Hi!

In my opinion, Chris (almost) always played in a kind of simple style. A few tracks have a more complicated bass style, like "Dangerous rythm", "Man of two worlds" or "Dream on".

Yesterday, while listening to the new remaster of "Rage in eden", I noticed for the first time the ultra cool bass playing on "Stranger within".

Any other tracks that springs to mind?

Regards//Björn

"Someone Else's Clothes". Almost all "Ultravox!" and "Systems of Romance" tracks have cool bass playings.

On the "Pink thing", there´s a guest bass player on "Sweet surrender". I don´t understand why, because at their gig in Gothenburg, 1986, Chris played that slap style quite easily.

The bass line in "Time to kill" is good too.

//Björn

The Stranger Within bassline is quite unusual. I wouldn't say for sure but I reckon Chris sampled individual notes of him playing the bassline into the Emulator (mark one, 8-bit technology!) and they sequenced it.

The bass sound is unusual there and, with him playing either a sampled fretless or a real one on When The Time Comes, they're the only two tracks I can think of when a very different bass sound is used. Warren always said that Chris was an astounding bassist and his work has always been quality.

At the gig in Glasgow last week I was amazed to watch him play bass guitar and keys at the same time. Looked quite tricky to me and I certainly wouldn't try it!

By the way, he doesn´t need to be ashamed of the bass lines in "When the scream subsides" either...
//Björn

He's an incredibly talented bloke. Warren said (during their estrangement) that he always hugely admired Chris's talent as a bassist, contributor and synthesist. Warren regarded him as world-class, probably the finest bassist he'd ever worked with.

As for playing bass synth and guitar at the same time: wow! I've never seen him do that before Sheffield. In the few times I saw them play Astradyne live in the 80s, he always played bass guitar although he's able to play both now as it probably requires only open-string playing. Listen to his bassline on it and tell me what you think.

Any other tracks that springs to mind?

The 1978 Hiroshima Mon Amour clip on Youtube.
Stranger Within
When The Scream Subsides
Man Of Two Worlds

I've always loved the lines in "The Voice" and "The Wild, The Beautiful and The Damned".

There's slap-style on the intro of the extended version of DWTIME.

Love teh playing on the voice it has a real kick on the live version on Monument.

Mr Cross is an absolute magician.
Watching the man play his bass guitar and synth bass on Astradyne at the same time during the reunion, Amazes me

That was one of the highlights for me. See - men CAN multi-task!!

Listening to Hosanna, I think Chris must have been a Mick Karn fan at the time.

The man's a genius.

I just remembered the "teaser" clip in You tube of Chris playing a few seconds of "Passings strangers". Quality stuff!

//Björn

When there was no ultravox I started to listen to a Canadian trio called Rush. Geddy Lee is meant to be the greatest bassist of all time, he plays the keyboards & sings at the same time too.If you love Mr Cross you will enjoy watching Geddy live, you can find them on you tube, they're going longer than ultravox & still going strong to this day & deserve the utmost respect as musicians, please, as a fan look them up, you might not take to the music strait away but my god, you will appreciate how tallented they are

My dad likes Rush, which was always a good reason for me to dislike them as a moody teenager back in the 80's, there was something of theirs that did actually remind me of "Astradyne",it's that long ago now I can't remember what it was called.

Jean-Jacques Burnel of the Stranglers is still possibly my fave bass player - although we were spoilt in the 80s with such guys as Peter Hook, Les Pattinson (Bunnymen), Simon Gallup of The Cure etc etc.

Before anyone says anything I am talking about style, not necessarily technique

Stranger within have already been mentioned several times. But don´t forget Reap the wild wind. Great bassline!

Love EARLY Rush - The like of Working Man and Finding My Way. Saw them recently in the States - not so keen on the new stuff though or the 80's stuff. Great bass player though Geddy Lee.

Agree on the bassplayer in Rush. But don´t forget John Taylor of Duran Duran (New Religion, Rio etc)or Derek Forbes ("Colours fly and..."or the simplistic "Waterfront") of Simple minds. Paul McCartney has done few ultracool bass-riffs, like "Come together".

//Björn

Obvious choices as classic basslines are Peter Hook - Blue Monday, John Taylor - Rio & New Religion, Derek Forbes - I Travel & everything on the New Gold Dream album, anything by Mick Karn and the one on David Bowies China Girl.

