Unlike some bassists, I wasn't someone who couldn't play guitar too well and elected to go with two less strings. I've never even really tried to learn the guitar, outside some very basic chords - I can just about pick the verse to Everybody Hurts by REM on a good day.
On Saturday, the BBC show "I'm In a Rock and Roll Band" cast the bassist in the role as 'sideman'. How dare they! So, with that in mind, here's my top five bass heroes, who mean more to me than any guitarist or singer.
5) Dave Allen (Gang of Four, Shriekback)
One of a rare breed - a Cumbrian musician who made it (file alongside British Sea Power, It Bites and Lee from 911). Dave Allen was dossing around the dole before being recruited by a bunch of theory-heavy art students in Leeds. The funk in Gang of Four pretty much all came from Allen, and it's hard to imagine how their brand of agit-pop would have worked with a more atypical post-punk bassist.
By 1981, burned out from touring, he left the band, who never really recovered, despite replacement Sara Lee being no slouch herself. Forming Shriekback with Barry Andrews (once of XTC) and Carl Marsh, he was part of some blistering songs, personal favourites including Malaria, Hand On My Heart and Gunning for the Buddha. Nowadays, you can read his thoughts on the music industry on his excellent Pampelmoose blog.
Favourite bassline: My Spine Is (The Bassline) (Shriekback)
4) Bernard Edwards (Chic)
Some months ago, a drummer friend and myself were looking to get a band together. We met up with several guitarists and, as you do, initial talks in the pub turned to influences. My friend and I both expressed an admiration for the work of Chic, which was generally met with looks of mild disdain.
Well, they can go fuck themselves. Much as disco isn't a genre I have too much time for, Chic rock. For one thing, Edwards, Tony Thompson (drums) and Nile Rogers (guitar) were all staggeringly fab musicians and producers. I remember well the first time I heard Le Freak on VH-1, when I was 16 or so, watching in awe at how dexterous Edwards' hands seemed to be.
On top of his Chic albums and singles, Edwards and Rogers also did excellent work with Diana Ross, Sister Sledge and Sheila and B. Devotion.
Favourite bassline: Everybody Dance (Chic)
3) Barry Adamson (Magazine/Visage/Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds)I was lucky enough to see the reformed Magazine in Manchester last year, and it reaffirmed what I had thought for some time: Barry Adamson is one cool cat.
A Moss Side native, Adamson made his mark alongside Howard Deveto in Magazine, a band who could have been huge but never were. More so than the notes Adamson played, it was always the sound that hit me most. His playing sounded huge and I've spent many an evening fiddling with effects pedals trying to get something even in the general area he managed.
After Magazine split, he spent some time working with Nick Cave before branching off into soundtrack work, including for David Lynch. Most notably, Moss Side Story was the score for a film that didn't actually exist.
Oh, and a vaguely embarrassing note, it put a stupid grin on my face that he now uses a Fender Jaguar, the same as me. Ahem.
Favourite bassline: Talk To The Body (Magazine)
2) James Jamerson (The Funk Brothers)
For people of my generation, whose parents grew up in the 60s, Motown was inescapable. Like the Beatles, you knew who Stevie Wonder, the Four Tops and the Supremes were from the radio and tapes played in the car.
Back then, I only really appreciated the amazing voices, but as I began learning, my hearing seemed to tune more into the bass more and on Motown, it's a habit that's rewarded. What always staggers me is that for a guy who must have played on hundreds of sessions, he managed to think up so many amazing lines. If I could play like anyone, it would be this guy.
Sadly, Jamerson died before his talent got the recognition he deserved in his lifetime. The documentary 'Standing In The Shadows of Motown' does a great job of telling the history of Jamerson and his fellow Funk Brothers and I would urge anyone with any interest in pop music to check it out.
Favourite bassline: I Was Made To Love Her (Stevie Wonder)
1) Peter Hook (Joy Division, New Order, Revenge, Monaco, Freebass)
The first time I heard Joy Division was 'Year Zero'. Many people clocked onto them through the intensity of Ian Curtis, but what hit me first was the bass. I'd never heard anything like it and somewhere something clicked in my head.
And that was that. Within days I'd got my first bass and tiny amp. Not that it was easy: the first few months were spent in a struggle to make the thing produce some kind of rudimentary tune. The breakthrough was when messing about I discovered the simple three note riff that underpins most of Digital by Joy Division. A few days later Transmission followed and I was away.
Sure, these aren't technically amazing basslines, but the intensity shines through. Hooky made me want to play the bass, though I never tried to cop his style or technique. Some ten years later, I was stood next to him at a bar in Salford and felt way too intimated to speak to him, though I reckon he probably gets enough people telling him he changed their life as it is.
Favourite bassline: Twenty Four Hours (Joy Division)
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