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Simple Minds....underrated bass brilliance?

#61
FeltTipPen said:
@jmccabe, how was the show? Simple Minds was one of my regrets not catching live.
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It was typical Simple Minds; generally brilliant, although Jim Kerr's voice has lost a lot of power over the years, and he definitely struggled on Belfast Child (which I've never been a fan of anyway).

They're definitely still worth catching live if you get the chance. They're on a "40 years of hits" tour so, sadly, there was nothing from their last 3 albums (not including the acoustic one), some of which I really like.

Cherise Osei, their current drummer, is brilliant, and Berenice Scott on keyboards was also very good. Sadly, Ged Grimes on bass lived up to my expectations, but c'est la vie!

They do a 55 minute or so session, then have a 15-20 minute interval, then come back and play for another hour and a half or so, including encores, so there's a lot to hear, and I though their visuals were brilliant.

HTH
 
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#65
My formative years as a young man and musician were all from this time period. So many sneaky good bass players from that time. Wang Chung, which means "yellow bell" in Chinese, and is the first note in the Chinese classical music scale "BOOM! Dropped some knowledge on ya!" have some wonderful bass lines and Nick Feldman sings as well. I really dig their cover of Modest Mouses' 3rd Planet. Some monster bass playing on Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Check there live version of Welcome to the Pleasuredome to be in bass bliss. It's nearly 20 minutes and worth every second.

A band from the 90's that has excellent, sneaky good, bass is Train. Through all their bass players as well which is pretty cool.
 
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#66
Funky Ghost said:
blah blah Wang Chung blah blah
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I love them; particular favourites are Don't Let Go, Wait, To Live And Die In LA and Hypnotise. TBH though, I never really picked out the bass parts specifically, so will take another listen.

Funky Ghost said:
blah blah FGTH blah blah
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Another bunch I like a lot. Welcome To The Pleasure Dome is a brilliant album and, yes, some excellent bass on it. Mark O'Toole, I think, didn't get as much credit as he deserved for that stuff as people seemed to think it was probably Trevor Horn or a session bloke actually playing. The second album's got a couple of excellent, under-rated tracks, like the two main singles, Warriors Of The Wasteland and Rage Hard.

As for Train, I'll have a listen if they're on Spotify.

If you're interested in other 80s bass players, check out Russell Webb's stuff on Waiting For The Floods by The Armoury Show. They also had the great John McGeoch on guitar.
 
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#67
jmccabe said:
If you're interested in other 80s bass players, check out Russell Webb's stuff on Waiting For The Floods by The Armoury Show. They also had the great John McGeoch on guitar.
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Yes! The Armoury Show! I MUST find that album as "Castles in Spain" was and still is one of my favorite songs! Sounds like a fretless to me. Killer track. Off to look for the album
 
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#72
Funky Ghost said:
I dig all their albums. I especially like their 1st. Meet Virginia got a ton of air play but few really focus on the bass. They should. From the Paul McCartney-esq intro, which is easy to miss as it blends so nicely with the guitar to the more obvious middle bits :)
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Ok - I had a go at their first album; it sounds like you're right about the bass - it sounds pretty decent. I struggled with the style of music though; it's a bit C&W for my liking :-(

It reminds me a bit of Del Amitri, after they'd found the country rock groove that they had some success with (you know, with jangly acoustic guitars amongst the electric bit and things like that). I'm sure I remember Del Amitri from the very early 80s when they got played a lot on Radio Clyde, but I thought they were more of a post-punk/indie band back then, unless I'm thinking of someone else.
 
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#73
jmccabe said:
Ok - I had a go at their first album; it sounds like you're right about the bass - it sounds pretty decent. I struggled with the style of music though; it's a bit C&W for my liking :-(

It reminds me a bit of Del Amitri, after they'd found the country rock groove that they had some success with (you know, with jangly acoustic guitars amongst the electric bit and things like that). I'm sure I remember Del Amitri from the very early 80s when they got played a lot on Radio Clyde, but I thought they were more of a post-punk/indie band back then, unless I'm thinking of someone else.
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You’re not wrong. There is a certain amount of Midwest vibe going in n. Maybe the 90s version of the Eagles, if you will.
 
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#76
@jmccabe, I did a first listen of "Waiting for the Floods" and I really enjoyed it! I could have owned this easily and had it slotted in with my Simple Minds, Big Country, Midnight Oil, INXS vinyl as a teenager. I could hear similar production in INXS and Midnight Oil around that time and sure enough the producer (Nick Launay) was the same for AS.

Definitely will give it more listens and make up for lost time :D There are some strong tracks and as you said, great bass work from Russell Webb!
 
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#77
Funky Ghost said:
My formative years as a young man and musician were all from this time period. So many sneaky good bass players from that time. Wang Chung, which means "yellow bell" in Chinese, and is the first note in the Chinese classical music scale "BOOM! Dropped some knowledge on ya!" have some wonderful bass lines and Nick Feldman sings as well. I really dig their cover of Modest Mouses' 3rd Planet. Some monster bass playing on Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Check there live version of Welcome to the Pleasuredome to be in bass bliss. It's nearly 20 minutes and worth every second.

A band from the 90's that has excellent, sneaky good, bass is Train. Through all their bass players as well which is pretty cool.
Click to expand...

On to checking out these other artist beyond the obvious known tracks. I just checked out a sample of a Train song and agree to good bass playing. More to listen to!
 
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#78
FeltTipPen said:
@jmccabe, I did a first listen of "Waiting for the Floods" and I really enjoyed it! I could have owned this easily and had it slotted in with my Simple Minds, Big Country, Midnight Oil, INXS vinyl as a teenager. I could hear similar production in INXS and Midnight Oil around that time and sure enough the producer (Nick Launay) was the same for AS.

Definitely will give it more listens and make up for lost time :D There are some strong tracks and as you said, great bass work from Russell Webb!
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Glad you enjoyed it; I love that album. One thing that's often been criticised is the sound of the drums though; they seem a bit over-processed. I'd never really thought much about it being a Nick Launay produced album. Now you mention it, though, the drum sound on The Swing also seemed a bit 'interesting' :-)

Interesting that he also produced Seance, by The Church and Bonk by Big Pig; both albums I also love (and both Australian too).
 
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#79
jmccabe said:
Glad you enjoyed it; I love that album. One thing that's often been criticised is the sound of the drums though; they seem a bit over-processed. I'd never really thought much about it being a Nick Launay produced album. Now you mention it, though, the drum sound on The Swing also seemed a bit 'interesting' :)

Interesting that he also produced Seance, by The Church and Bonk by Big Pig; both albums I also love (and both Australian too).
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I definitely can see that listeners think it's dated or over-processed but I don't mind and I actually like that sound (not exclusively though lol). "The Swing" is my favorite INXS album too :) I guess I am a child of that era because to me I enjoy that percussion!

Loved the big Taiko inspired drums of "Breakaway" by Big Pig so another album to look into. I've listened to some of The Church years ago when the store I was working at spun "Gold Afternoon Fix". I'll have to check out the earlier stuff.

The more I listen to the album the more I think it's a fabulous album, especially listening to it as originally intended (I bought the 2013 reissue which adds additional tracks). I was going to start naming tracks, but then it became most of the album! :laugh: It's starting to be a part of my favorite albums list and so glad you mentioned AS and Russell Webb!
 

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