001 said:
The voiceover on this program is performed by the lamentable talent of Mark Radcliffe. He also does the voiceover on 'Top of the Pops 2'
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I thought that was Steve Wright?

Jools4001 said:
As part of an intro in a recent 80's retro, this Mark Radcliffe guy said 'the noise that sounds like a flatulent warthog is, in fact, the bass guitar; which is played by the waiter on the right', so I think that speaks volumes about the guy's need to spout banalities in the name of entertainment.
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To be fair, he was part of a double act with Marc 'Lard' Riley (a bassist himself, and former member of the dirge-mongers that are The Fall) for a long time, and did concoct the Shirehorses, so he's probably just going on personal experience! :smug:
 
#52
wade_b said:
Playing bass in a rock context is not about impressing other bassists.

It's about making the band sound better with a solid foundation.
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We've all got our own opinions on what a rock bass player is about - I think the best ones, such as Steve Harris and Cliff Burton, have probably impressed other bass players at the odd point in their careers, so I'd argue that you can still make a band a better unit on the whole and sound impressive.

But back to this thread - it was a shame that the Live show didn't dedicate more time to the bass player. I thought it was interesting that Stewart Copeland stated Sting to be the best bass player of all time, especially after their sometimes tempestuous relationship. I'm not so sure Sting would be a household name if he had been "just the bass player" and not the lead vocalist in The Police. Whilst I don't think Flea is the best rock bassist ever, I certainly think he's one of them and wasn't at all disappointed to see him voted in at the top. :bassist:
 
#53
Jools4001 said:
The voiceover on this program is performed by the lamentable talent of Mark Radcliffe.
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Radcliffe is completely useless on anything he's done that isn't scripted. Never have I heard a radio DJ with no much stuttering & stalling as he does. I once emailed in to tell him he should cover Chicory Tips "Good Grief Christina" because it starts "Um ah ma ma maah, ah um ah ma maa" which is one of his much used lines.
 
#54
I had high hopes when I saw the "I'm in a rock n roll band" show advertised. For me it was a bit of a let-down. I'd be curious to know if it was a BBC in-house production. They're usually on the button with their music shows. A fine example being (or so I thought) "Walk On By - The story of popular song". An amazing series. So good, that I tried to purchase it. Couldn't find it anywhere so I emailed the BBC. It turned out that I couldn't buy it because they didn't have the rights to the show. It is owned and was made by an independant company. Which brings me to my point..

What's the deal with the BBC these days? Can't get the staff? Are they only interested in making throwaway tv? And why get rid of BBC radio 6? The BBC is not the institution it once was, I tells ya..

Ah, maybe it's a sign o the times. Or maybe I was just disappointed with their choice of bass players featured on the show. And being the stereotypical sensitive bass player, I took it to heart..

hmmm..
 
#56
wafu_vasco said:
We've all got our own opinions on what a rock bass player is about - I think the best ones, such as Steve Harris and Cliff Burton, have probably impressed other bass players at the odd point in their careers, so I'd argue that you can still make a band a better unit on the whole and sound impressive.
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Yeah you can, but neither of those players' styles would work in Van Halen.

I don't get the criticism of Anthony; Eddie started digging at him in interviews and in life, but the fact is all of the classic songs feature him on bass, so much so that it's impossible for me to imagine any other bass on those tracks.

What he did just worked, and the man rocks with confidence AND makes Alex sound steady on the drums.

He's doing more complicated stuff in ChickenFoot, doubling Satch on a few lines. Also check out the Who cover "Won't Get Fooled Again".

There's a live video in Ed's studio where he's rockin' that line out and singing at the same time - doesn't look at his hands once.....And he moves around live a lot and still plays solid.

His solo piece that he would do with VH was a joke though....unlistenable....
 

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