Best Bass line from the 80's.....

[Frankie5Angels]

One of the best bands that are not actually the Beatles - XTC.

They released "Oranges and Lemons" in early 1989. Colin Moulding did some great work on that record:

- The Mayor of Simpleton
- Merely A Man
- Poor Skeleton Steps Out (don't try this at home)
- Across This Antheap

"Skylarking" was also an 80s album and Colin slayed on that one, too.

- Season Cycle
- Earn Enough For Us

There was lots and lots of bad music during the 80s, but that's true of every decade and it gets way too much attention. The 70s had some horrible stuff! The 60s, too!

But XTC has always been reliable, thank goodness.

Stand up, Colin Moulding fans!

+1 for XTC. Their early stuff rules (Generals and Majors, Making Plans for Nigel). Peter Pumpkinhead has a great bass line too.

 

[timmy5strings]

+1 on the Mayor, super crazy bassline ! One of my favorites !

 

[JimmyO]

Has no one mentioned this yet? "Livin' on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi

Hm... Maybe not the BEST bassline of the 80s, but the cool bassline/lame song quotient is off the charts!

 

[Calaveras]

ouch!

Not to be judgemental about anyones taste in music but, ouch!
Heres a few nuggets:
"Big Takeover" Bad Brains, he plays rhythm guitar on his bass half the time. The rest its good old fashioned hardcore bass thru an SVT.
"I", Bad Brains, pretty much the heaviest most evil sounding Dub Reggae you will ever hear.
both from "Banned in DC" (now called "Bad Brains") on ROIR recorded May-Oct 1981

"Rags and Bones" No Means No, "Wrong" 1989 Alternative Tentacles. Rob Wright at his best, before he degenerated into wanking.

"Obsequeious Obsoloesence", Neurosis "Word as Law" 1989. Dave Edwardson equals Steve Harris+dreads. This whole album and 1988's "Pain of Mind" influenced a whole generation of west coast punk bass players.

 

[ptuckerbass]

So many of my favorites have been mentioned already.

Pete Townsend's "Give Blood"
-Pino's fretless/octaver Stingray tone+Simon Phillips on the drums=kick ass
Joe Jackson "You Can't Get What You Want"
-Nice slap line and groove.
The Cure "Fanscination Street"
-Simple, but effective...
The Firm
-Tony Franklin did some nice fretless work in a rock setting.

 

[Freddels]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Bow Wow Wow yet. They have some good tunes. Gorman played some serious basslines.

Check out
Golly! Golly! Go Buddy
Fools Rush In
Go Wild in the Country
W.O.R.K.
I Want Candy
Mile High Club
What's the Time

 

[Freddels]

Thompson Twins -- Lies

 

[PocketGroove82]

I think this one is from 1980, Anthony Jackson's bassline on Chaka Khan's song "Naughty". It is such an over the top difficult line, yet it fits the tune/harmony perfectly and it sits really far forward in the mix.

I would also mention the band "Pleasure". Granted their 1980s songs sound really 1980s and corny now...but those basslines are still freaking nasty.

 

[Calaveras]

oh yeah Bow Wow Wow. Cassette Pet, Heck, Chihuahua and others sounds almost like early chili peppers. Excellent rhthym section. I will not deny that I learned several songs on bass... and drums. Pretty crazy stuff.
IIRC same 3 guys were in the original "Dirk wears White Socks" Adam Ant.

 

[Freddels]

Yes, the RHCP were influenced by them. The trio was the original Adam Ants band.

 

[pudgychef]

**SNIP**.
Cant say good night without mentioning Mike Watt of the minutemen. Again too many songs to name one, but a huge punk bassist in the 80's. He surely was an influence on many young kids who were on the fence between guitar and bass.

Darn Straight!!! Watt kick so much *** and on those Minutemen recordings he had such a unique sound.

couple of the first basslines I ever learned were Fascist from MMs Sickle and Hammers EP and Brave Captain from Firehose

WATT=AWESOME

John Taylor was great too! Bruce Thomas with Elvis Costello...Steve Harris.

Many goodies!

 

[RMS]

I'll stand up. Of all the great electric bassists whom I've had the opportunity to hear in my short life, if I made a list of the top 5 whom I would be thrilled if I could play like, Colin Moulding is there.

 

[thunder]

knock me down- red hot chili peppers
sunless saturday- fish bone
waiting room- fugazi
grey cell- ned's atomic dust bin
september- earth, wind and fire (anything the do is good)
someday i suppose- mighty mighty bosstones
sledgehammer- peter gaberiel
middleman- living colour
flesh for fantasy- billy idol
hot 80's basslines

 

[thunder]

So many of my favorites have been mentioned already.

