AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #347: ‘BASS LINES’

I’m breaking my self-imposed unwritten rule of never having two ICAs in the same week as I want to wish Jonny the Friendly Lawyer, one of the best friends that this blog could ever ask for, a very happy 60th birthday this coming weekend.

JTFL pops in here every single day, and along with flimflamfan (whose most recent ICA on Cranes appeared just a few days ago), makes the most contributions via the comments section, often heaping praise on all sorts of contributions for the quality of the writing.

The thing is, I’ve been very lucky to meet and get to know JTFL, spending time with him on a couple of occasions, one of which also involved myself and Rachel (Mrs JC in case you weren’t aware) meeting his wonderful wife, Goldie, when they stopped off in Barcelona for a few days during a holiday to Spain.  It’s long been a plan for us all to meet up again in Santa Monica where JTFL resides, and indeed plane tickets were purchased for such a trip a few years ago, only for COVID to impact on the world and do away with plans.  Since then, we’ve both been just too busy with other things to make it happen, but fingers and toes are crossed for 2024…..

Jonny is a fanatical bass player, going back to his youthful days in New York, where he was part of a number of post-punk bands that gigged and recorded.  He seemingly collects bass guitars with the same enthusiasm as I do vinyl records of a bygone era, and he was telling me that he’s splashed out on something rather special to mark the big birthday.  He’ll no doubt bring it on stage quite soon, as he’s still involved in a couple of LA-based bands, one of which does original material while the other plays all sorts of new wave/post-punk cover songs.  Maybe one day he’ll use this little corner of t’internet to share some tales.

My birthday gift is far more modest, but is delivered with a great deal of love and affection.  I asked him to give me a list of the ten songs which he believes have the best bass lines so that I could turn the suggestions into an ICA.  The songs are Jonny’s suggestions, the running order is mine. As indeed are the words written beneath each song in the ICA.

SIDE A

1. The Beat – Mirror In The Bathroom  (bassist : David Steele)

A #4 hit in the UK in 1980.  Dave Wakeling, the lead vocalist with The Beat, has described David Steele‘s 2/2 bassline as ‘revolutionary’  (being a total non-musician, I have no idea what that means, but it sounds ridiculously impressive).

2. 5ive Gears In Reverse – Elvis Costello and The Attractions (bassist : Bruce Thomas)

Jonny is a huge fan of the music played by The Attractions, so it was no surprise that one of their songs featuring Bruce Thomas appeared on the shortlist.   If he’d asked me to guess which one, then (I Don’t Want To Go To) Chelsea or Pump It Up, two big singles from the late 70s, would have been the first things which came to mind.  But no, a fairly obscure, but brilliant, album track from Get Happy! (1980) gets the nod.

3. Walk On The Wild Side – Lou Reed (bassist : Herbie Flowers)

A #10 hit in the UK in 1973.  All sorts of things make this one of THE greatest songs of all time (even as a nine-year old, I fell heavily for its charms even if I had no idea what it was about), but there can be no doubt that Herbie Flowers‘ bass playing has a lot to do with it.  There’s a fabulous and very practical reason why it turned out so distinctive:-

The song is noted for its twinned ascending and descending portamento basslines played by Herbie Flowers. In an interview on BBC Radio 4 (Playing Second Fiddle, aired July 2005), Flowers claimed the reason he came up with the twin bass lines was that as a session musician, he would be paid double for playing two instruments on the same track.Flowers’s bass hook was performed on double bass overlaid by fretless Fender Jazz Bass. He was paid a £17 flat fee (equivalent to £200 in 2021)

4. Down In The Tube Station At Midnight – The Jam (bassist : Bruce Foxton)

A #15 hit in the UK in 1978. The Jam never made it big in the USA, so I was kind of surprised but chuffed,  (a word Jonny laughs at when I use it on the blog), that this post-punk classic made the list.   Bruce Foxton was an underated bassist, one whose contributions were very much over-shadowed by Paul Weller‘s lyrics, certainly to the vast majority of the hundreds of thousands of Jam fans back in the day.  As I’ve gotten older, I’ve really learned to appreciate just how much the bass line, every bit as much as the angry and frightened lyric, makes this such a special song. Oh, and the backing vocals too……(which will get another mention a bit later on in this ICA)

5. This Charming Man – The Smiths (bassist : Andy Rourke)

A#25 hit in the UK in 1983.  Back in the day, we all wanted to be either Morrissey or Johnny Marr.  Then again, those who were paying close attention had spotted from the outset that the engine room of Mike Joyce (drums) and Andy Rourke (bass) were very much at the heart of what made The Smiths sound so fresh, invigorating and energetic.  They might not have got any writing credits, but without their contributions, the records would have been a lot less essential.

