Barking Spiders

I liken it with going back to cities, towns, places where you've holidayed etc with which you associate some very fond memories. Fr'instance I've not been back to Liverpool since I left in the late 80s. From what I've learnt from chats with people I know who do still go there, a lot of my fave haunts have since gone. I don't want to tarnish the memories of very happy times by going back there and seeing how much it's changed.

I've never bothered listening to them post Hugh C. I don't 'hate' the new band members but for me the original line-up was too seminal and distinctive esp HC with his sardonic vocal style. Now with Dave G gone IMO it's a case of 'what's the point?' I feel the same with many other bands where the 'classic' line-ups made the best of the albums. Dr Feelgood are one such. I like both the Wilko and Gypie Mayo eras but without Lee Brilleaux i think they should've called it a day.

Picked up the Back Room by Editors in a charidee shop today. I originally avoided them thinking they wore their Chameleons and Echo ATB influences on both sleeves. They do but actually are none the worse for that.

Are we sure Brown and Liam G were not hatched by the same mother at some monkey breeding farm on the outskirts of Burnage? Their simian features, delusional arrogance, total lack of stage presence, a shared inability to hold a tune in a bucket, similar levels of virtuosity on the maraccas and of course a shared history of being in monumentally overrated Manc bands?

My formative music years were the mid 80s -mid 90s so groups from this period still resonate more strongly with me than any others. However, whenever I see ads for legacy tours, often featuring just the singer from the original line-up, I wince a tad. I don't want my memory of these tarnished by the images of these people now in their early 60s. I did make the exception of seeing Heaven 17 doing the Penthouse & Pavement tour a decade + ago - they would've been in their 50s then - because they never gigged back in the day.

Ye gods, that is one parade of fugly basses to which Id add Mayones Cali range of mini basses

The first two albums are 5 stars in my books but thereafter the albums are mostly patchy though I'd put Aural Sculpture just behind those ones. As for Black & White, I have it on CD but cant recall which side is which but from Tank to Toiler it's great. Just don't enjoy the more experimental tracks. Ditto much of The Raven though Duchess is a fantastic tune. For newbs I'd say try and get hold of The Hitmen 1977-1991 2 x CD compilation. It's out of print but there are used copies on 'zon and Discogs. For the casual 'fan' it's probably all you'd need, though across its 43 tracks there are some that'd could've been left out.

between you and me I didn't last the full length of the 'song' either

This tune isn't exactly post-punk but I like it and it takes me back to the 80s.

You enjoyed it then Dad? 😁

Couple tracks off my fave Sound album, All Fall Down. The Sound are one of those post-punk bands of the 80s, of which great things were expected/promised but unfortunately that wasn't to happen

that leaves just parts c and d of Down In the Sewer then. Cant hear anything remotely prog in songs like Ugly, Sometimes, Something Better Change, London Lady, No More Heroes, I Feel Like W** and Dagenham Dave. Take out the keys and they're pure punk especially with HC's sneering vocal style and J-J's aggressive bark

The Stranglers..... prog?!!??? 😲😱. Don't hear it myself. Sure the keyboards are reminiscent of the Doors. While the sound wasn't ever really punk, in the early years their attitude definitely was. Some of their best tunes are from their mellow more pop phase with gems like Always The Sun, Skin Deep, La Folie, Life Shows No Mercy as well as the ubiquitous Golden Brown. Incidentally I've always considered Hugh Cornwell's guitar playing very overlooked. Many of their songs contain tasteful, melodic and pointful solos.

Yup, absolutely though there are BCers who'll disagree. There should be spectacle as well and TBH i don't wanna see sex/sept/ox/non-ogenarians hobbling about on stage or sitting down for a breather mid-song. Few things more dull than watching people on stage just standing while playing an instrument.

You're making it too easy for me😁

Once they get their first liver spots / first double chin and definitely when any new material is an inferior rehash of stuff made at the start of their careers.

Conway Twitt

Likewise. I don't give a flying f*** about shred-like ability on guitar or bass. My OP was more about this dull obsession many people have with 'top 10, 20, bazillion xx ' polls/lists, like any of that matters. Outside of electronica my fave bands are mostly from the post punk/alt-rock genres e.g. Pixies, JAMC, Echo ATB, Siouxsie ATB where the guitarists had distinctive styles and imagination rather than perfect by-the-book technique while the bands are definitely examples of the whole> sum of the parts.

music fora aren't about selling anything though

Indeed music is not a competition so why do all these fkin music/guitar mags (online and print) as well as millions of forum threads continue to bore on with their dull and predictable lists/polls. Things get worse when irate fanboys get all worked up because their faves aren't as high up the list as they think they should be. Then again I suppose it's all click bait, esp when Mojo etc have these top 10s on YT.

The word does seem to be widely applied to certain players as a euphemism for 'limited technique'.

But when people vote in 'who's the greatest polls' they're most probably choosing players from their fave bands they think have the chops. The thing with these polls / lists is they almost solely focus on rock and metal whereas actually the best players, in terms of mastery of their instruments, are from other genres such as flamenco, jazz, country, classical, bluegrass etc.

playing covers of Eruption, Tom Sawyer bassline etc make a nonsense of all these 'who is the greatest ...blah blah' threads and polls across the webverse?

Not sure there really are that many truly widely known, iconic bass lines. From the perspective of non-bass aficionados among the public, IMO they've pretty much been already covered here. No disrespect intended re some noms but I bet most casual music listeners wouldn't recognise any bass lines beyond Another one bites the dust Good times Under pressure The chain Peaches (at a push) Billy Jean Blue Monday (at a push) Come as you are Walking on the moon (maybe among those raised in the 70s) Walk on the wild side (among the over 50s anyway) I.e. songs that still get a lot of airplay on mainstream daytime radio

Seems to me a lot of sellers have raised their prices beyond a tipping point where buyers are probably saying to themselves 'forget it'. The way prices have risen on all instruments I sure won't be buying any more, new or used.