The Sweeney......

[Ricky 4000]

11 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

I remember Kojak used to have some old funky tunes in the program  

I think Carol Kaye did the bass on Kojak, and a bunch of other US TV shows. 👍

[Reggaebass]

1 minute ago, Ricky 4000 said:

I think Carol Kaye did the bass on Kojak, and a bunch of other US TV shows. 👍

I didn’t know that 👍. I think, Hill street blues had some funky music too 

[Geek99]

32 minutes ago, Happy Jack said:

The early episodes are also fun for seeing Garfield Morgan drifting in and out of the series, before he became the third key member of the cast. 

Morgan used to live in Turnham Green (Chiswick) at the other end of my road, I'd see him all the time walking up to Chiswick High Road. 

In a Dennis Waterman twist, Rula Lenska used to live about 100 yards further up ... they must have been bumping into each other all the time.

 

Huge hots for her at the time 

[Ricky 4000]

15 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

I didn’t know that 👍.

She did Streets of San Francisco as well. Very cool basslines in that, as I remember. 👍

https://www.carolkaye.com/www/library/tvandfilms.htm

[chris_b]

Trevor Preston, one of the Sweeney script writers, used to collaborate with the song writer in one of my bands from many years ago. Nice guy. Apparently all the Sweeney scripts had to be vetted by the BBC because they thought the excessive Police violence was being overstated. Trevor interviewed ex-Flying Squad people so everything he wrote was accurate and authentic, but the red pen still went through quite a lot of the "naughty" stuff.

Edited May 4, 2020 by chris_b

[uk_lefty]

My mum was a police officer from 1967 to 1978. Though her territory was more Heartbeat than the Sweeney I'd often check what was realistic and what wasn't. I grew up watching all of these classics and still love them for the music, clothes, cars and outdated attitudes to... Everything! 

[andybassdoyle]

What a great thread this is. Some fantastic music referenced here and terrific playing. I didn't know it at the time but loads of this stuff was influencing how I thought about music and the bass. Thanks all!

[Guest]

If we’re talking 70s theme tunes then The New Avengers was a classic. Nice pick workout on the bass. Sadly the show didn’t quite live up to the music

Laurie Johnson, the composer, also penned the theme to The Professionals - another show that IIRC had some pretty decent bass on the incidental music.

[JottoSW1]

15 hours ago, Happy Jack said:

The early episodes are also fun for seeing Garfield Morgan drifting in and out of the series, before he became the third key member of the cast. 

Morgan used to live in Turnham Green (Chiswick) at the other end of my road, I'd see him all the time walking up to Chiswick High Road. 

In a Dennis Waterman twist, Rula Lenska used to live about 100 yards further up ... they must have been bumping into each other all the time.

 

Yeah, encountered him a few times, an extremely tall Gent

[PaulWarning]

if it wasn't for the Sweeney we wouldn't have had ashes to ashes 😀, off topic, they've just started showing the first episodes of the Bill on UKTV, first one you got Burnside telling his snout, "You're about as much use as a one legged man in an ar$e kicking contest" don't think you get that sort of comment today 😂

[phil.c60]

2 hours ago, andybassdoyle said:

What a great thread this is. Some fantastic music referenced here and terrific playing. I didn't know it at the time but loads of this stuff was influencing how I thought about music and the bass. Thanks all!

You're welcome. It's great how these threads expand.......

Also, when I was a young long haired Herbert I worked in The Castle pub at the end of Putney Bridge. They filmed most of Minder around there, and the some of the cast and crew including Dennis Waterman used to pop in sometimes after filming. Lovely bloke, always bought me a drink if I served them. All  along time ago now but a lot of fun in the day.

[Lozz196]

46 minutes ago, PaulWarning said:

if it wasn't for the Sweeney we wouldn't have had ashes to ashes 😀, off topic, they've just started showing the first episodes of the Bill on UKTV, first one you got Burnside telling his snout, "You're about as much use as a one legged man in an ar$e kicking contest" don't think you get that sort of comment today 😂

I remember that comment well, and use it myself when the opportunity arises.

[chris_b]

4 hours ago, phil.c60 said:

Also, when I was a young long haired Herbert I worked in The Castle pub at the end of Putney Bridge.

The Spotted Horse was my local. I don't know the Castle, but we used to queue up for a pint at the Duke's Head. One of the worst places to get served in SW London on a sunny Sunday lunchtime!

Not blaming the staff, just the number of people trying to get a pint in "on the river".

[phil.c60]

2 hours ago, chris_b said:

The Spotted Horse was my local. I don't know the Castle, but we used to queue up for a pint at the Duke's Head. One of the worst places to get served in SW London on a sunny Sunday lunchtime!

