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John Taylor hidden gems...if you weren't a Duran'ee back in the day!

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Clarky72 Rising Star

Clarky72

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[quote name='noelk27' timestamp='1391597821' post='2358905']
"Pop" music being the "popular" music of the day - it's not a genre. But, even if you tried discounting the likes of Colin Moulding of XTC, Derek Forbes of Simple Minds, Bruce Foxton of The Jam, and Sting of The Police, as they could be seen as coming out of the "punk" generation, you've got the likes of Paul Webb of Talk Talk, Nick Beggs of Kagagoogoo, Les Nemes of Haircut 100, Paul Denman of Sade, Trevor Horn et al working with ABC, Guy Pratt working with Icehouse, John Wilson et al working with Heaven 17. And that's just the stuff I can remember off the top of my head.
[/quote]

+ Mick Karn...

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Dingus Experienced

Dingus

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[quote name='noelk27' timestamp='1391597821' post='2358905']
"Pop" music being the "popular" music of the day - it's not a genre. But, even if you tried discounting the likes of Colin Moulding of XTC, Derek Forbes of Simple Minds, Bruce Foxton of The Jam, and Sting of The Police, as they could be seen as coming out of the "punk" generation, you've got the likes of Paul Webb of Talk Talk, Nick Beggs of Kagagoogoo, Les Nemes of Haircut 100, Paul Denman of Sade, Trevor Horn et al working with ABC, Guy Pratt working with Icehouse, John Wilson et al working with Heaven 17. And that's just the stuff I can remember off the top of my head.
[/quote]


The 1980's was the Golden Age of the bass guitar! If you look at the records in the Top 40 from this week thirty years ago and compare the bass guitar content on them to the music of today's hit parade, there is no contest.Prominent bass guitar parts in mainstream pop music was a trend throughout that decade. To be fair to Damonjames, though , I think he means the music was crap rather than the bass playing. I love a lot of music from the'80's myself but I suppose others may not for whatever reason.

Duran Duran were[i] [u]the[/u][/i] teen band of their day, as I'm sure many other Basschatters can remember only too well, but they were very decent players, and JT was a consummate bass player with his own style and a strong presence ( a central role, even) on all those classic records they made. The equivalent act of today would probably be One Direction. What can they do?

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iconic Experienced

iconic

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[quote name='noelk27' timestamp='1391564421' post='2358730']
If your reason for reading his book is to learn about his gear, don't bother. He really hasn't got a clue what equipment he was using, and when. Seems to think the Aria SB range included the 1200 and 600, and that he bought a 600. Well, there was a 1200, but he'd have had to wait until '88 to buy one of those, and what he bought was a 700 - you can see it has a five-piece neck - the 600 had a three-piece neck. It's an okay book if you want to read about someone experiencing the "80s fame".
[/quote]

that's both very interesting and very disappointing in that I was hoping JT would be an anorak with his gear, could tell me what strings and gauges he used on Rio, the height over the nut on this E strings etc, the sort of stuff an anorak like myself with more enthusiasm that talent likes to know :P

so did he ever use the SB-1000 that people seem to think he played all the time...also wouldn't be fair he has been playing Peavey's longer that any other bass brand?

I gota add he seems very modest about his ability

PS I always thought it amusing that Duran's rival Spandau Ballet got their name....

I always liked this tune, 2nd time I heard bass harmonics used, 1st time was Level 42 New Believers...this guy has a collection to make any Aria fan firm up for sure!

[media]http://youtu.be/1QarveHKagk[/media]
http://youtu.be/5uQ4wZ5eJTY

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iconic Experienced

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[quote name='noelk27' timestamp='1391597821' post='2358905']
"Pop" music being the "popular" music of the day - it's not a genre. But, even if you tried discounting the likes of Colin Moulding of XTC, Derek Forbes of Simple Minds, Bruce Foxton of The Jam, and Sting of The Police, as they could be seen as coming out of the "punk" generation, you've got the likes of Paul Webb of Talk Talk, Nick Beggs of Kagagoogoo, Les Nemes of Haircut 100, Paul Denman of Sade, Trevor Horn et al working with ABC, Guy Pratt working with Icehouse, John Wilson et al working with Heaven 17. And that's just the stuff I can remember off the top of my head.
[/quote]

Guy Pratt, was he on Hey Little Girl? I bought the LP (remember them?) because of that song, only decent track on the it and the only one not written by them I seem to recall?

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noelk27 Rising Star

noelk27

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[quote name='iconic' timestamp='1391629335' post='2359502']so did he ever use the SB-1000 that people seem to think he played all the time...also wouldn't be fair he has been playing Peavey's longer that any other bass brand?[/quote]
Oh yea, when Aria got around to signing a sponsorship deal with him it was SB900 and SB1000 models he used. The bit in the book was about the first Aria he got, which was one he bought before Duran Duran got signed. As he related the facts: he went into a store, there were two Aria basses, an expensive one (1000) and a cheaper one (700), so he bought the cheaper one.

