John taylor, 80s bass god

[Killing Floor]

Got to attend the Austin City Limits show taping and he and the whole band were great.

 

[ajkula66]

While I'm not a fan of Duran Duran by any stretch of imagination, I'd bow to John Taylor any day of the week and twice on Sundays. A monster player, no questions asked.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

One of my favorite players. Him and Steve Harris are largely the reason I picked up bass.

I haven’t seen them mentioned yet, but Save a Prayer and Come Undone have very good bass lines. Honestly, most of his lines have something catchy/unique going on with them.

 

[Snibborwocky]

One of the first albums I ever bought was Arena (Live) and I think I wore that cassette out in the 80's to the point I bought a second one lol. If Sting wasn't the nail in the coffin to make me want to play bass guitar, it was definitely JT after hearing his unique and impressive bass lines.

 

[deters]

I'll go further than that: for all the wonderful new textures that were available, the 80s was so plagued with mediocre bassists that I turned away from pop music entirely. The few exceptions included Taylor, notably in "Union of the Snake" -- his bass really carries the tune.

I have the opposite take. Bass was much more used as a lead instrument in the 80s. John Taylor, Simon Gallup (the Cure), Peter Hook (Joy Division / New Order), Sting (the Police), Andy Rourke (the Smiths), Tina Weymouth (Talking Heads), Geddy Lee (Rush) just off the top of my head. Late 70s thru mid-80s was the best period of music. Rock, Punk and New Wave.

 

[tindrum]

I have the opposite take. Bass was much more used as a lead instrument in the 80s. John Taylor, Simon Gallup (the Cure), Peter Hook (Joy Division / New Order), Sting (the Police), Andy Rourke (the Smiths), Tina Weymouth (Talking Heads), Geddy Lee (Rush) just off the top of my head. Late 70s thru mid-80s was the best period of music. Rock, Punk and New Wave.

Totally agree a zillion percent. Bass really was put out front quite a bit in the 80’s. So many absolutely seminal players. Far and away the most creative mix of genres and very unique players. The entire decade was all about trying to innovate and invent something new. How can not be freaking awesome for music? Comparatively music today is generally very contrived and vanilla.

 

[txhawaii]

And yes, Nick Rhodes and Simon LeBon formed Arcadia and released "So Red The Rose" when John and Andy formed Power Station, which is an awesome album that is much more Duran-ish than Power Station...I still listen to it often.

Arcadia was an under recognized masterpiece as they had top musicians contribute to that album. I think the hair and makeup on Simon and Nick sorta kept people from embracing it but it was a fantastic album.

Mark Egan played bass on El Diablo.

 

[_One//Man//Mutiny_]

John Taylor is awesome, he also played a Peavey Cirrus for a while there. Duran Duran’s new music is still good, actually pretty interesting watching them change along with the times

 

[Chrisk-K]

In terms of looks JT was also the bass god of the 80’s and possibly of all time.

 

[tindrum]

In terms of looks JT was also the bass god of the 80’s and possibly of all time.

Yeah in his prime he was ridiculously handsome so I think that contributed a lot to some musicians behind dismissive of his talent. Back then the music world was extremely entrenched in the macho “cock rock” ethos. That now dead world was the inspiration for the parody film Spinal Tap.

 

[CathalSquierCVJ]

people just thought "jesus hes handsome, hes probably a poopie bassist"

 

[Prof.Dr.Metz]

I have the opposite take. Bass was much more used as a lead instrument in the 80s. John Taylor, Simon Gallup (the Cure), Peter Hook (Joy Division / New Order), Sting (the Police), Andy Rourke (the Smiths), Tina Weymouth (Talking Heads), Geddy Lee (Rush) just off the top of my head. Late 70s thru mid-80s was the best period of music. Rock, Punk and New Wave.

True! Recently I dug out Haircut One Hundred (Pelican West). Les Nemes was really hitting on it.

 

[deters]

True! Recently I dug out Haircut One Hundred (Pelican West). Les Nemes was really hitting on it.

And then the whole reggae and ska scene. Tremendous time in music...

 

[Bob_Ross]

JT's bass lines are some of the most imaginative, clever, and catchy in the entire history of pop music imho.

His lines were always interesting and syncopated. Not your standard meat & potatoes fare

tbh I never paid close attention to any of John Taylor's basslines (except for "Rio" because that line in the intro is off the hook!) but I just recently had to learn "Hungry Like The Wolf" for a gig, and so I did a quick transcription, then found a transcription online to compare to mine...and I find myself astonished at how not predictable it is. It's almost like he winged it, improvising the part as a first take, so that he never dwelt too long on crafting a definitive "part" he just locked into the groove, outlined the changes, and threw it down. But it works so well! I'm especially surprised by how he changes registers seemingly arbitrarily: sometimes it's the low open E string, sometimes that E is up an octave, but the choice is never in a way that is structural or functional form-wise...just, whichever he felt like playing at that time. I kinda wonder whether he ever plays it the same way twice?

 

[bassbrad]

I was reminded of something when having a call from an old band and touring mate. To pass time on the long bus and van rides we would take turns playing cassettes and always got groans when putting on some of my choices like Duran Duran and even Weather Report. But the guys always did seem to dig those DD cassettes like a guilty pleasure.
Let us not discuss how we all felt about Thomas Dolby....

 

[Bob_Ross]

Let us not discuss how we all felt about Thomas Dolby....

I would argue that most of Dolby's works were superior to most of Duran Duran's works, regardless of what metric one used

...er, except perhaps for Pretty Faces Per Photo, then DD beats Dolby hands down.

 

[bassbrad]

I would argue that most of Dolby's works were superior to most of Duran Duran's works, regardless of what metric one used

...er, except perhaps for Pretty Faces Per Photo, then DD beats Dolby hands down.

Don't get me wrong, huge TMDR fans, our game was to see how long we could go before someone putting in that cassette and then mercilessly giving that person the biz, often it was me especially since I was the designated driver. We were a wildly eclectic bunch and those daze are still some of my favorite experiences [many of which will be in my book if I ever finish].

 

[Lefty Joe]

I was reminded of something when having a call from an old band and touring mate. To pass time on the long bus and van rides we would take turns playing cassettes and always got groans when putting on some of my choices like Duran Duran and even Weather Report. But the guys always did seem to dig those DD cassettes like a guilty pleasure.
Let us not discuss how we all felt about Thomas Dolby....

I favored that first Thomas Dolby album over DD - and was particularly fond of the resonant low synth used in Windpower. Admittedly, not much of an album for bassists, but he shouldn't be judged by the over-popularity of "Science!"

Taylor on the other hand was good at generating a jungle groove, which Dolby never was. Too bad they never teamed up

 

[tindrum]

I favored that first Thomas Dolby album over DD - and was particularly fond of the resonant low synth used in Windpower. Admittedly, not much of an album for bassists, but he shouldn't be judged by the over-popularity of "Science!"

Taylor on the other hand was good at generating a jungle groove, which Dolby never was. Too bad they never teamed up

The best Dolby album for bass is The Flat Earth. It features some fantastic fretless work by Matthew Seligman.

 

[shirojiro]

The best Dolby album for bass is The Flat Earth. It features some fantastic fretless work by Matthew Seligman.

Love the title track from the Flat Earth, but I always preferred Aliens Ate My Buick as a record. The George Clinton influence is probably why.