A long time ago (in the 1990s) I played in a band. Originally on guitar, I later switched to bass guitar, despite having never actually played a bass before. Having no style of my own, I drew inspiration from the bands I loved, following bass players I considered heroes, experimenting and combining styles to create my own weird sound and style. Recently I’ve started playing the bass again. This got me thinking about who those heroes are. My criteria for a bass player being on of my heroes will probably seem a bit odd. and people will wonder why I’ve left out so many ‘rock’ and ‘prog rock’ bassists whose work is also considered legendary. They’re not bad bassists, they just don’t exist in Trash Disco’s world. It’s not just about technical ability. I also dislike bass players who only play one note per chord (I’m looking at you, Fleetwood Mac) and I’m not a huge fan of “slap” bass players, though I do stand in awe of Mark King (Level 42) whose playing you have to see to believe. I like creativity, unique approaches to playing and style.
Once I made my list, the first thing I noticed is that it doesn’t look like any other “Top Ten Bass Players” lists I’ve seen online. But there it is. Here are my personal top ten bass heroes.
10. John Taylor
For those that are regular listeners to the show or know me, I’m sure you’re wondering why I’ve chosen to put Duran Duran’s legendary bass player last. After all he’s a fantastic bass player. To be honest, all of these bass players are in a similar league of greatness. But I had to start with someone!
Taylor is technically brilliant, playing varied styles with inventive, melodic lines. Even in the early days, he produced funky bass lines (Girls On Film, Anyone Out There) alongside haunting melodic lines (To The Shore, Night Boat). Then you have songs like Sound Of Thunder and Friends Of Mine, where it seems impossible for him to play just one single note. It’s like a second song underneath the main song.
Just when you think things couldn’t get any better, he shifts up a gear with the Rio album. These bass lines are fiendish in their complexity and construction, and even he sometimes has wished he’d done something simpler. Rio, for example, starts with a four chord verse (using three chords) but plays a complex bass line that changes with each bar. Yet there’s not a wasted note in sight. It all contributes to the overall sound and Rio just wouldn’t be the same without it.
9. Andy Rourke
Andy Rourke, as the bass player for The Smiths, almost never stood a chance of coming out of the shadows of Morrissey and Marr. But his bass playing, along with Mike Joyce’s creative yet reliable drum lines were just as important in painting the sonic picture that Marr was creating with his guitar work. He compliments Marr’s guitar work perfectly – when Marr was intricate, Rourke went simple (This Charming Man). When Marr went simple Rourke went complex (You’ve Got Everything Now). His bass melodies didn’t always go where you expected and this is the joy of his playing.
8. Mark O’Toole
Here’s a bass player that doesn’t make top ten lists very often and is vastly underrated. The bass player from Frankie Goes To Hollywood was, on most of the singles, was buried under synth basses and over production. But move away from the hyper-produced singles on the Pleasuredome album (Relax, Two Tribes) and its follow up Liverpool, and you find a band that is more than able to play as a band. You hear O’Toole on the title track at the start of the album. Some good work here, and then come the singles. It’s when we get to the first real track of the album, their cover of Born To Run, that we hear O’Toole let fly and enjoy himself. He doesn’t merely copy the original bass line, he takes it and elevates it with more complexity and melody than Springsteen’s original ever had. He shines on Krisco Kisses and opts for a restrained yet funk driven line on The Only Star In Heaven.
On Liverpool, as with Pleasuredome, his more inventive playing can again be found on the non-single tracks. The stand out track in this regard is Kill The Pain, which also features some of Peter Gill’s most creative drums as well – creative in that they function both as rhythm and as a kind of punctuation in its style.
7. Paul McCartney
The first of my non-80s bass heroes. I’m not even that much of a fan and I’m much more a George Harrison fan than a Paul fan. But what can be said about this man that hasn’t already be said? Inventiveness and creativity flows through him and out through his fingers onto whichever instrument he turns his hand to. From Please Please me to the album Help, Paul’s playing combined with Ringo’s rhythms to form a solid foundation of many songs while allowing the vocals and guitar to be the stars. This started to change from Rubber Soul onward, where his style changes somewhat. Here’s where some of his gems are to be found, inventive little flourishes on tracks like The Word and Drive My Car, and the bass line in Nowhere Man is unlike anything he played previously. This pattern continues, always getting more creative, until you get to their final album and the song Something. The melodic bass lines here underscore and compliment George’s song perfectly.
6. Steve Severin
Steve Severin’s bass playing helped give Siouxsie And The Banshees a unique sound. His tendency to slide along the fret board of the bass to reach his notes rather than move across the strings is a highlight of his playing style. He also favoured the plectrum over using his fingers as is traditional for most bass players. The first song I ever heard of the Banshees was Dazzle. No intricate bass lines here, however; just thunderous low bass in the chorus, just off the main beat for maximum effect. But then you have songs like Cascade, Night Shift and Eve White-Eve Black where his bass lines are more melodic and make full use of the fret board. One of his standout bass riffs is from Pulled To Bits.
