Janice Marie Johnson turned 70 yesterday. She was the first woman in Funk or R&B that I saw playing the bass guitar.
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Janice Marie Johnson: Happy Birthday!
- Thread starter Dr. Cheese
- Start date
Janice Marie Johnson turned 70 yesterday. She was the first woman in Funk or R&B that I saw playing the bass guitar.
what a great tune! HBD, darlin'! 
iconic!
iconic!
I began playing in cover bands in the mid-70's . . . . . right at the height of disco.
So instead of easing into it with blues or rock, I had to jump in feet first and learn 'Boogie Oogie', a lot of Saturday Night Fever tracks, plenty Donna Summer. I'd been playing bass for a little over a year, and here I am, 5 sets a night five nights a week. Holy smokes!!
But I made it, and often thinking having to work that hard to make that gig that early on stood me in good stead.
Ms Johnson, Happy Birthday, I got a long way playing your great track.
So instead of easing into it with blues or rock, I had to jump in feet first and learn 'Boogie Oogie', a lot of Saturday Night Fever tracks, plenty Donna Summer. I'd been playing bass for a little over a year, and here I am, 5 sets a night five nights a week. Holy smokes!!
But I made it, and often thinking having to work that hard to make that gig that early on stood me in good stead.
Ms Johnson, Happy Birthday, I got a long way playing your great track.
Yep, I did the Top 40/Disco band thing
77-'79. A lot of the same songs you did. Lots of fun, too, IME.
But you must have had the low paying gigs; we did 5 sets a night/ six nights a week.
9p-2a, mostly Ramada Inn and Holiday Inn lounges.
Yep, I did the Top 40/Disco band thing
77-'79. A lot of the same songs you did. Lots of fun, too, IME.
But you must have had the low paying gigs; we did 5 sets a night/ six nights a week.
Same sorts of places, all right. Wonder what happened to all those chain hotel bars.
And those days were quite a lot of fun. I take particular glee when I pull the '. . . when I was your age . . .' speech, I explain I came along after The Pill and before AIDS. Quite the time to be a young, single guy.
One of my biggest influences !!! She still looks great and sounds good at 70. Classy Lady!!
An Alembic Series I guitar!
She's not mimicking the right bass part in the intro!
Great bassline and always fun to play. I never knew she was the singer as well until I saw a video of her playing it live!
Great bassline and always fun to play. I never knew she was the singer as well until I saw a video of her playing it live!
That bass break in Boogie Oogie Oogie is badass!
I first saw her on broadcast television where she was ballroom dancing in an evening gown with a male partner in front of the band during the intro. She spins around, and as she rotates toward the audience, a well dressed roady drapes her bass over her shoulder as goes right into the octave bass groove. It was jaw dropping for me.
I always thought the line was pretty cool and used to play the riff during sound checks to annoy my punker band mates. But back in those days I found the ability to dance and play bass at the same time elusive - it was all I could do to play bass and remain standing. Great performer!
Happy Birthday JMJ!
I always thought the line was pretty cool and used to play the riff during sound checks to annoy my punker band mates. But back in those days I found the ability to dance and play bass at the same time elusive - it was all I could do to play bass and remain standing. Great performer!
Happy Birthday JMJ!
How many other bassist beside her and the obvious other (TB member) have those initials?
There is a studio guy with those initials. I think he has a signature Fender Mustang.
If you guys haven’t discover the Midnight Special channel on YouTube, it’s a treasure trove.
Ha! Our band's thing is to not play the songs that every band in the area plays and, according to out BL/LS, no pure dance tunes, disco, etc.! FWIW, we play about 90-95% classic rock and blues.
When we're sound checking, this is one of the songs I'll pull out when our sound guy tells me it's my turn. I do it just to see if she's paying attention and hears me.
But pulling out songs like Billie Jean, Play That Funky Music, Good Times, and Brick House will also make her stop what she's doing and roll her eyes at me.But this is a iconic and fun song to play. And props to JMJ, I've never had to play it while dancing and while wearing high heels.
brings back memories, my sisters loved disco/R&B/motown..some great stuff back then, they tried converting me before i went down the dark road of rock n roll..lol.....i certainly appreciate disco more now that i'm older...ugh. Gets ppl up on the danceflloor and some great bass lines!
If you're thinking Justin Meldal-Johnsen, that's the other one who I was thinking of.