SIDE B

1. Duran Duran – Girls On Film  (bassist : John Taylor)

A #5 hit in the UK in 1981. I’ll be honest.   I liked quite a lot of the early Duran Duran singles as they were great fun to dance to….and they were certainly more likely to invoke a conversation with the fairer sex than talking about the merits of The Clash. But I never paid attention to how good the musicianship was on the songs till many years later – all I knew back in 1981 was that the bass player was the one most girls fancied, and the one I had the least chance of ever looking like.

2. Found A Job – Talking Heads (bassist : Tina Weymouth)

It’s no real surprise that Tina Weymouth‘s bass playing gets on to the list, but yet again, the song selected by Jonny catches out us who are non-musicians.  If he said ‘Talking Heads’, I’d have said ‘Psycho Killer’, as I think many others would too.  But this track, from More Songs About Buildings and Food (1978), is a great shout.   A critic elsewhere on t’internet just a few months had this to say about the song:-

“….you might or might not notice that his (David Byrne’s)  band is basically playing straight-up disco, tweaked only by yet another one of Tina Weymouth’s endlessly inventive basslines weaving in and out of the rhythm guitars…”

(Jim Connolly, Medialoper.com, 8 May 2023)

Endlessly inventive.   A perfect description of what Tina Weyworth brought to her art.

3. I’m The Man – Joe Jackson (bassist : Graham Maby)
4. Mayor of Simpleton  – XTC (bassist : Colin Moulding)

Graham Maby and Colin Moulding are two of Jonny’s all-time favourites.

In fact, I believe that Mr Maby is the bassist he admires most, having described him in a previous guest post as ‘my hero’ and his playing as ‘irresistible’.  I’m The Man was the lead single from Joe Jackson‘s second album back in 1979, but it failed to chart.  It’s a frantic tune all round, one that I recall with much fondness from seeing the band play live back in the day, and I can picture Jonny, on stage with his covers band, working himself into a sweat as this one gets played.

Jonny previously contributed an ICA that was devoted to XTC songs written by Colin Moulding, so I was surprised that it’s an Andy Partridge tune which makes the cut.  But then again, Jonny also previously penned an ICA that was devoted to XTC songs written by Any Partridge, and he had this to say about Mayor of Simpleton:-

Another single, this one from 1989’s Oranges and Lemons, perhaps the group’s last great LP. This one features terrific basslines from man of the match Mr. Moulding, who also provides solid backing vocals. As a rule, the songwriters usually sang lead on their songs, but Moulding’s voice was always present in the mix, much like how The Jam’s Bruce Foxton co-sang along with Paul Weller on the majority of that band’s songs. (Let’s add Foxton to the list of under-appreciated musicians from the era, while we’re at it.)

I’ll let you into a secret.  Jonny is working hard at learning the difficult and complicated bass lines on Mayor of Simpleton as he wants to incorporate the song into the cover band’s setlists.

5. Love Will Tear Us Apart – Joy Division (bassist : Peter Hook)

A #13 hit in the UK in 1980.  I know Peter Hook‘s bass playing is a huge part of what made Joy Division and New Order so successful.  But as a non-musician, I find it hard to explain why that is.   This is how his work on LWTUA is described on the website, Talking Bass:-

This is a great bass line to play for players of any level. It’s instantly recognisable.  What I really like about Peter Hooks bass lines, is how melodic and creative they are. The line for ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ features the actual vocal line of the chorus alongside a drone to highlight the chord that’s played underneath. You have everything in there, the melody AND the harmony. This makes it very recognisable and hooky (excuse the pun!), he was unusual in that he plays bass as more of a lead instrument rather than the traditional supporting role bass usually occupies.

A great way, I reckon, to wrap up an ICA with a difference.   It’s one that wouldn’t look too shabby as a mixtape………

mp3: Various – Ten Bass Lines for a 60th Birthday (35:26)

All the best, Jonny.   Have a great day with your family and friends.

JC