![]() ![]() Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, “White Lines” (Bassist: Doug Wimbish) That setup left plenty of sonic room for a strong bass line to leave its mark and Tom Bailey’s thick synth bass achieves maximum impact with a minimum of notes he leaves huge gaps between phrases and drops some tasty fills-in all the right places, including the classic high-register lick in the last verse!Ħ. This hypnotic, moody track is one of the quintessential ‘80s pop tunes, built on a spacious bed of percussion, marimba, and ethereal synthesizers. Thompson Twins, “Hold Me Now” (Synth Bassist: Tom Bailey) (Special thanks to Cozmo D for fact-checking with me via Facebook Messenger!)ĥ. Using only four notes - A, B, C-sharp and E - Cozmo summons the spirit of hip hop’s origins. Though the late Bob “Chilly B” Crafton played bass onstage with Newcleus, lead rapper and producer Ben Cenac (“I’m Cozmo D from outer SPACE!”) programmed this mesmerizing two-bar phrase on synth bass. ![]() But their smash 1984 single “Jam on It” put them on the map as true hip hop innovators, combining fierce old-school rap skills with electro-modern synthesizer textures. Newcleus, a DJ collective in Brooklyn, rocked house and block parties since the late-‘70s. Newcleus, “Jam on It” (Synth Bassist: Ben “Cozmo D” Cenac) “Sledgehammer” - the first single from Gabriel’s landmark 1986 So album - marries ‘60s soul and ‘80s technology by way of Tony’s slick, juicy bass line, played on a fretless through an Octave pedal with a pick.Ĥ. Peter Gabriel, “Sledgehammer” (Bassist: Tony Levin)īesides being an A-list session player in NYC, Tony Levin’s innovative bass artistry has been a fixture of Peter Gabriel’s band for over four decades. In 19984, he actually produced this number one hit from the Footloose soundtrack, a song built around a keyboard bass lick so catchy that it’s one of the main hooks.ģ. Leave it to a keyboard legend to create one of the catchiest bass lines of the decade! Having made his bones in the jazz/fusion scenes via luminaries Cannonball Adderly, Jean-Luc Ponty, and Frank Zappa, the late, great George Duke became a fixture in the R&B world as a solo artist and collaborator. Deniece Williams, “Let’s Hear It For The Boy” (Moog Bassist: George Duke), Pino’s breathtaking fretless counterpoint to Paul Young’s voice here never sacrifices the groove and has kept “Every Time You Go Away” oozing out of radio speakers worldwide since 1984.Ģ. ![]() His thick tone and melodicism made him a valued session player with Pete Townshend, David Gilmour, and Elton John. Welsh bass guitarist Pino Palladino is one of the finest musicians of our time, and alongside Jaco Pastorius, is one of the primary voices on the fretless bass guitar. Paul Young, “Every Time You Go Away” (Bassist: Pino Palladino) Here are 10 unforgettable bass lines that helped define the sound of that era.ġ. But by the 1980s, pop music’s love affair with bass had reached a significant peak, with both live and synthesized bass parts filling FM radio with lots of great low-end ear candy. Within a few years, bass lines began migrating up from the bottom (“felt but not heard”) to the top, where they not only supported the rhythm and harmony but also offered exciting melodic counterpoints. When Leo Fender invented the electric bass guitar in 1951, he ended up shaping the future sound and feel of pop, rock and roll, R&B, soul, reggae, funk, country - and everything in between. ![]()
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