[quote name='iconic' timestamp='1391630318' post='2359527']Guy Pratt, was he on Hey Little Girl? I bought the LP (remember them?) because of that song, only decent track on the it and the only one not written by them I seem to recall?[/quote]
Everything on the album "Primitive Man" (aka "Love In Motion" (UK)) was played by the lead singer/songwriter, Iva Davies, with the exception of some percussion on a few tracks and an additional bass part on the track, "Mysterious Thing", mostly using a Prophet 5, a Linn Drum, a '62 Strat and a '66 Precision. The track "Hey, Little Girl" was written by Davies, as was every other track on the album. Pratt joined the touring line up to promote "Primitive Man" (usually using an APII SB1000). The first Icehouse release to feature Pratt's bass playing was "Sidewalk" (mostly using a Status Empathy). He also played on the album "Measure For Measure".

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noelk27 Rising Star

noelk27

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[quote name='iconic' timestamp='1391635988' post='2359688']I first saw [Icehouse] on The Tube of all things.[/quote]
It was the live music TV show of the day. The band played "Hey, Little Girl", "Street Cafe", "One By One" and "Mysterious Thing" on the show.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRqX5S0vOrM

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The Admiral Enthusiast

The Admiral

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I remember seeing a documentary which followed the recording of The Power Station project, which featured JT, and he talked about the fact that never really considered himself a musician, and had no idea what gear he used, he just turned up and plugged into what the crew had provided. Also, regarding e PS album, of an evening, after everyone else had gone, he would sit with Bernard Edwards, who was producing, and get him to show him how to play all the Chic stuff - just the two of them.

A short clip - JT looks about 12!
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=14kXaX5D6Ng&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D14kXaX5D6Ng

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The Admiral Enthusiast

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[quote name='Clarky72' timestamp='1391676038' post='2359923']
That's Duran for you. Their live versions of songs constantly evolve. Prime case, Wild Boys & Hungry Like The Wolf...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOojXCzWNBk


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhBV7KJCxlI
[/quote]

Is that a Kubicki Factor?

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iconic Experienced

iconic

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[quote name='Clarky72' timestamp='1391676038' post='2359923']
That's Duran for you. Their live versions of songs constantly evolve. Prime case, Wild Boys & Hungry Like The Wolf...

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOojXCzWNBk[/media]


[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhBV7KJCxlI[/media]
[/quote]

it was more a case of his hands being the air when the bass was sounding out @ 4.00 'ish on the girls on the live film video :blink: unless its a bass synth?

My wife bought me the making of Rio, now that is worth watching :)

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bottomfeed Proficient

bottomfeed

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[quote name='iconic' timestamp='1391714670' post='2360593']
it was more a case of his hands being the air when the bass was sounding out @ 4.00 'ish on the girls on the live film video :blink: unless its a bass synth?

My wife bought me the making of Rio, now that is worth watching :)
[/quote]

Do you mean this classic albums thing?

Very interesting indeed!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k2emYtC0CQ

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noelk27 Rising Star

noelk27

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[quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1391728167' post='2360800']At the time I really didn't like Duran Duran, it never occurred to me that they actually played their own instruments I just assumed they didn't ...

Still, props to ... Andy Taylor ... The guitar sound is ace.[/quote]
Having been in a studio and watched Andy play, always makes me laugh when I hear the "he didn't play the guitar parts on the albums" conspiracy theories. That guy really knows his way around a fretboard. What would "Hungry Like The Wolf" be without his guitar part?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xp47-TVng90
Contrasted to without John's bass part ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAdAPOR8MQc

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iconic Experienced

iconic

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[quote name='noelk27' timestamp='1391732336' post='2360843']

Having been in a studio and watched Andy play, always makes me laugh when I hear the "he didn't play the guitar parts on the albums" conspiracy theories. That guy really knows his way around a fretboard. What would "Hungry Like The Wolf" be without his guitar part?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xp47-TVng90
Contrasted to without John's bass part ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAdAPOR8MQc
[/quote]

i thought andy was already quite a very respected player before joining duran?..a..very talented guy indeed.

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noelk27 Rising Star

noelk27

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[quote name='iconic' timestamp='1391732890' post='2360850']i thought andy was already quite a very respected player before joining duran?..a..very talented guy indeed.[/quote]
He'd already released some material, and had toured extensively throughout Europe. Of all the members, he was the one taking the greatest risk, stepping away from a regular gigging band to throw his lot in with an originals band doing something as different as Duran Duran was doing.

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