FANTASTIC !

Pino Palladino's fretless bass on Numan's I Assassin album,Go West's 1st album and Paul Youngs' I'm gonna tear your playhouse down are my highlights! Also Tony Levin on Peter Gabriels' Sledgehammer

Mick Karn! His work with Japan, Dali's Car, his solo work - particularly Titles - and contributions to Numan's Dance album are magic. Peter Hook is a legend. People rave about John Paul Jones et al but Cross is brilliant and hugely underated.

Barry Adamson !! Been listening to Magazine lately, and he is wonderful. :p

It may have been "WHERES MY THING" from the album "ROLL THE BONES"This instrumantle contains an brilliant bass line, any bassist I have ever worked with, and I have worked with some amazing guys, have always commented on how brilliant it was just to listen to

Do you know the indie band Pavement? They had a song that went "GEDDY LEE, HE SPEAKS JUST HOW HE SINGS....".LOL

Is it Barry Adamson who plays on the Visage track "The horseman"?. Lot´s of the Visage stuff have nice basslines.

//Björn

It´s a few of us that likes the works of Derek Forbes. Ironically, Simple minds once made a single B-side called "Bassline".

//Björn

Yeah, that's him. His work is all over the first two Visage albums. It's hardly surprising that Visage were described as a "new romantic supergroup". Check the line-up:

Rusty Egan - drums and drum programming
Barry Adamson - bass
John McGeoch - guitar
Midge Ure - guitar, vocals and synths
Billy Currie - keyboards and synths
Dave Formula - keyboards and synths
Steve Strange - vocals

Gary Barnacle also played sax on tracks like Tar.

you know....well...he does actualy

Pete Trewavas of Marillion is not oft mentioned, but is an excellent bass player.. sometimes lost underneath guitar and keyboard but if you listen to any of their live material that has been released he really is awesome - particularly on the live version of 'Kayleigh' from 'Real to Reel / Brief Encounter'.

Also, and slightly off topic.. I gave 'Forgotten Sons' a spin recently, it's a shame but the subject matter of that song is still so apt, nearly 3 decades after the song was written.

I guess the above would be about the poor old squaddies, eh?

So many great bassists in the 80's; even Mark King of Level 42 - well, he did guest on a single by Leisure Process (who originally sounded like Magazine) that I had. :p

Certainly it was about the troubles in Northern Ireland back in the 70's, but in addition it was pretty scathing about the 'suits' in Whitehall that were sending the army over there and making decisions from a safe distance.. Looking at the situation globally now, it seems that nothing has changed..

Totally agree - am having a bit of a "Rage In Eden" today; and apparently it's not appropriate to post about politics in a political thread (if that's the case why not ban them outright?). See elsewhere for this.....lol.

Several of my friends and workmates over the years have been ex squaddies - they were the most gentle and caring people I have ever met; and I have been deeply moved by their kindnesses. Was saved from the sack a few times due to interventions that I didn't even have to request.

Back on topic- I do think that during the 70s & 80s, although at the time some of the music may not always have been to our liking,there was an abundance of great musicians on stage that we may have not appreciated as much then as we do now, is this because we were too young to realize how talented they were, or is it because we're bombarded with talentless shite these days, either way, aren't we beginning to sound like our own parents ,yep maybe those old farts were write after all

The music industry today is very much songwriting/production-teams, stylists, PR-strategists and so on, isn´t it? Not much room for individualism. Back then I think we in some ways took all those musicians for granted and not realizing how great and diversely talented they in fact were. As it often happens it´s only in retrospect we can see that now. The late 70´s and early 80´s was such an incredible era that in my view have never been matched in terms of individualism and inventiveness.

Exactly, these days, it's all about image, young females being exploited by using sex appeal to sell records,when the singing and song writing lack talent if we got a record that kept repeating in a monotonous voice we'd take it back to the shop & quite rightly too, but these days they force us to believe that that crap is talent

Wow; I love you folks telling it like it is ! Rare in this time of PC and spin doctoring - long may you live !

Music scene is rubbish these days - thats why I refuse to support things like the 'X Factor' - total rubbish and as much about the judges grand entrance as anything else. Farce.