The Cure "Fanscination Street"

love the cure

 

[tkarter]

Anything in the 80's or earlier out of this


tk

 

[oli@bass]

Pete Trewavas absolutely kills on these tunes:

Marillion - Fugazi: Emerald Lies
Marillion - Fugazi: Incubus
Marillion - Script for a Jester's Tear: Garden Party
Marillion - Script for a Jester's Tear: Forgotten Sons
Marillion - Misplaced Childhood: The whole album


Dougie Thomson (I think) for Supertramp did some great work live
Supertramp - Paris: School, but in fact the whole album, and AFAIK on a MusicMan StingRay

 

[SteveB]

Pete Trevavas absolutely kills on these tunes:

Marillion - Fugazi: Emerald Lies
Marillion - Fugazi: Incubus
Marillion - Script for a Jester's Tear: Garden Party
Marillion - Script for a Jester's Tear: Forgotten Sons
Marillion - Misplaced Childhood: The whole album

Amen!

 

[oli@bass]

Billy Sheehan also did some awesome work, check out these:
David Lee Roth - Eat 'Em And Smile: Yankee Rose
David Lee Roth - Eat 'Em And Smile: Shyboy
David Lee Roth - Eat 'Em And Smile: Elephant Gun
Mr. Big - Mr. Big: Merciless

Geezer Butler (one of most influential, least named bass players IMO)
Black Sabbath - Heaven And Hell: Heaven And Hell

Dalbello (don't know the bass player, AFAIR it's her partner)
Dalbello - She: Black On Black
Dalbello - She: Baby Doll
Dalbello - She: Talk To Me (sounds like Chapman Stick)

Muzz Skillings' playing was absolutely great on the Living Colour debut album. I'd recommend the whole album as play along to train your skills.
Living Colour - Living Colour: Cult Of Personality
Living Colour - Living Colour: Open Letter (To a Landlord)
Living Colour - Living Colour: Funny Vibe
Living Colour - Living Colour: Which Way To America

Peter Gifford laid some solid melodic grooves down for Midnight Oil
Midnight Oil - Diesel & Dust: Beds Are Bruning

And Richard Page did not only sing but also played bass on a number one hit featuring a catchy bass line:
Mr. Mister - Welcome To The Real World: Broken Wings



... and there's plenty more...

 

[oli@bass]

I just realised how ridiculous the notion of the "bad music from the 80s" is... just set up a dynamic playlist in my iTunes to fetch all songs from 1980 to 1989. It came up with 3065 titles from 280 albums... and there's plenty of amazing stuff in there that would beat the crap out of most contemporary hyped smash hit producer garbage I have to put up with on daily radio airplay...

Just to name a few of the bands that were active in the eighties, and sported great bassists: AC/DC (does bass get any more solid than this?), Anthrax, Asia (John Wetton what else to say), Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult, Dalbello, Dan Reed Network, David Lee Roth, Def Leppard (yeah Rick Savage rocks!), Dire Straits, Dweezil Zappa, Fishbone, Genesis (c'mon lets give Mike a hand here), Guns'N'Roses (Duff McCagan impersonates the KISS principle), Iron Maiden (who the f*** is Harris ), King Crimson (need I really mention Tony Levin?!), Metallica (Cliff Burton R.I.P.), Midnight Oil, Mr. Mister, Peter Gabriel, The Police (!), Queensrÿche, RHCP, Rush (yeah, the ugly canadian chick with the screechy voice ), Sting, Supertramp, Suzanne Vega (no idea who played bass for her, but those are some of the most tasteful bass lines ever), Terence Trent D'Arby, TOTO ("Rosanna" and "Africa" alone would justify the 80s!), U2, VH (Michael Anthony's groove work is definitely underrated, while his effect solos were totally overrated), Whitesnake (Neil Murray plays lots of notes without overplaying), YES (Chris Who?!)...


And I have to give a special spot for one of the Mark Bass endorsers (who still plays the wrong basses )
Jeff Berlin - Pump It: Joe Frasier (Round Two)


However.... I just find myself asking: What is a great bass line...???

 

[Aussie Mark]

Just to name a few of the bands that were active in the eighties, and sported great bassists: ................................

+ Elvis Costello (Bruce Thomas) and Joe Jackson (Graham Maby)