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We old schoolers should be ashamed.

#22
I saw Mass Production live actually a year or so before Firecracker came out. I think they were opening for Dynasty with Leon Sylvers and his black Rickenbacker 4001 with mutes and flatwounds, that was the Solar Records bass sound!
 
#29
Mark Adams- Slave
Randy Jackson (yes, Mr. american Idol Judge)- Narada Michael Walden
T.M. Stevens- Narada Michael Walden (I Should have loved ya)
The guy who played for Solar Records- not Leon; I think his name is Kevin?? or Keith??? Plays with The Whispers now.
There are more-just can't think of them now!
 
#31
DWBass said:
How about "Tonight, I'm Alright"? T.M. smoked on that one!! And didn't Randy play on "The Real Thing"? That one smoked too!

I gotta give props to all the disco players as well! Some folks may have hated the music but there was some very fine bass playin' going on back then!
Click to expand...

Especially the bass playing in "Get Off" by Foxy! Ooh, we forgot about Ozone!
 
#32
DWBass said:
How about "Tonight, I'm Alright"? T.M. smoked on that one!! And didn't Randy play on "The Real Thing"? That one smoked too!

I gotta give props to all the disco players as well! Some folks may have hated the music but there was some very fine bass playin' going on back then!
Click to expand...
You hit the nail on the head. And don't forget "Skin Tight!!!"
"Tonight..." was one of the first basslines I learned, and Randy Jackson has been the one to most influence me and how I play. Many people hate on disco, but it depends on what one was listening to. Some of the stuff coming out of NYC especially between '79 and '82 had some REALLY nice stuff, and back then, they allowed the musicians to PLAY. It's all so monotonous now...:(
 
#33
Sounbwoy said:
You hit the nail on the head. And don't forget "Skin Tight!!!"
"Tonight..." was one of the first basslines I learned, and Randy Jackson has been the one to most influence me and how I play. Many people hate on disco, but it depends on what one was listening to. Some of the stuff coming out of NYC especially between '79 and '82 had some REALLY nice stuff, and back then, they allowed the musicians to PLAY. It's all so monotonous now...:(
Click to expand...

As someone who was high school and college age during this period, I can testify that much of the disco hatred was thinly veiled attacks on "out groups" of society. Disco was largely produced by Blacks, Hispanics, Gays, and Women. Disco hating was mainly pushed by white male rockers. There was also a great tendency to call any dance (black) music disco. I remember critics calling Funkadelics' "Knee Deep" disco!

The great joke was that after the disco movement died out, white UK rockers like Duran Duran, Peter Gabriel, and Phil Collins, adapted aspects of disco, and then the same white rickers who were burning and breaking disco records six or seven years earlier, started to incorporate "dance music." A bit later, Flea comes along and adds slap to punk and know Graham, Louis Johnson, etc. get accepted as pioneers by young white musicians.

What is so sickening is that a generation of so earlier, the Blues were given "mainstream recognition" when the Stones, Cream, Jeff Beck, etc. showed how cool that music was.
It says something about America, that Black or Black influenced music can't be respected until a group of whites adapts it.

I know I'm way off topic, but I feel a bit of perspective is important when we talk about old school funk and its great bassists.
 
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#36
Dr. Cheese said:
As someone who was high school and college age during this period, I can testify that much of the disco hatred was thinly veiled attacks on "out groups" of society. Disco was largely produced by Blacks, Hispanics, Gays, and Women. Disco hating was mainly pushed by white male rockers. There was also a great tendency to call any dance (black) music disco. I remember critics calling Funkadelics' "Knee Deep" disco!

The great joke was that after the disco movement died out, white UK rockers like Duran Duran, Peter Gabriel, and Phil Collins, adapted aspects of disco, and then the same white rickers who were burning and breaking disco records six or seven years earlier, started to incorporate "dance music." A bit later, Flea comes along and adds slap to punk and know Graham, Louis Johnson, etc. get accepted as pioneers by young white musicians.

What is so sickening is that a generation of so earlier, the Blues were given "mainstream recognition" when the Stones, Cream, Jeff Beck, etc. showed how cool that music was.
It says something about America, that Black or Black influenced music can't be respected until a group of whites adapts it.

I know I'm way off topic, but I feel a bit of perspective is important when we talk about old school funk and its great bassists.
Click to expand...


Can someone give this man an award.

Thank you for bringing some aspects of the need to get the truth out that has been swept under by so many people in society today.
 
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#37
Dr. Cheese said:
Disco hating was mainly pushed by white male rockers.
Click to expand...

I was also around back then, too(HS & College)-
My take here in SE VA? Disco hating was NOT Based on Race, gayness, women, etc. It was based on white Rockers losing the amount of clubs that catered to their style of music. They were losing turf & they knew it...
Don't believe me? The same assault by white Rockers was also launched on Country bands when clubs around here decided to go with Country over Rock.

And the counter-attack was by 'true' Country players being KO'd by the Rockers that hadda join Countrty bands or, I dunno, go get a job delivering pizzas.
 
#39
Dr. Cheese said:
!
Flea comes along and adds slap to punk and know Graham, Louis Johnson, etc. get accepted as pioneers by young white musicians.
Click to expand...
"Young white musicians" as in the current crop of youths? OK...but expecting them to know anything pre-Flea is a bit much, ya think?
Back in my day, Graham & Johnson were seen as innovators.

Dr. Cheese said:
What is so sickening is that a generation of so earlier, the Blues were given "mainstream recognition" when the Stones, Cream, Jeff Beck, etc. showed how cool that music was.
It says something about America, that Black or Black influenced music can't be respected until a group of whites adapts it.
Click to expand...
Blame a lot of it on radio programming. The same can be said about "Black" stations not playing white acts, too. Steppenwolf had an early R&B hit("Sookie Sookie"?) on "Black" radio...then, I guess, someone clued the station in & they were dropped from the playlist.
 
#40
JimK said:
Blame a lot of it on radio programming. The same can be said about "Black" stations not playing white acts, too. Steppenwolf had an early R&B hit("Sookie Sookie"?) on "Black" radio...then, I guess, someone clued the station in & they were dropped from the playlist.
Click to expand...

That I have to disagree with you on. Black stations will play an R&B song by a white waaaayyyy before a "white" station will play a rock record by a black artist. That has been proven. Wild Cherry, AWB, Dan Hartman, Foxy, Steely Dan, Beastie Boys, Rare Earth, Hall & Oates, Gwen Stefani, Eminem, Remy Shand, Citizen Cope, and Justin Timberlake didn't seem to have a problem, but the label execs had to resort to payola to get "Cult of Personality" played. Btw, when's the last time you heard King's X or Sevendust on the radio?
 

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