Old Man Riva

The whole thing is brilliant and disturbing in equal measure! It’s Pete Way before Pete Way…

I must admit I was surprised when I first saw him using the Thunderbird, but it sounds and looks great. His mid-70s heavily modded Jazz was in a Cov music shop a while back - the one he used in General Public. Pretty much all of the hardware had been replaced by brass versions (even the pickguard). It sounded great, was lovely to play, but needless to say it weighed a ton!

If it’s good enough for Sir Horace Gentleman…

… watched it and it’s fabulous. Rick Beato is so good at getting people to open up, and Chuck Rainey is such a wonderful and interesting guy. A lovely look at Chuck Rainey’s journey, along with some fascinating insights into being a (pro) musician and the trials and tribulations of the session scene…

… not had time to watch this yet but if it’s anything like Rick Beato’s usual interviews it’ll be well worth the watch.

There were other bands in the series - I can’t recall seeing the Icicle Works, but fairly sure the Bunnymen were on. I quite liked the Icicle Works until I read that Mike Read (the DJ, not the Runaround fella!) was fond of using one of their albums as the soundtrack to his Percy Filth escapades - obviously not their fault, but still! Re. BAD and Chiefs of Relief, was that recorded for TV? Pretty sure that turned up on a late night Channel 4 show at the time…

This is a good watch. Back when this was filmed/aired the chances of anything music-related being shown on prime-time telly were slim, but this popped up on the BBC as an early evening programme as part of a series of gigs at Sefton Park in Liverpool (Big Country were also on as a separate broadcast and cleverly changed the chorus to Angle Park to Sefton Park, the cheeky loveable scamps!). As I recall it was on a Tuesday/Wednesday evening at 7pm, or some such? Anyway…

… another 80s favourite.

Here’s a very 80s track with a very 80s video. I thought this was massively hip and cool at the time… (still do!)

It sounds like an eminently sensible and practical way to try and improve the instrument! I can't recall anybody I knew back then even giving a second thought to whether the (perceived) improvements they were doing to an instrument would affect future value. Swapping out the original nuts for a brass version ("more sustain") or installing a new Schaller bridge (with rolling saddles!) were done with a view that the instrument would be improved, which was the main consideration. The first replacement p/ups I knew of were the cream coloured DiMarzios. Then came the active EMG p/ups, which caused quite a stir. You could have an active bass with relative ease. The battery was normally okay to squeeze under the control plate on a Jazz, but more difficult to do with a Precision, which is why the body was often routed to fit the battery. And the work that went into fitting a Floyd Rose to a Strat would these days probably be seen as sacrilege. I blame Eddie Van Halen!

Nice! I’m a sucker for white/cream p/ups - reminds me of the 70s DiMarzios that were the replacement p/up of choice at the time. What’s the story with the pickguard? It looks like it’s been carefully modded rather than a clean-line break…

… and a terrific song at that! Didn’t his mum used to run a B‘n’B in Manchester?

Not that I’d ever be asked, but… If I were asked to describe Dee Murray’s line and playing on this marvellous track in one word I think I’d opt for ‘sumptuous’, so there you go…

Our six-string pals have similar debates! https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/fender-1960s-era-neck-date-stamp-missing.2034190/

Personally speaking, if the rest of the things to look out for were all okay it wouldn’t bother me (though I suppose it may become an issue if one were looking to sell it on in the future and a buyer was put off by the lack of a date stamp?). If someone were to fake an instrument the daftest thing to do would be to make sure all pots etc. were correct but then not include something as easy as a neck stamp so, as I say, I wouldn’t be too fussed… Or am I being massively gullible?!

Indeed! I doubt it's meant to be taken too seriously...

I did instantly think of you when this thread popped up!

Completely agree re. Rhett Davies. Uncannily over the weekend I listened to Discipline and Wild Planet. Stylistically and sonically both completely different albums, but both produced perfectly by Rhett Davies. He tends to get overlooked when lists of ‘influential’ producers pop up (imho)…

… and in so many ways!

Is that the hidden track on the Music For Airports reissue that no one can ever seem to find?!

On the Roxy theme, I found the version of Remote Control I’d been looking for. It was from a Peel session rather than ‘Fluff’! Absolutely love this…

I often wondered that if David Beckham were to get dumped by Victoria in the early days there’d be ‘In Every Dream Homme a Heartache’ on some front page…

Such a good album cover. A good bass (playing) album too. On the subject of Phil Manzanera side projects, I remember hearing a cracking version of Remote Control on Alan Freeman’s Radio 1 Saturday afternoon show that I think was part of a session he did. Manzanera’s playing is superb. Always hoped it would turn up somewhere on a reissue of something, but it sadly never has…

Side 1 of the first album is probably one of the finest sides of an LP I’ve heard. There’s a fine reworking of Re-Make/Re-Model that Bryan Ferry does on his Let’s Stick Together album that features a fabulous slinky and groovy bass performance by John Gustafson. You’ve probably heard it, but well worth checking out if not…

That’s the one, Frank! The very one!