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John Taylor and the recent BP interview.

#41
Thor said:
So, did you have a comment on the BP article? How do you
feel about John's role as described there? As a fan of his, are
you satisfied with the adaptions he made?

So, are we at another swan song period for bassists like the
disco era; where we will be made redundant by keyboards
or computers, and the work of bassists in the own bands
will be out of fashion?
Click to expand...

What I am responding to is the perpetuation of incorrect notions regarding John Taylor that keep appearing on this site. Since they showed up again in this thread, I am asking if anyone who supports or repeats these notions can back them up with some kind of proof, yes, proof.

I do enjoy seeing a few people get upset at the idea of actual factual reality...

Hmmm... bassists had quite a lot of good studio work during the disco era methinks.
 
#43
The Saturday Night Live broadcast featuring The Power Station featured John Taylor playing the solo in "Bang A Gong" to perfection, along with all of the other notes in the tune.

Bernard Edwards I love, but he did not play on Duran Duran albums on which bass is credited to John Taylor. John Taylor played on those albums. There was a show called "Rockschool" at the time on which JT was a guest musician, he was in a studio with his Aria SB 1000 playing his lines PERFECTLY and it was live through an amp in the room as he chatted about technique for the camera.

I heard one sunny afternoon from a wino on 42nd street that he heard from a pigeon that all of Victor Wooten's parts are actually played by a hermaphrodite channeling the spirit of James Jamerson, and it is all on Youtube. Check it out!
 
#45
I agree with most of the people on this thread. And, I dont know if John played the solo in Bang a Gong but, I see no reason that he couldnt. Thats got to be the easiest "solo" ever. I could play that within a few months of playing bass (back in the 80's) Im not trying to bash, it fits in the song well, but, its pretty easy to play and any competent player could pull it off.

:bassist:
 
#46
I have this issue and if you read it, JT says something to the effect that in the early recordings (Duran Duran, RIO) his bass playing was busier because he was young and wanted to show what he could do on bass (haven't we all been there\done that at some point in our musical development regardless of instrument). He goes on to say that as he progressed, he 'mellowed' out and started to play more for the benefit of the entire song.

I have a recording of DD playing live on show called "Private Sessions". It's a talk show\in studio live performance. It's the current DD sans Andy Taylor. They do "Girls On Film" and he's playing the original bassline on his Peavey, just like it sounds on the recording. I don't recall if they did "Rio" on this show, I'll have to watch it again. I've watched the 80's live concert video "As The Lights Go Down" enought times that I have no problem believing JT played all the parts on their self titled debut, "Rio" and "7 and the Ragged Tiger".

Anyhow, I'm a big fan of JT and all incarnations (Arcadia, Power Station) of DD up to "Big Thing" record. IMHO he and Andy were the most talented members of the band.

BTW - I have not heard "Red Carpet..." but from what they played on the "Private Sessions" show, none of the new stuff appeals to me.
 
#47
rappa29 said:
...Anyhow, I'm a big fan of JT and all incarnations (Arcadia, Power Station) of DD up to "Big Thing" record. IMHO he and Andy were the most talented members of the band.
Click to expand...

I remember hearing the bass, I think mostly fretless, on the Arcadia album and thinking it was so smooth and perfect that it had to be programmed! There is some really sweet playing on that album. Was it Marc Egan? I always get confused.
 
#49
+infinity on your comments Zuma...

I'm not sure that the Timbaland/Timberlake choice was a good one - particularly for those of us who love John's bass playing...I'm not really in a position to question someone else's artistic choices. If the DD guys did it because they wanted to try and branch out into a more urban sound, then so be it. If they only did it because the guys at Epic records pushed them into it...well then, that is unfortunate.

The new albums is still pretty good. Although I think "Box Full O'Honey" is by far the best track on the new album...
 
#50
According to the DD bio on the biography channel (which can be found on youtube)...it was a combination of drug and alcohol addiction....he went into rehab. He was probably also unhappy about where things were.

I just give thanks to God that he was able to pull it together...it would have been a shame to lose yet another great musician, I'm sure his wife and kids would agree.
 
#51
I completely agree with the first post. John may have said that he had something to prove with his playing in the early albums. I found that his playing had an unrestrained youthful enthusiasm which caught my attention immediately and I imagine many others. Guess I can't help be bias but I've always believe the Rhythm section of Taylor and Talyor were what made that band. It certainly wasn't LeBon's lyrics and there were far more inovative Synth players in New Romantics than Rhodes.

I appreciate the more restrained funky JT on the Nile Rogers produced Notorious but JT's prominece at the front of the mix fell away as Warren Cuccurullo became more established in the band, he definately took the band in another direction. I have the feeling that when JT left in 97 he forfieted all leverage to remaining orginal Nick Rhodes, since his return he is lower in the decision hierarchy which is led by Rhodes then LeBon.

A real shame it all is, I agree with another poster's comment on the irony of their retro sound and style (think JT with the Rick in the Planet Earth clip) being so influencial in younger bands like Frans Ferdinand. And they pander to grided up programed Basslines. I just can't imagine the ego's present to request that one of the most influencial pop bassist of the past 30 years relinquish his rightful role in the band, denying arguably their strongest hook. JOHN, IF YOU EVER WHERE TO READ THIS, we want more of Rio, Last Chance on the Stairway, Sound of Thunder.
 
#53
JimK said:
Zuma-
Any idea/opinion why Taylor left DD back in the late '90s?
Click to expand...

I agree with KBarker on this one. I believed he was basically "a mess" and also he decided to focus on his solo stuff right about the same time. I was actually at this thing called DuranCon (as in convention) where JT played live with just an acoustic guitar and he blew everyone away with that announcement.

Although, to digress a bit, I think he was at his worst on the "Big Thing" tour. He was painfully thin, just a rail! Had I been smarter about drugs and all that back then I would have been more worried than I was. He was addicted to Cocaine at least.

Mark Egan is amazing! That Arcadia album is a classic as far as I'm concerned. Some of the other guests were David Gilmour and Sting. I still want a Pedulla Pentabuzz!
 

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