darkandrew

Even the coolest of bands can sometimes make the worst promo videos, and I think it's only right that we name and shame them here in a rouges' gallery of cr@p videos. Here's Depeche Mode to kick things off:

On a side-note, I'd forgotten how awful some of Depeche Mode's early videos were (don't ever watch the video for the single "Meaning of love" if you want to still think of DM as being cool, dark and moody). Oooh, maybe I should start a thread over on "General Discussion" about cool bands with cr@p videos.... https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/336518-cool-bands-with-crp-videos/

Sounds a bit like Brexit.

And that brings me onto something I have learnt that many eBay sellers and music shops seem to have never learnt - just because a bass has a battery in it doesn't necessarily mean it has active pickups. It's just as common to have a bass with an active preamp and passive pickups as it is to have one with active pickups - both of these would have a battery and the presence of the battery does not mean the pickups are active.

Oooh, I love that strap - it'll look great on my black Warwick Vampyre (oops, did I say that out loud - perhaps nobody noticed).

Surely a volume setting of 11 would be louder?

And if you do find yourself on that wrong note then just slide into the right note whilst pulling your best "bass-face" and everyone will think you are the best bass player ever!

That brings me on to my epiphany - timing is everything! You can play pretty much any note you like as long as it's in time but play out of time and you're done for.

University of Greenwich Students' Union 1992, Age 21 and playing a Westone Spectrum GT.

Does anyone have Johnny Marr's latest album? The lead track sounded pretty good - is it representative of the album as a whole?

I was playing an old CD in my car on the way home from work tonight - Alan Wilder (Depeche Mode)'s second Recoil album, Bloodline, and I was reminded how good it was. I was also left thinking about other solo albums by band instrumentalists and how some, like this Recoil album, work while others, such as Dave Ball (Soft Cell)'s Strict Tempo album, just don't live up to their promise. By the way, if you haven't heard "India" from Billy Currie (Ultravox)'s first solo album Transportation it's worth a listen if only for Derek Forbes' bass playing: Are there any other hits or misses that you would like to nominate?

What's that horrible thing hanging around Aretha Franklin's neck? Oh wait a minute, it's Keith Richards!

Maybe Aretha Franklin can look cool with a keyboard strapped on? .....or maybe not!

I used to use a Yamaha DX100 for playing synth bass live - at least with that one you could choose between playing it as a traditional keyboard or putting a strap on it and playing it that way. The DX100 is long gone now but I believe you can get a strap-on kit for the new Yamaha Reface range of keyboards and do the same thing. Edit: https://www.gear4music.com/Keyboards-and-Pianos/Yamaha-reface-CS-Synthesizer-With-Yamaha-Bag-and-Strap-Kit/28PK https://www.gear4music.com/Keyboards-and-Pianos/Yamaha-reface-DX-Synthesizer-With-Yamaha-Bag-and-Strap-Kit/28OL

I found this on the BBC News app this morning and while it doesn't go into a lot of detail about Fender's business it's still quite an interesting insight into the man that leads the company: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46546014

How about Joy Division / New Order or Ultravox? A lot of people claim to prefer the earlier incarnations of these bands but record sales would seem to contradict that. I'm probably going to get a load of stick for this but personally I think I prefer New Order to Joy Division and as for Ultravox ... I'm going to sit on the fence with that one; Systems of Romance is a great album (as is John Foxx's The Garden that he recorded with Systems era guitarist Robin Simon) but so are Midge Ure era Vienna and Rage in Eden.

I'm not sure how it would have faired in the early 90's but listening to it now, it is absolutely amazing. I was listening to it last night and was blown away too. One of my favourite albums of the year (not that there's too many to choose between).

"Give out but don't give up: The original Memphis recordings" by Primal Scream. Having watched the documentary about this on BBC 4 last week, I bought the CD on Amazon and wow! In the documentary, Alan McGee explains that he had the songs remixed for the initial release because they were too much of a departure from Screamadelica and he didn't feel that the record-buying public were ready for it. Maybe he's right, the songs have got more in common with 1970's and The Faces than the early 90's but 25 years on, I've got to say that the songs in their original form, as presented here, are awesome and so much better than the pimped up, remixed versions that were released first time around. If you're a Primal Scream fan or a fan of soulful 1970's blues rock then this is definitely worth a listen.

Nile Rodgers' "hitmaker" Strat must be getting on a bit.

Absolutely. And as a certain Reginald Dwight said on a similar topic: “if it weren’t for Bernie Taupin, there’d never be an Elton John”.

It's strange that Robbie did so well as solo artist compared to the others. Was it his timing, his management after leaving or just luck? Probably a combination of all 3 I'd guess. He's also a very good example of where success is not just about talent but also (or possibly in Robbie's case, more about) personality.

Also sometimes works in reverse - some artists have left their band for greater things only to return some years later with their tails between their legs - e.g. Gary Barlow and the other Take That boys kind of fizzled out pretty quickly as solo artists but when they got back together as Take That they arguably had more success than they did originally. The same could probably be said of the Spice Girls - would Geri or Mel C sell out stadiums as solo artists? Probably not.

... but there are a few not-so-good ones scattered around the area, e.g.. Eltham, etc. When I used to live around that way, I used to get the train into central London if I wanted to buy anything as the small number of local shops only stocked the cheaper stuff.

No

+1 here for Birchwood Casey gunstock wax. I use this on my EBMM Sterling's neck about once a year. I clean it down first with Ernie Ball neck and fretboard wipes, let it dry and then apply a thin coat of wax, let that dry too and then give it a rub with a soft cloth. Leaves a nice, natural finish that still offers the wood some protection. If I recall correctly, there's a video on the EBMM website where they show you how to do this but they use Murphy's Oil Soap instead of their wipes.