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Bruce Thomas Master, Madman, or Hack?

#65
Durham52 said:
Yes genius is overused, almost as much as the word diva, which now seems to apply to any female singer (auto tuned or not) with one or two hit records.

My grumpy personal opinion aside, Bruce is a damn good bass player and I've always enjoyed his bass lines. Bruce along with Norman Watt-Roy and a bunch of others already mentioned from the 70's-80's Punk/New Wave movements in the UK, were great inspirations for bass players back then.

PS. A shout out too for Andrew Bodnar, of the Rumour, Graham Parkers backing band, who also played the bass on the original recording of 'Watching The Detectives'.
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Andrew came up with some great bass lines,”mona lisa’s sister” and “i love the sound of breaking glass” spring to mind.
 
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#68
Durham52 said:
Yes genius is overused, almost as much as the word diva, which now seems to apply to any female singer (auto tuned or not) with one or two hit records.

My grumpy personal opinion aside, Bruce is a damn good bass player and I've always enjoyed his bass lines. Bruce along with Norman Watt-Roy and a bunch of others already mentioned from the 70's-80's Punk/New Wave movements in the UK, were great inspirations for bass players back then.

PS. A shout out too for Andrew Bodnar, of the Rumour, Graham Parkers backing band, who also played the bass on the original recording of 'Watching The Detectives'.
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The Rumour were a great band, another great band from that time and yes Bodnar was a great player.
 
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#69
shufflebass123 said:
Your opinion is sensible, not grumpy. It's either that or I'm also grumpy.

I could've met my hero, Norman, in July of 2019 had we just stayed one day longer in the UK. The Blockheads were playing outside somewhere in Surrey. I hear that he'll talk to you if you just buy him a beer. That's a Brit for ya. Then again, it was musically a star crossed trip. Earlier in the vacation, I missed seeing JD McPherson in London by 2 days.
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Another great band and player from those days, music was alive back then, Hit me!
 
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#70
pbass2 said:
Squire, Enwhistle, McCartney,

I'm always a bit baffled when people say the 80's were a "bad time for bass". Sure synth bass was becoming more popular but as you say, during the new wave era there was so much great, inventive playing with everything from fretless to finger funk to pickstyle to you-name-it, that often times really stood out as hooks in the tracks. Way more so than the 90's, or heck....now, even. Come to think of it, lots of the synth bass was better in the 80's as well, compared to the boring "whole notes with some sidechain compression" that is the go-to in pop these days. Anyhow, I'll have to start a new rant thread about that I guess . . . .
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Most of the bands we're talking about here got big late 70's, early 80's. Later 80's is when I went backward to the 50's because that later 80's stuff just wasn't happening for me. That punk, rock, pop era of Devo, Elvis, Rockpile, Graham Parker, Ramones, etc. went by way too fast IMHO.
 
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#73
BTW, since people are bringing up Graham Maby: I always assumed that he played a Ric on those earlier Joe Jackson records. That's what it sounds like. But I saw the original Joe Jackson band play in Boston in 2000 and, to get that sound, he played a baby blue Fender Jazz with these black nylon strings and a pick. I talked to him briefly afterwards and he was cool as hell. Nice guy.

I don't know if it's something in the water over there in England. But man, the Brits have produced a lot of great bass players. A lot.
 
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#76
Chickenwheels said:
Actually, after some thought, I think he may be a healthy mix of all.
...
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I thought, and almost wrote, the same. Starting at the bottom, I think anyone with a creative streak has an element of 'Hack' in them - it is what drives the curiosity and exploration that uncovers new concepts and spawns new ideas. It is also the essence of what makes us unique. Then 'Madman' has both the vision to recognise the merits in the concepts and ideas and the ability to distill them from the melting pot into something tangible, no matter how unconventional or experimental they might be. The 'Master' has the discipline, technical chops and musicianship needed to develop, hone and polish the concepts or ideas to the point of maturity.

Notice that I didn't say 'genius', but it maybe that genius lies in the combination...

YMMV
 
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#77
SteveCS said:
I thought, and almost wrote, the same. Starting at the bottom, I think anyone with a creative streak has an element of 'Hack' in them - it is what drives the curiosity and exploration that uncovers new concepts and spawns new ideas. It is also the essence of what makes us unique. Then 'Madman' has both the vision to recognise the merits in the concepts and ideas and the ability to distill them from the melting pot into something tangible, no matter how unconventional or experimental they might be. The 'Master' has the discipline, technical chops and musicianship needed to develop, hone and polish the concepts or ideas to the point of maturity.

Notice that I didn't say 'genius', but it maybe that genius lies in the combination...

YMMV
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Well put!
I’ve always found his technique and rattled tone to be quite raw, his melodic and chordal approach to be highly creative, and his cage-rattling of his boss a tad edgy! Such a unique and beautiful player.
 
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#78
shufflebass123 said:
BTW, since people are bringing up Graham Maby: I always assumed that he played a Ric on those earlier Joe Jackson records. That's what it sounds like. But I saw the original Joe Jackson band play in Boston in 2000 and, to get that sound, he played a baby blue Fender Jazz with these black nylon strings and a pick. I talked to him briefly afterwards and he was cool as hell. Nice guy.

I don't know if it's something in the water over there in England. But man, the Brits have produced a lot of great bass players. A lot.
Click to expand...

I’m sure this has been covered in other threads here over the years, but the two times I saw Graham Maby, with the original Joe Jackson band in 1981 and on the Night and Day tour, he played the white P bass which is also shown in the inside cover photo on the Night and Day album.
 
#79
Bad Bob said:
I’m sure this has been covered in other threads here over the years, but the two times I saw Graham Maby, with the original Joe Jackson band in 1981 and on the Night and Day tour, he played the white P bass which is also shown in the inside cover photo on the Night and Day album.
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That white P might actually be an Ibanez Silver Series with black tapes.
 
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#80
Some times, when I feel stuck in a rut, I'll put on some Elvis Costello and try to play along. While his parts sound simple, when you try to play them, you realize pretty quickly that they're not.....normal progressions. That combo - accessible to the audience, but not what you hear everywhere else means he's either a genius or has worked hard enough to sound like one. Doesn't really matter how he got there - he's GOOD.
 
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