Tina Weymouth BBC bass programme in Jan

[Steve Browning]

That's a fair point. There was little continuity in that respect. Each programme seemed to have a different focus.

[Linus27]

On 19/01/2019 at 20:20, drTStingray said:

Because they were focussing on the role of bass in music (not the role of individual manufacturers and instruments).

I dont fully agree with that. If you were going to talk about the history of the motor car, you would do a piece on the Model T Ford. You may not go into the technical aspects of the car but you would do a section on it. I feel the Fender Precision was at the forefront of playing and shaping the role of bass in music and how people added bass in music transitioning from double bass to electric bass. You wouldn't go into the technical details of the bass like woods, pickups etc. but certainly its birth, its impact and importance.

[Guest oZZma]

BBC makes some seriously good music documentaries. I have seen plenty of them, when I think that they make stuff like THIS https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00nf10k and then compare BBC to our public broadcaster (RAI), it makes my balls roll away

Public broadcaster in Italy is SO shitty I don't even have a TV (it pisses me off paying taxes to support idiocy). You can be sure they don't even have a vague idea of what krautrock is, or who Tina Weymouth or Stewart Copeland are (and they are not exactly the most obscure niche artists...)

The last time RAI made something "cultural" and "informative" about music was probably like  50 years ago thanks to Luciano Berio, sigh

 

Edited January 26, 2019 by oZZma

[Skinnyman]

3 minutes ago, oZZma said:

BBC makes some seriously good music documentaries. I have seen plenty of them, when I think that they make stuff like THIS https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00nf10k and then compare BBC to our public broadcaster (RAI), it makes my balls roll away

Public broadcaster in Italy is SO shitty I don't even have a TV (it pisses me off paying taxes to support idiocy). You can be sure they don't even have a vague idea of what krautrock is, or who Tina Weymouth or Stewart Copeland are (and they are not exactly the most obscure niche artists...)

The last time RAI made something "cultural" and "informative" about music was probably like  50 years ago thanks to Luciano Berio, sigh

 

A valid point and one that we tend to forget. There is much wrong with the BBC these days and they could (in my opinion) have done more with this series - but these programs were so much better than a lot of the awful stuff that passes for documentary and pollutes the airwaves these days.

I enjoyed all three programs. Yes, there was a lot of stuff I thought they missed out and, yes, they spent more time than was necessary on other stuff - I got the distinct impression that much of the content was dictated by budget; the cost of concert footage and interviewees and the savings to be had from reusing material where possible across all three programs. But it was a decent set of programs with some interesting material and a broad appeal that extended beyond those of us who play to include the wider listening public and for that I think the BBC should be given due credit.

Other opinions are, as always, available and valid....

 

[Guest oZZma]

or take these, for example:

 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0074tmc

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00r600m

 

What makes the big difference IMO, is that in your country, they take in serious account rock music and subcultures, in my country they are dismissed more of less as a "novelty", nothing more

I think the only times I heard they mentioned Black Sabbath on italian TV has been in some crappy sensationalist programme for zealot housewives about SATANISM, lol

 

 

 

 

Edited January 26, 2019 by oZZma

[Guest oZZma]

6 minutes ago, Skinnyman said:

 But it was a decent set of programs with some interesting material and a broad appeal that extended beyond those of us who play to include the wider listening public and for that I think the BBC should be given due credit.

 

THIS!!

Other broadcasters don't even bother do make all this "culture", you can always "do better" but BBC is really high quality compared to the rest of the world. 

Edited January 26, 2019 by oZZma

[mikel]

11 minutes ago, oZZma said:

THIS!!

Other broadcasters don't even bother do make all this "culture", you can always "do better" but BBC is really high quality compared to the rest of the world. 

+100. Now stop moaning. 

[stewblack]

I enjoyed the programme. Like many others I was asked if I'd watched it by other musicians, so box ticked for broad appeal. 

Being a bass fanatic I felt it was quite a broad brush stroke and would have loved more. 

Think of the majestic Genius Of Photography series BBC4 put out a few years back and imagine that dedicated to the bass guitar.

*swoon*

[Aidan63]

The guitar one was the best in my humble opinion, and the bass one the weakest but they all taught me something I didn't know and exposed or rexposed me to stuff I didn't know or had forgotten about, and makes a change from Mrs Browns boys and all the other shiiiite on the box that most people seem to think of as entertainment

 

now back to youtube for some music 

[Geek99]

Maybe she can’t play much due to health ? She’s in her 70s 

 

 watched bass and drums - waiting for guitar one 

[Maude]

I thought Dizzee Rascal made some good points about bass in his sections, points that we've probably trying to make people see for years. 

He said "it's like a conversation with no conclusion, yeah you've got some melody and some drums but what's your point?", and "it's like the glue that holds music together". He also emphasised the problems of listening to music on phones or laptop speakers when he nearly didn't record his hit 'Bonkers' with it's huge bass riff because he just didn't hear it on the little speakers, and that his audiences go mad in the bass drop in that song. 

I may be a miserable old fart but I can see D.R. is popular with youngsters and if someone on their radar can inform them in this way then he fully deserved to be featured. 

Now back to playing some big dirty stinkin' bass 😁

 

Edited January 26, 2019 by Maude

[spectoremg]

Just watched the guitar episode. So there's this guy I've never heard of from that band with the excruciating singer...

WOW, WOW, WOW! Great show, great presenter, great contributors, great content. The electric guitar has been in the general public's consciousness virtually forever and is an instrument even a layperson knows something about or can relate to. Therein lies one of the problems with the show about the one with the long neck and the chunky strings. The guitar's always been about a 6(12) stringed instrument played with two hands. Ways of producing bass in music are very diverse. I think the production team dithered about the content and dissatisfied most viewers.