I wouldn´t say that all artists on shows like Pop Idol and X Factor are rubbish. Most are, but you have to admit that people like Leona Lewis and swedish singer Agnes, who recently had a big dance hit in the UK, are definitely talented singers, even if you might not would want to buy their records.

If you're referrng to this thread , as we've been down a similar path previously I'll gently assume the statement 'it's not appropriate to post about politics in a political thread' is your personal interpretation for local spin purposes, given that there's rarely balance or solutions suggested when posted articles have been held up for question or needing balance. Oh well; life really is too short, so onwards and upwards I guess.



Back to the subject, I've always thought that Chris's bass on 'When the Time Comes' to be the best of the Ure era material, although I'm sure other people have their own favourites. Outside of Chris, great players I've admired are Bernard Edwards (Chic), John Entwhistle (The Who), Paul McCartney, Nathan East (everyone) and Derek Smalls (Spinal Tap). Great players and great bands.



Regards,


Paul

Paul, just simply to clarify - I was referring to the "BNP" thread which is now a long-established political thread. If you have a problem with it; why not simply remove it rather than trying to scapegoat one contributor of many simply because they are the most recent poster?

Grant PS Whilst in this moment of clarity; I don't specifically support any particular party so I doubt very much this counts as spin.

Grant,

I have no problem with the thread, but I did take exception to your statement 'it's not appropriate to post about politics in a political thread'. This implied that I'd said something in the other thread I clearly did not. I used the word 'spin', because you've deliberately given people reading this an inaccurate impression that is your interpretation only; we have not said you can't post about politics, and we've never taken down threads unless there have been exceptional circumstances that have forced us to do so. It's a bit annoying to imply we would take things down based on personal preference; sorry, that's not our style.



Scapegoating. As with other posts on that thread, you've copied an article from one newspaper that criticises a politician from New Labour - but reading down, the article also highlights areas where the party has been successful, although there's no comment on that. I appreciate I'm maybe alone in thinking constant regurgitation of articles that seem to take a form of relish in 'bashing' a person or their reputations regardless of all facts does not make an edifying read on a music website, whether it's a self titled political thread or not. In that respect, I asked 'So how would you propose solving all of Society's problems you've highlighted in this thread?'. We can all read about the problems, but there's no balance of views, and no debate or suggestion on what the answers are. If my asking you something that simple is 'scapegoating' in response to something you've posted, then I wouldn't worry about the thread being taken down as I'm probably at the point where I should ask Cerise to remove my account and ability to post. Life really is too short...



You're obviously passionate about your politics Grant. Isn't it a shame that people don't debate things properly in the political arena, and as a result so many voters withdraw from taking an interest because of the sheer cynicism of the political process.



No more from me on this one. As you all were on the genuinely interesting thread about guitarists and bass lines.

Regards,


Paul

Paul

If the leader of the country isn't responsible for what happens to it, who exactly is then? And more manufacturing has been destroyed under New Labour than under the Tories. They didn't murder Dr David Kelly either - it will all come out soon enough.

I can now at least you have some depth of feeling on things yourself; I would suggest perhaps that we just tolerate one another - we don't have to be best buddies just to rub along after a fashion. I am sorry and truly am walking away for an evening to cool off - it's often a sensible thing to do, that works. Bye for now - and I hope you all come up with lots more great musicians for your lists here; as many have said the late 70s to roughly mid 80s was a truly wonderful period where we were all spoilt (and perhaps didn't fully appreciate).

Alan Davey (AKA the bass assassin) is a very articulate player. Working in a similar, but far more technical manner to Lemmy, Alan was the backbone of Hawkwind between 1984 and 2007. His solo work is exceptional and includes plenty of spacey instrumentals. Weaving between fast paced rock numbers and tranquil synthesizer only soundscapes his albums are a genuine pleasure to hear. he has also released albums with his side projects Bedouin and, more recently, Gunslinger.

Geddy lee. He is simply a stupendous bass player. I have a number of Rush's albums which are great, but seeing them play live is the best way to appreciate the raw talent of this band. I would highly recommend their Live In Rio DVD. You will not be disappointed.

In closing, I would also like to mention Mark King of Level 42 (who worked with Midge on The Gift). One of the most innovative bass players of the 1980's.