Not blaming the staff, just the number of people trying to get a pint in "on the river".

Castle was at the end of Putney Bridge Road.  Now demolished and rebuilt as "The Boat House". They still used to deliver by horse and dray when I was there which was very charming (early eighties, before the funny comments start!).Trying to get served in the Dukes Head on  boat race day - mission impossible!

 

[Misdee]

I am  really into these early '70'S bass tones, and have been using TI flats on a Fender Precision  and 74 Jazz reissue to try and get my own approximation. I  had been  thinking that buying a valve preamp might be the last piece of the jigsaw, but after reading this thread now  I am beginning to wonder if getting a  bronze- coloured  Ford Granada  might be what I need to get  the sound I crave.

[Misdee]

On 04/05/2020 at 18:14, Happy Jack said:

The early episodes are also fun for seeing Garfield Morgan drifting in and out of the series, before he became the third key member of the cast. 

Morgan used to live in Turnham Green (Chiswick) at the other end of my road, I'd see him all the time walking up to Chiswick High Road. 

In a Dennis Waterman twist, Rula Lenska used to live about 100 yards further up ... they must have been bumping into each other all the time.

 

Chiswick has always been choc-a-block with actors and media people in general, still is and probably always will be.  

[Reggaebass]

4 minutes ago, Misdee said:

I am beginning to wonder if getting a  bronze- coloured  Ford Granada  might be what I need to get  the sound I crave.

That’s a definite upgrade on the mk4 cortina 😁

[cybertect]

On 30/04/2020 at 11:15, lowdown said:

Indeed, he was a great player.

 Dave played on lots of library/production stuff as well TV sessions back in the days of regular Light Entertainment Music.

He comes into shot from around 01:25.

 

Here he is with his Burns Bison...

I recognise Don Lusher playing trombone there, too

[Baxlin]

4 hours ago, cybertect said:

I recognise Don Lusher playing trombone there, too

And Tristan Fry from Sky on percussion?

Edited June 3, 2020 by Baxlin
Spilling mistuk

[lowdown]

2 hours ago, Baxlin said:

And Tristan Fry from Sky on percussion?

Someone in the YouTube reply posts added these names.

"Alf Bigden on drums, Don Lusher on solo trombone, Tristan Fry on tympani, Roy Willox and Eddie Mordue on piccolos, Tony Fisher and Eddie Blair on trumpets, Laurie Holloway on piano, Dave Richmond on bass" .

[cetera]

I always loved classic 70's TV music. So many great arrangements and bass lines/tones.
However, I also have a soft spot for an occasional 80's classic...... like the 'Theme From Fame' played by NY session great Neil Jason.

Here's my OK-ish attempt.... I'm more comfortable with a pick but this was originally played with fingers (& occasional thumb).:

 

 

[chris_b]

Neil Jason, another fantastic bassist I didn't know much about. Delving into his history as we speak.

[Rich]

On 01/05/2020 at 11:47, Happy Jack said:

Hey Mr. Garage Man, service me Granada!

[Daylight come, and me wanna go home.]

 

 

[lowdown]

Neil Jason is a great player!! I always thought him and Neil Stubenhaus flew under the radar a little when top US Bass players were discussed.

 

Neil Jason:

"Neil Jason is a professional bassist, producer and composer.  He has worked with Paul McCartney, Pavorotti, Billy Joel, Roxy Music, Bryan Ferry, Hall & Oats, Mick Jagger, Pete Townshend, Paul Simon, Kiss, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, The Brecker Brothers, Celine Dion, Brigitte Zarie ,Cindy Lauper, Dire Straits, Eddie Van Halen, and,  John &Yoko to name a few. In addition, he was a member of the house band for Saturday Night Live from 1983 to 1985, and has over 100 appearances with Paul Shaffer and the Band on David Letterman".

 

Neil Stubenhaus:

"He's been around since the early 80's at least. He's played on hundreds of top 40 hits and is on many national commercial jingles, along with various TV themes and shows. He's (if hes still there) kind of the west coast version of Will Lee".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Stubenhaus

 

 

Edited June 3, 2020 by lowdown

[Lfalex v1.1]

On 04/05/2020 at 18:57, Ricky 4000 said:

She did Streets of San Francisco as well. Very cool basslines in that, as I remember. 👍

https://www.carolkaye.com/www/library/tvandfilms.htm

She also did the "Dirty Harry" soundtrack, too.

IIRC, she said working with Lalo Schifrin was really tough as the material was so complex (I guess they were sight-reading it, too.)