What Is Your Favourite Bassline In A Song?
I recently came up with a random writing prompt for the annual Blaugust: Festival of Blogging event. Namely, “what is your favourite bassline in a song”? For clarity, Wikipedia defines a bassline as follows: Bassline is the term used in many styles of music, such as blues, jazz, funk, dub and electronic, traditional, and classical music, for the low-pitched instrumental part or line played by a rhythm section instrument such as the electric bass, double bass, cello, tuba or keyboard. As I thought of this prompt, it only seems fair that I tackle it myself. Hence, here are five songs that I feel have notable basslines, or that have bassplayers that play in a unique style. I am not especially musically talented myself and therefore not au fait with all the correct musical terminology. However, I will strive to quantify why I think each song is a good example.
I recently came up with a random writing prompt for the annual Blaugust: Festival of Blogging event. Namely, “what is your favourite bassline in a song”? For clarity, Wikipedia defines a bassline as follows: Bassline is the term used in many styles of music, such as blues, jazz, funk, dub and electronic, traditional, and classical music, for the low-pitched instrumental part or line played by a rhythm section instrument such as the electric bass, double bass, cello, tuba or keyboard. As I thought of this prompt, it only seems fair that I tackle it myself. Hence, here are five songs that I feel have notable basslines, or that have bassplayers that play in a unique style. I am not especially musically talented myself and therefore not au fait with all the correct musical terminology. However, I will strive to quantify why I think each song is a good example.
My Country - New Model Army. New Model Army are an English rock band from West Yorkshire. They were founded by lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter Justin Sullivan, along with bassist Stuart Morrow and drummer Phil Tompkins in 1980. Their musical style incorporates punk, folk, soul, metal, and classical genres. Their lyrics encompass themes ranging from overtly political to the spiritual. Bassist Stuart Morrow who played with the band for their first three albums has a notable bass style which is clear in My Country. The complex basslines has a distinct sound, allegedly due to Morrow using a 50 pence coin as a plectrum (although this may be apochryphal).
Winnebago Warrior - Dead Kennedys. Formed in San Francisco in 1978, Dead Kennedys greatly benefited from theatrical vocals of lead singer Jello Biafra and the robust bassplaying of Klaus Flouride (Geoffrey Lyall). Klaus Flouride played a Lake Placid Blue Fender Jazz Bass from 1966 that he purchased for $200 and this was his main bass guitar during his years with the band. His rapid basslines underpin many of the band’s best songs, such as Winnebago Warrior. A song about contemporary Americans trying to connect to their frontier roots through the medium of conspicuous consumption.
Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick - Ian Dury and the Blockheads. Explaining the subtleties of Ian Dury and the Blockheads is a blog post in itself. One for another day. Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick is one of the band’s greatest hits and was a number one hit in the UK in late 1978. Bass player Norman Watt-Roy famously created an exquisitely complicated, and fast-paced bassline consisting of sixteenth notes. At the time, many artists were amazed that he had devised such an intricate bassline for a song with such a simple overall structure. Many YouTube channels teaching or analysing bassplaying frequently cite this song as a benchmark and will wax lyrical about its musicality.
Mann gegen Mann - Rammstein. Oliver Riedel has been the bass player with Rammstein since the band’s formation in 1994. The line up has never changed. Rammstein’s songs are a blend of simplicity and variation, often featuring a main riff, verse-chorus structure, and strategic use of bridges. But this invokes the wider philosophy of less being more. Riedel’s basslines are catchy and drive the songs forward along with the percussion. Industrial metal as a genre, at first glance may not appear to require complexity in its rhythm section, just strength but Riedel is competent and can be varied in style. Mann gegen Mann features a strong bassline that reflects the emotional turmoil of the song’s themes.
Nice ‘n’ Sleazy - The Stranglers. One of the UK’s most underrated bands, The Stranglers have always been more than the sum of their parts. Emerging from the pub rock scene in the mid seventies, their aggressive play style had them pigeon holed by the media as a punk band. But their idiosyncratic style meant that they were never a slave to a specific genre, preferring to take influences from many. The Stranglers music is often driven by the bass and keyboards, provided respectively in their halcyon days by Jean-Jacques Burnel's melodic but brutal approach and Dave Greenfield’s sophisticated arpeggios. Nice ‘n’ Sleazy is the epitome of this formula. J. J. Burnel’s bassline announces itself immediately and remains a constant throughout the song.