Alan Davey - wow - how odd to see him mentioned here. I am working with Alan Davey at the moment - he's playing bass on my album and doing some spacey synth stuff too!

Put me down as another fan of Alan; particularly for his work on the "Electric Tepee" Hawkwind album. Which led to a resurgence in their artistic fortunes for a number of years. :p

I am surprised no-one has yet mentioned Colin Moulding of XTC. Very understated and subtle but exactly what the songs require.

I'm a bass player of over 25 years so cool bass guitar playing is very much part of me. As for Chris, I find him quite rudimentary, though saying that he gives the songs exactly what they need. Some of his bass lines are very imaginative ("Reap The Wild Wind", and also "I can't stay long" from Systems of Romance in particular) and he gives the songs a strong backbone for the rest of the band to build on. Let us also not forget how good he was at playing keyboard bass lines long before most other electronic bands delved into that territory. I still love the Youtube clip of 'Slow Motion' where Chris is pounding away at his Mini-Moog

Bass players I rate highly and have inspired me are many. Glad to see Geddy Lee mentioned by others as he is a supremely talented bassist (and multi-instrumentalist/ singer!) Heck, all that he can do on stage as well as playing bass and the only Rush song I ever managed to completely work out was New World Man from the Signals album...

Other bassists include the likes of Bruce Foxton from the Jam. Fantastic bass lines, and Bruce along with Geddy were the men responsibly for me blowing too much money on a black Rickenbacker 4001 bass. Cool bass, cool bass players! I am also a big fan of John Taylor from Duran Duran (also a Rickenbacker player - check the Planet Earth video and I think he played one on most of the first album before switching to an Aria SB1000). John is an incredibly talented bassist, and up until recently vastly underrated. His bass lines are imaginative, fluid, funky and sound so simple. Yet try and play them - damn! There's a guy on Youtube who does a lot of bass lessons, including many Duran classics. When you see just how much is involved with John's bass lines you'll see what a talented player he is. Check the Youtube videos here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/zumazmusic

More recently Tim Commerford from Rage Against the Machine I rate very highly. Another highly imaginative bassist with bass lines ranging from jazz to funk to hard rock and fusion but he never slaps! Often overlooked because the mighty Tom Morrello on guitar generally gets the focus of attention with the myriad of weird sounds and effects he manages to extract from a fairly innocent looking guitar.

I would also rate Eric Avery and Chris Chaney, both bassists from Jane's Addiction. Chris was only with them for one album and Eric, the original bassist, has now re-joined his band mates after leaving them in 1992. Chris came up with some great bass licks for 2002's "Strays", simplistic in a similar way to Chris Cross' style yet so effective. Eric meanwhile is much more fluid and melodic, often using arpeggios and chords, both not that commonly use in bass playing. Both contributed immensely to all three excellent Jane's Addiction albums (four including their début live album) and are well worth listening to for great songs and imaginative bass playing.

Last but not least, if you want to go to another level with bass playing check out the likes of Victor Wooten and Marcus Miller. Both are hugely respected on the jazz/ funk circuit, and I can certainly testify that Victor is on another planet when it comes to bass playing! Worth watching him just so you can hear your jaw hit the floor when you get to see his ability and virtuosity!

Anyway, I've rambled on enough about bassists! Check some of those mentioned above and enjoy some great music with some great bass playing

Just remembered some brutal bass playing from John Entwhistle (The Who).

//Björn

Whooooppeeeeee. another rush fan

The first bass player I really took note of, is almost certainly my all time fave - Jean-Jacques Burnel of The Stranglers. Particularly the way his style drove the early punky material. But he is also an interesting person, who's written and sung some good songs. :p

Rush are awesome! They kind of lost the plot a bit album wise after "Test for Echo" but their live shows are still absolutely fantastic!

Yeah,Rush in Rio dvd really is a benchmark few will ever live up to. I got it when it came out and I still love it, especially "the boys in Rio" documentary.

I agree with both Hooky and JJB, both very talented bass players. Hooky's best work is on the NO track Crystal.

Nah - it's 'The Perfect Kiss', obvs.

Strange feeling, returning to this topic over twelve years after I started it, recognizing that nobody mentioned Chris fretless playing on "When the time comes".