New Wave's best bassists

[Silvina Hernandez]

Sorry if it's been done before but I'd like to start a discussion about the best bassists in the genre.
My favourite are: Mark Bedford (Madness), Johnny McElhone (Altered Images), Ian Burden (The Human League) and Paul Webb (Talk Talk).
Please comment on my choices and feel free to tell us your own.

[wherewereuin82]

Mick Karn, Dave Allen, Jah Wobble

[Crocodiles]

The bass player from Altered Images? Yeah, not bad, but their guitar player (whatever his name was) was absolutely phenomenal. He had a knack for pop licks and peppy leads that were out of this world.



Top bass players from new wave:

Peter Hook - Joy Div/New Order
(signature sound, monster riffs, could be rocking or so mournful)

Les Pattinson - Echo And The Bunnymen
(he could come up with the most incredible bass lines and just relentlessly pound you over and over with them)

Declan Jones - Blue In heaven
(not a household name, but man did this guy come up with killer, heavy bass lines. Real heavy, and real low. Great stuff.)

Wobble - PIL
(hypnotic like no other)

Dave Allen - Gang Of Four, Shriekback
(his GOF stuff was great, but his Shriekback work took him to the stratosphere)

Pete Rizzo and Stephen Marshall - Gene Loves Jezebel
(some of the most fluid, creative bass lines ever. The bass line to "Bruises" is the best ever recorded.)


But the #1 bass player of new wave, post-punk is.....

STUART MORROW - NEW MODEL ARMY

No one on Earth plays bass like this guy. For years I thought the guitar parts I heard on the records were guitar. Nope. It was Morrow's insane bass playing. Thanks to youtube we can see just how insanely great he was even while playing live.

I play a bit of bass and can actually do a bit of all the above great bassists I named, but no way, no how can I do anything that Morrow has done. That guy was not mortal. Greatest bass player that ever lived.

[KYYX4ever]

Jah Wobble was amazing !

Kick Karn for sure.

John Taylor is my fave--very groovy slappy bass.

[TragicMagic]

I'd have to agree with maybe adding John Taylor.. though hes not the most outwardly technical compared to some others, he is certainly one of the most popular / high profile.

[SallyLightfoot]

In addition to those mentioned above, I've always liked the fretless bass work done by Gazza Johnson (China Crisis) and Pino Palladino (for Paul Young).

Course, during this period you've also got Mark King, Tony Levin, Nick Beggs (Kajagoogoo) and Bernard Edward.

[Frank_Chickens]

Bit of a tricky one this since most of the great ones are in the funk and jazz fields.

Cindy Rickmond (Unknown Gender) - Could make her bass sound light and delicate or heavy and throbbing whenever she wanted. Her slap technique is fautless.

Jez Kerr (A Certain Ratio) - Was the lead instrument in the band and showed that whatever a guitar could do a bass could do just as well if not better.

Ivor Roberts (Music for Pleasure) - It was wondered that without a guitarist that their sound would lack something. It didn't. Great playing on their second album and thought at times that one wasn't being played it was that good.

As a bonus:

The Time Dance - Picture - I've got no idea who the bassist is but love the bass solo in the middle of it.

[oldnewwaver]

Benjamin Orr - The Cars
Kerry Hatch - Oingo Boingo (original bassist before 1984)
John Taylor Duran Duran
Sting The Police

[thegoldenyear]

My group of seven - none of 'em were obscure, and that's for a reason.

[b]Derek Forbes[/b] pushed Simple Minds' towering arrangements to another level and changed style with each record, 1979-1983. My personal #1.

[b]Mick Karn[/b] was astonishingly nimble.

[b]Pete Hook[/b] played effin' gorgeous "lead" bass.

[b]Simon Gallup[/b]'s slack sound, low-slung style and monster hair were iconic.

[b]Andy Rourke[/b] anchored Marr = 'nuff said.

[b]John Taylor[/b] gave Duran a bump 'n' run likemindeds like U-Vox and Spandau never had.

And was there a better embodiment for Stranglers' sallow, face-down-in-the-gutter image than [b]Jean-Jacques Burnel[/b]'s rumble?

[thegoldenyear]

And I just realized I forgot Killing Joke's [b]Martin "Youth" Glover[/b] and [b]Paul Raven[/b].

[oldnewwaver]

how about Tina Weymouth from the Talking Heads?

I also though Patrick O'Hearn from Missing Persons and Tony Levin who played with Peter Gabriel were very innovative

[DougMash]

Colin Moulding of XTC and Bruce Foxton of the Jam are my all time favorites.

Graham Maby of Joe Jackson's Band and Tony Maimone of Pere Ubu were also faves, and They Might Be Giants must agree, as both have been part of TMBG at one point.

In 1980, I was 12 years old, was a paperboy, and had a blonde bowl haircut and rose-colored sunglasses. When delivering a paper I happened upon two girls in bikinis getting some sun, and I heard one of them say "he's cute...like (that guy from) Elvis Costello." Not hearing the "guy from" part, I rushed to the record store to see what this Elvis Costello looked like, only to find they were talking about bassist Bruce Thomas, who is also a favorite, as we were both "cute" in 1980. It also got me to buy

[DougMash]

"Get Happy"

[Dominik500]

Nick Beggs
John Taylor
Philip Jap

[Mechanical Man]

JJ Burnel springs to mind! And Gerald V. Casale! And, yeah, Tina Weymouth fer sher.

--Dave