5. Simon Raymonde
Though not the Cocteau Twins’ first bass player (that was Will Heggie), Simon Raymonde’s bass style came to help define the Cocteaus’ sound before Elizabeth Fraser added her vocals. On recordings, Simon first appeared on the album Treasure, and his style has a kind of “strumming” sound to it (Ivo, Persephone), with occasional deviations into some quite heavenly melodic lines (Beatrix). Like Steve Severin, Raymonde also likes to use the entire fret board on occasion, sliding up or down to a note instead of switching strings.
Rococo, the B side of Aikea Guinea and one of the few Cocteau Twins songs to not feature a vocal, is almost entirely bass driven. It features Simon’s chord strumming style but also includes melody as well. This mix of strumming and melody continued right through to the end. Here, on Pearly Dewdrop’s Drops, you see Raymonde strumming his bass while using his sliding technique.
4. John Entwhistle
Here we have the second non-80s bass player in the list – The Who’s bass player John Entwhistle, also known as “The Ox”. Entwhistle was a formidable bassist whose style inspired many other aspiring bass players. He played his bass as though it were a lead instrument and sometimes lead breaks, often reserved for the lead guitarist, were played by him. An example of this is My Generation. He is primarily a “fingers” player, though he does use a plectrum at times. Entwhistle is technically brilliant, his fingers move over the fretboard like a spider on acid. Speaking of spiders, one of my favourite Who tracks is an Entwhistle composition called Boris The Spider.
3. Mick Karn
Japan’s Mick Karn is another name that doesn’t often feature in top ten bassist lists, but this multi-instrumentalist deserves a spot near the top of Trash Disco’s list. Karn is an accomplished fretless player. Fretless players don’t often feature in the world of pop, but his bass playing features melodic lines that frequently swoop and dive throughout songs. Early on we hear mostly standard bass lines from Karn, but on tracks like Suburban Berlin we hear his fretless artistry begin to emerge. By the time we get to Life In Tokyo, Karn’s note bending becomes a staple part of each song. Just watch his seemingly effortless playing in Swing.
By the time Karn went solo the complexity just increased, with ever increasingly melodic lines and multi-tracked bass lines. Hugely talented, there’ll never be another player like him.
2. Simon Gallup
Like the other Simon in this top ten, this Simon was also not the original bass player in his band, The Cure. That honour goes to Michael Dempsey. Simon Gallup is also one of those bass players with a creative sense, not content just to play a note that just goes along with the chords. In the early years, the odd song here and there are injected with melodic bass lines (Subway Song, In Your House), but mostly he is supporting the song. Then the album Faith arrives and the bass is given much more prominence. Leading the way with The Holy Hour where the bass starts proceedings, and the other instruments are mere backing for Simon’s bass throughout the album. Primary’s steals the show in a standout track.
Like Steve Severin, Gallup also favours the plectrum over using his fingers, which helps distinguish The Cure’s sound as unique. This becomes more evident on 1987’s Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, and is elevated again on 1989’s Disintegration. This is where we hear the magic combination of Gallup’s style and his melodic approach hit its high with tracks like Fascination Street. This continues into 1992’s Wish, with some amazing lines in From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea and End.
- Peter Hook
A founder member of Joy Division and New Order, Peter Hook’s use of effects, melodic style and technical style combine to make him the greatest bass player in the world of Trash Disco. Hook (also known as “Hooky”) evolved over time, with relatively simpler bass lines on most of Unknown Pleasures but with a couple of tracks that stand out. For example, the bass line and the guitar chords on She’s Lost Control should not go together – and yet it works and is one of their better known songs. Not as popular, of course, as the classic Love Will Tear Us Apart, with is jangling, powerful bass riff.
Hook takes it up a level in New Order, becoming much more melodic and, because of the multiple effects pedals in use, the bass stands out to the front as much as any other instrument. Sometimes it even functions like a lead guitar, using notes at the high end of the guitar neck, as opposed to the low notes, which is what is traditional for the bass. Peter Hook, however, is anything but traditional. From the opening high notes on Ceremony you know you are listening to something different. The growing use of keyboards and synth bass lines frees Hook up to play more melodically and higher up the fret board than ever before. Everything’s Gone Green is a great example of this as is Blue Monday. Ignore the bass synth and just listen to Hook’s bass. His bass playing shines even brighter when Blue Monday is played live.
There are too many examples throughout New Order’s career to list all of the gems that revolve around, or are greatly enhanced by, Hook’s bass lines. Hook combines his effects with Entwhistle’s “lead guitar” approach to playing, Entwhistle’s and McCartney’s melodic approach to his bass line construction and Steve Severin’s note sliding style. The result – an instantly recognisable bass sound with a unique playing style.
Though one of the highlights of Hook’s bass lines is Touched By The Hand of God (I think his effects pedals were touched by god as well by the sound of them!), a stand out performance is The Perfect Kiss, which they performed live on the video you see below, rather than just miming to the recording as is usual for music videos. Hook, here, shows he not not averse to finger playing, but he quickly reverts to using the plectrum after the introduction. Add to his talents a bit of percussion as well. It’s a shame he is not with New Order anymore (a reunion seems unlikely), but for me he will always be the undisputed king of bass players.
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