Simon Gallup in Best Bass Players list

Started by Ulrich, August 07, 2014, 14:26:15

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Ulrich

Simon Gallup has made it to the top 10 in this list of bass players!

Found via this music news topic:
http://www.music-news.com/shownews.asp?H=John-Taylor-named-greatest-bass-player&nItemID=82368

Quote01. John Taylor (Duran Duran)
02. Geddy Lee (Rush)
03. Simon Gallup (Cure)
04. Mark King (Level 42)
05. Jaco Pastorious (Weather Report)
06. Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
07. John Entwistle (Who)
08. Victor Wooten (Bela Fleck and the Flecktones)
09. John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin)
10. Paul McCartney

Original list can be found here (incl. youtube links etc.):
http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/the-60-greatest-bassists-of-all-time-279007/58

QuoteThe man behind some of the finest post-punk basslines ever commited to record, Simon Gallup joined The Cure in 1979 recorded The Dark Trilogy of albums (Seventeen Seconds, Faith and Pornography) before getting into a fist fight with Robert Smith and leaving the band for two years in 1982.

Since his return in 1984 they've been firm friends, something probably aided by his amazing lines on the likes of Love Cats and Close To Me.

Well deserved in my opinion!  :smth023
Unfortunately they got it wrong with "Lovecats" (P. Thornalley played on that).  :roll:
The holy city breathed like a dying man...

MeltingMan

En cette nation [Russie] qui n'a pas eu de théoriciens et de démagogues,
les pires ferments de destruction ont apparu. (J. Péladan)

cheyler

I'm never sure who has done the composing of the bass parts in The Cure.  Well-played bass parts are a thing of beauty but well-played bass parts composed by the one doing the playing are definitely a couple levels beyond beautiful...

I should also add 'well done Simon, congratulations'.

Ulrich

Quote from: cheyler on August 14, 2014, 00:41:57
I'm never sure who has done the composing of the bass parts in The Cure.

Good question. As the whole band has been mentioned in the writer's credits (on most albums with Simon in the line-up, except HOTD), I can imagine Simon composing most of the basslines... on the other hand, I can imagine Robert delivering bits of how it could sound in his home demos. (Must re-listen to some of the demos on the deluxe re-issues.)
It is known that Simon wrote some music for the band (e.g. "The Last Day Of Summer"), so I'm pretty sure he composed the bassparts for those...
The holy city breathed like a dying man...

Ulrich

So, did anyone of you do their "homework" over the weekend and listen to some RS home demos?  :-D

Well, I did. From what I can tell, Robert has included bassparts in most of them, however they don't sound "finished" (of course), thus I do believe Simon "fine-tunes" these basslines in his own inimitable style.  :)
The holy city breathed like a dying man...

cheyler

I'll have to listen too.  'Last Day Of Summer' is an all-timer for me, didn't Simon come up with 'Lovesong' too?  Good one but a bit over-played.  I'd like to know who came up with the change in the bass part for 'A Strange Day'.  It used to be just three notes but some years later a short 'rising' run got added just before the third note, very cool addition.  Probably Simon came up with it, the original bass part being a bit boring to play.

Anybody know what's the purpose of the 'huddle' at the beginning of 'Pictures Of You'?  Robert and Simon get together in front of Jason and they stay there until Robert starts playing notes instead of chords then they go back out front.  Maybe ensuring the tempo is just right?  Can't believe Jason is THAT erratic, maybe RS has a variable idea of what tempo is 'correct' on the night, whatever feels right at the time.  It's on every film/video I've ever seen.

Ulrich

Quote from: cheyler on August 18, 2014, 21:16:36
I'll have to listen too.  'Last Day Of Summer' is an all-timer for me, didn't Simon come up with 'Lovesong' too?

I'm not sure, does anyone have a list of Simon-written songs?

Quote from: cheyler on August 18, 2014, 21:16:36Anybody know what's the purpose of the 'huddle' at the beginning of 'Pictures Of You'?  Robert and Simon get together in front of Jason and they stay there until Robert starts playing notes instead of chords then they go back out front.

They've indeed done this on most live videos I've seen of POY (starting from 1990), so certainly nothing to do with Jason - to me it always looked like they enjoy playing this "intro" together, facing each other.  :)
The holy city breathed like a dying man...

Matti

Quote from: Ulrich on August 19, 2014, 12:15:32
to me it always looked like they enjoy playing this "intro" together, facing each other.  :)

That and perhaps the fact that they really want to get it right. Looking at each other when playing a song can improve the performance, especially when it comes to parts as beautifully intertwined as the bass and Bass VI parts in PoY (which are the reason for me thinking that it's one of the best Cure songs ever).

Oh, and congratulations, Simon. Although I  don't really agree with that list (anyway, I'm only a guitar player), some of his bass lines should have earned him a knighthood.
and we close our eyes to sleep
to dream a boy and girl
who dream the world is nothing but a dream

zlloyd1

JT from Duran Duran 1st place??  :smth014
Is that a Joke?? :x I have NEVER liked anything from Duran Duran truly, let alone enough to examine their musical skills with instruments!!  :!:
I mean Getty Lee.... Okay I will buy that, but Duran Duran at the top of the list kinna discredits it for me honestly.  :oops: :oops:
Saw The Cure twice, once in High School on The Prayer Tour, and again when they came to William & Mary College on the Wish tour.... BEST live band EVER!!

plasticpassion

I'm not a Duran duran hater, however John Taylor is not a top 10 bassist and is definitely not on par with Simon, Geddy, and Flea. No one has ever done so many memorable pop bass lines as Simon, and no one can funk like Flea.

piggymirror

Quote from: plasticpassion on December 30, 2015, 10:20:18
I'm not a Duran duran hater, however John Taylor is not a top 10 bassist and is definitely not on par with Simon, Geddy, and Flea. No one has ever done so many memorable pop bass lines as Simon, and no one can funk like Flea.

Oh, John Taylor can certainly certainly play anything Simon with his eyes closed.

He is one HELL of a bass player. He's just not as much of a talented composer as Simon is.
Or maybe is it that Taylor is actually a talented composer, but long ago Duran Duran chose money over art.

Btw, where the devil is Mick Karn on that list? Because Mick Karn was the Hendrix of bass.

cheyler

Quote from: zlloyd1 on December 28, 2015, 19:11:45
JT from Duran Duran 1st place??  :smth014
Is that a Joke?? :x I have NEVER liked anything from Duran Duran truly, let alone enough to examine their musical skills with instruments!!  :!:
I mean Getty Lee.... Okay I will buy that, but Duran Duran at the top of the list kinna discredits it for me honestly.  :oops: :oops:


They may or may not be the best live band ever, but you sure saw their two best tours, apart from the 2007-2008 world tour that is, which I'm going to have to call the best.  Long varied (mostly) set lists and guitars guitars guitars!

BiscuityBoyle

Most UK post-punk bass players owe something to the memorably abrasive sound of JJ Burnel and Simon is no exception

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cuneytarkin

Nice, well deserved. Always loved the sound of his bass on their records.