I never knew that the bass line in 'Rio' by Duran Duran was so...wow...
What do y'all think?
What do y'all think?
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Woah...Rio...
- Thread starter Wulfensteiner
- Start date
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
Duran Duran is very under-rated, at least two their early stuff. My girlfriend in college love them, so I thought they were drek. But it is good stuff.
The song itself (and possibly most of their catalogue, research imminent) is a really poor mix in regards to low end, where the bass is barely audible, unfortunately. I tend to agree. Seriously underrated. I had no idea until I heard this just how good John Taylor is.
Funny, I've been binge-listening DD the past few days. John Taylor is a monster and totally underrated. He's a funk bassist playing in an '80s new wave band. Gonna learn a few of his parts for fun, or at least steal some licks.
All-time great bass part. John Taylor wrote in his autobiography that he tried to calm down his lines and not overplay on later albums. I kinda wish he hadn't - his "overplaying" is brilliant.
One of those bands we used to all take the piss out of at the time,..
but re-listening from 3 decades away, some great stuff...i like the nice shards of guitar at the beginning myself...
but re-listening from 3 decades away, some great stuff...i like the nice shards of guitar at the beginning myself...
I think they were easy for a lot of people to dismiss because they were so image driven and most of them were pretty. They also set the standard for video production with Russell Mulcahy at the helm. For me they had a great mix of guitar (Andy truly had a great sound on Late Bar), the synth lines were interesting, the basslines were funky, and the lyrics weren't typical. It's pretty clear they were heavily influenced by Bowie (who wasn't at that point) and Roxy Music. They had style that is for sure.
So I did a search first and found this thread as I just took a little break to work on the bass line (got all the way to the bridge). I haven't been able to get it out of my head. Why was it there? Glad you asked, here's why...
I just picked up an older Hartke XL cab, ('90's vintage??) and it reminded me of DD for some reason (its punchy sound?) so I pulled up a couple songs and listened to them. Well, I couldn't get Rio out of my head so I finally broke down and started working on it. It's a cool track.
So to complete the process I'll have to play it through the Hartke cab tonight (it's in my practice space) to finalize things and then move on to the next one, whatever that is.
Anyway, there's my DD input for the day...
I just picked up an older Hartke XL cab, ('90's vintage??) and it reminded me of DD for some reason (its punchy sound?) so I pulled up a couple songs and listened to them. Well, I couldn't get Rio out of my head so I finally broke down and started working on it. It's a cool track.
So to complete the process I'll have to play it through the Hartke cab tonight (it's in my practice space) to finalize things and then move on to the next one, whatever that is.
Anyway, there's my DD input for the day...
If you're a DD fan...you owe it to yourself to check out Japan with Mick Karn on bass.
Japan pre-dates Duran Duran.
Japan pre-dates Duran Duran.
"Girls On Film" was the 1st tune I heard by them.
Loved it; thought, "...wow, funky bass in a New Wave band. Cool, I'm in".
At the time, I did not know what they looked like...what the Hell, it was the '80s.
JT was heavily inspired by Bernard Edwards of Chic fame. He actually purchased Bernard's StingRay bass. Unfortunately, JT's tech cut off Bernard's old strings which JT was very upset about.
JT was one of the guys who got me into playing bass, along with Steve Harris and Cliff Burton. I thought he played really cool lines that added a cool dimension to their songs.
JT was one of the guys who got me into playing bass, along with Steve Harris and Cliff Burton. I thought he played really cool lines that added a cool dimension to their songs.
Under-rated? They were huge in the early '80s.
Every video was a high dollar/big production...they were like mini-James Bond episodes.
They were one of the headliners for Live Aid...and they rocked, too (in spite of Lebon's "dance moves").
I imagine egos (& probably drugs, too) tarnished this momentum.
...and then they veered more into sampling, less about live playing.
IIRC, a JT interview in Bass Player mentioned how the non-musicians in DD were making the musical choices.
Who in their right state of mind would take the bass out of JT's hands/mind for a synth/compooter?