But, the guitar show was great.

ps. Nice to see George Benson get and few seconds and where the F's Uli Roth been all my life?

 

[silverfoxnik]

+1

Uli Roth was a real surprise - what an intelligent and talented guy.. 

I really enjoyed this episode but of the three, I think the first one was the best, though all three made for good music related TV. 

Not quite sure why the Beeb went for three American presenters though?

They all did a great job but nonetheless, it would have been nice to see some of our very knowledgeable and talented UK artists given this opportunity. 

[upside downer]

18 minutes ago, silverfoxnik said:

They all did a great job but nonetheless, it would have been nice to see some of our very knowledgeable and talented UK artists given this opportunity. 

Yeah, but we'd then have had Ed Sheeran doing guitar, the drums by Luke Goss and Dizzee Rascal on bass.

[spectoremg]

40 minutes ago, silverfoxnik said:

+1

Uli Roth was a real surprise - what an intelligent and talented guy.. 

I really enjoyed this episode but of the three, I think the first one was the best, though all three made for good music related TV. 

Not quite sure why the Beeb went for three American presenters though?

They all did a great job but nonetheless, it would have been nice to see some of our very knowledgeable and talented UK artists given this opportunity. 

They probably needed to flog it across the pond.

[prowla]

1 hour ago, silverfoxnik said:

+1

Uli Roth was a real surprise - what an intelligent and talented guy.. 

I really enjoyed this episode but of the three, I think the first one was the best, though all three made for good music related TV. 

Not quite sure why the Beeb went for three American presenters though?

They all did a great job but nonetheless, it would have been nice to see some of our very knowledgeable and talented UK artists given this opportunity. 

I found Uli Roth quite witty too.

I also warmed to KT Tunstall more than previously; I had really disliked her stuff before.

It was fun recognising the Denmark Street settings, as i wander along there probably once a week or so.

As with all of the series, you can't cram the entire history of music and every guitar into a 1-hour show, but that wasn't an issue for me and I enjoyed it.

[steantval]

Found the guitar episode a good watch.

They featured quite a few effects pedals/units and how these were used by certain players for their individual sound, one effect that was overlooked and preceded the analogue/digital delays, was the Wem Copycat, really deserved a mention.

[Skinnyman]

8 minutes ago, steantval said:

Found the guitar episode a good watch.

They featured quite a few effects pedals/units and how these were used by certain players for their individual sound, one effect that was overlooked and preceded the analogue/digital delays, was the Wem Copycat, really deserved a mention.

I was surprised that in a programme about guitar effects and the innovators who developed or popularised them, John Martyn didn’t get a mention. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Marvin]

I'll go against the grain. I thought too much time was devoted to effects pedals rather than the artists, or the instrument itself.

It bypassed punk and grunge as if they hadn't existed and where the guitarist's role wasn't that of someone playing infinitely long solos.

[silverfoxnik]

2 hours ago, prowla said:

I found Uli Roth quite witty too.

I also warmed to KT Tunstall more than previously; I had really disliked her stuff before.

It was fun recognising the Denmark Street settings, as i wander along there probably once a week or so.

As with all of the series, you can't cram the entire history of music and every guitar into a 1-hour show, but that wasn't an issue for me and I enjoyed it.

Good point about KT Tunstall - I remember watching that episode of Later and being blown away by how good she was.. 

@Marvin - yep, I thought that too about the lack of any reference to Punk and Grunge. Even more surprising when you think of who presented the show! 

[prowla]

2 hours ago, Marvin said:

I'll go against the grain. I thought too much time was devoted to effects pedals rather than the artists, or the instrument itself.

It bypassed punk and grunge as if they hadn't existed and where the guitarist's role wasn't that of someone playing infinitely long solos.

I thought it picked out the effects (amp, recording, pedals) which really shifted the guitar from being an amplified acoustic which could be heard to a much more versatile instrument.

Punk and grunge were really just short-lived fads, which were of their time but came and went much like flower power,  glam rock, disco, and boy bands.

[anzoid]

Just watched the bass one, based on a recommendation from @BreadBin, enjoyed it but mentally wandered off a bit in the Pete Hook and Dizzee Rascal stuff. However, love Herbie Flowers and have now, for the first time in my life been listening to Lou Reed's "Transformer" - so that's a good result

[thodrik]

Really enjoyed the guitar show. I would have liked a bit of focus on the role of alternative tunings and the development of heavy rock and metal via Black Sabbath, but honestly for an hour long show it managed to pack a lot in. Great stuff.

I find it strange that the guitar and drum shows really focused on the actual instruments but the bass show was more a look at the concept of bass in popular music. Given that the other shows were so instrument focused it does make me feel like the bass guitar itself was a bit short changed in comparison.

Anyhoo, it was a cool three part documentary.

[Dad3353]

2 hours ago, thodrik said:

...the guitar and drum shows really focused on the actual instruments...

I'm not sure I'd agree that this was the case. The drums programme was just as much about rhythm in modern music, and made no mention of the 'iconic' stuff, such as the Oyster pearl 'Ringo' kit, or Bonham's double bass drums. Percussion was covered, as was electronica. The guitar programme mentioned 'The Log', it's true, but dealt more with the evolving sounds of the guitar than their actual manufacture. I thought that the three balanced each other very well.
Just my tuppence-worth. 

Edited January 27, 2019 by Dad3353

[T-Bay]

All were worth a watch, I think I enjoyed the guitar one the most, my wife liked the bass one better but I do like a good pedal.........