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Post-punk bassists

#61
I rediscovered one of my guilty pleasure bands earlier this year after having forgotten about them for almost 40 years. I have always been a fan of the rhythm section of Bow Wow Wow and I had a serious crush on the singer back in the early 80's. BWW was the result of ex-Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren poaching the three instrumentalists from Adam Ant (Leigh Gorman on bass, Dave Barbarossa on drums and Matt Ashman on guitar) and thrusting 13.5 year old Burmese born school girl Annabella Lwin into the lead singer spotlight. Their music is characterized by energetic tribal/latin drumming, frenetic basslines with lots of scratching and monster slapping, surf/spaghetti western guitar topped with the screams and squeals of a teenage girl. Their short 3 year lifespan was mired in controversy, but that is a whole novel waiting to be written.

I have done a lot of online research into the band which was impossible back in the 1980s. It has inspired me to start playing a fretted bass with a pick after 30+ years of fretless fingerstyle playing. I am quite terrible at it at the moment, but I feel like I am going through a Neil Peart-like breakdown of technique and starting over like he did with Freddie Gruber.

Speaking of the devil, I will be seeing Leigh Gorman and BWW tonight at the Tiki Bar in Costa Mesa. It should be fun!
leigh01-jpg.jpg
 
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#62
Raman said:
I was aware of that. Never seen one in real life though. It looks more like a guitar than a bass... Anybody has experience playing it? (I see that Squier does a CV version.)
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I owned the 21st century Fender "Pawn Shop" Bass VI reissue which had many changes from the original. My hopes were I could use the two added strings for playing chords and soloing. I simply couldn't bond with the guitar-like string spacing for fingerstyle playing. I tried getting my pick technique together but finally just gave up and sold it.

Looked really sharp in CAR, though!!!

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#65
Outshined91 said:
@Raman Absolutely LOVE post-punk music and its bass playing. All of those bands you mentioned are standard listening for me. Peter Hook in particular is special for me – he completely changed the way I think about bass and is the reason I play the way I play now. I actually learned how to use a pick after hearing/seeing his work with Joy Division and New Order. His melody-writing ability is fantastic, and use of the bass as a lead instrument is genius. A particularly seminal song for me, with an amazing bassline is "Disorder" by Joy Division. That was my first a-ha moment as a bassist. I'm sure you know it, but don't need an excuse to check it out again!

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Michael Dempsey and Simon Gallup did what you describe for me! I got my 1st bass at 15-16 after listening intensively to The Cure's Three Imaginary Boys. For the 1st time, the bass was jumping at me. It was the melodic instrument! And though I played fingerstyle for years, I decided to learn pick because I wanted to emulate Gallups' sound.

I came to Joy Division later, but found myself right at home with their music, and they are still in my playlist permanently.

And please don't be shy to post whatever song you fancy. ;)
I'm stringing a bass this evening and the plan is to go through this whole thread again having fun covering songs I'm either discovering or rediscovering. :cool:
 
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#66
brianrost said:
I owned the 21st century Fender "Pawn Shop" Bass VI reissue which had many changes from the original. My hopes were I could use the two added strings for playing chords and soloing. I simply couldn't bond with the guitar-like string spacing for fingerstyle playing. I tried getting my pick technique together but finally just gave up and sold it.

Looked really sharp in CAR, though!!!

View attachment 4471650
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Though curious to try it if I ever come across one, the string spacing is a turn off for me, as you mention. I've never felt especially at ease on a guitar and I feel it'd be the same on this.
 
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#67
Wow, a lot of great bass players mentioned here!

I don't know if these guys qualify as "post-punk", but Derek Forbes slamming the fuzz bass with his thumb is pretty raucous. I was just thinking about this album yesterday.



If not, Graham Lewis of Wire is pretty underrated. Wire was one of the greatest bands of that era IMHO.



And who could forget Norman Watt-Roy of The Blockheads?

 
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#70
pingvuiini said:
I rediscovered one of my guilty pleasure bands earlier this year after having forgotten about them for almost 40 years. I have always been a fan of the rhythm section of Bow Wow Wow and I had a serious crush on the singer back in the early 80's. BWW was the result of ex-Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren poaching the three instrumentalists from Adam Ant (Leigh Gorman on bass, Dave Barbarossa on drums and Matt Ashman on guitar) and thrusting 13.5 year old Burmese born school girl Annabella Lwin into the lead singer spotlight. Their music is characterized by energetic tribal/latin drumming, frenetic basslines with lots of scratching and monster slapping, surf/spaghetti western guitar topped with the screams and squeals of a teenage girl. Their short 3 year lifespan was mired in controversy, but that is a whole novel waiting to be written.

I have done a lot of online research into the band which was impossible back in the 1980s. It has inspired me to start playing a fretted bass with a pick after 30+ years of fretless fingerstyle playing. I am quite terrible at it at the moment, but I feel like I am going through a Neil Peart-like breakdown of technique and starting over like he did with Freddie Gruber.

Speaking of the devil, I will be seeing Leigh Gorman and BWW tonight at the Tiki Bar in Costa Mesa. It should be fun!
View attachment 4471647
Click to expand...

I went on a BWW tear a couple of weeks ago. Gorman was a teenager, and playing like he was a 25yr old pro. That kid had mad chops. :D
 
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#71
gtirard said:
My 3 favorite bassists from that period of time:
- Bruce Thomas, the bassist of Elvis Costello and the Attractions (any album)
- Graham Maby, the bassist of Joe Jackson (espacially in "Look Sharp" and "I'm the man")
- Leigh Gorman, the bassist of Bow Wow Wow (any album)

I have chosen the bass because of them.

They're not really "new wave" style like The Cure, but definitely post punk.

Listen to the bass lines in these album, they still inspire me 40 years later.
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Bassbubble11 said:
Graham Maby
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Those first 2 Joe Jackson albums have some of the most fun to play bass parts. And they sure knew how to close an album:



BassChap said:
Maby. Definitely Maby!
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Freekmagnet said:
Wow, a lot of great bass players mentioned here!

I don't know if these guys qualify as "post-punk", but Derek Forbes slamming the fuzz bass with his thumb is pretty raucous. I was just thinking about this album yesterday.

Click to expand...


Derek Forbes! A couple of my favorites of his:

 
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#72
taliesin said:
Been a huge fan of New Model Army since I heard their debut too many years ago to specify.

They've had a series of powerful bassists - Stuart Morrow, Jason Harris and Nelson.

For me Thunder and Consolation is still their masterpiece with some great playing from Harris.
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I think Stuart Morrow used a bass trem. I'm not sure how else you would play the bass line to "Vengeance."

Since he hasn't been mentioned, I'm throwing a shout-out to Mark Burgess from Chameleons. Also, Will Heggie from Cocteau Twins and Lowlife.
 
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