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Cass Lewis, Skunk Anansie


bigjimmyc

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5 minutes ago, Russ said:

I think I was at that gig. Trying to remember who the support bands were so I can identify you!

 

All the gigs from back then seem to blur into each other, mostly because (not naming the band, just in case, but they had an Irish singer with a Perry Farrell fixation and red dreads) always seemed to be involved... 

 

When I heard that Skunk Anansie's bass player was Cass Lewis, I was expecting to see the pink Warwick! But he sounded thunderous with the Cutlass - I think he sounded better then than has has more recently with the G&Ls and the Alusonics. 

That doesn't sound like us from the singers description, Perry Farrell was an influence though!

 

My blurb above doesn't do Cass Lewis' playing justice, he's one of the greats who could have played for anybody and done a brilliant job from having seen him play up close.

Edited by The fasting showman
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12 minutes ago, The fasting showman said:

That doesn't sound like us from the singers description, Perry Farrell was an influence though!

 

My blurb above doesn't do Cass Lewis' playing justice, he's one of the greats who could have played for anybody and done a brilliant job from having seen him play up close.

Fair enough. I'm talking about Cyclefly - seems they used to support practically everyone when they came through London! I'm sure I saw them at least 8-10 times at The Water Rats, the Underworld, the Bull & Gate, the Barfly and the Dublin Castle! 

 

Good band, actually. 

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8 hours ago, Rich said:

I seem to recall that Lemmy was a big fan of Skin in particular. I remember him talking about her in an interview where he said something along the lines of "she's black, gay and really angry, what a brilliant combination for a lyricist" :lol: 

Nice anecdote! I love a good Lemmy story or photo (e.g. the one with Lem and Phil Lynott). Skin had plenty of good things to say about him too. 

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My wife’s cousin had the privilege of supporting Skunk Anansie on tour a few years ago. He’’s a bassist too, and said that Cass used to watch their soundcheck search night. I remember him saying that doing his line check and the bands soundcheck with a player as high calibre as Cass Lewis watching from the side of the stage used to terrify him. He did also echo what many others have said already in this thread, that Cass is a very friendly guy who seems to have time for everyone. He also said that standing 15ft from Cass’ bass rig while listening to him soundcheck on the first night of the tour nearly made him do a sex wee! As he put it “monster player, with a monster tone” 

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14 hours ago, Merton said:

He played with Terence Trent D’Arby in the late 80s

I remember he had a pearlescent pink Warwick Thumb bass back then.  I've been a fan of Skunk ever since they broke.  Their songs were intense and angry and seemed a lot more genuine than most hard rock bands that had come before.  And Skin in full cry looked like she was about to chew a chunk off the planet and spit it out for breakfast.  I've been lucky to have a passing chat or two with Cass at bass shows and he's a very laid back guy and very approachable.  He's also a Cutlass bass collector and was offered my Cutlass 2 at one point by the Gallery who had it on consignment.

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5 hours ago, Kiwi said:

I remember he had a pearlescent pink Warwick Thumb bass back then. 


When I was a kid, before the idea of playing bass ever entered my head, I remember seeing that bass in the Wishing Well video and thinking it was the coolest thing I had ever seen. I had no idea it was Cass until this thread. Excellent.

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I wasn't much of a Skunk Anansie fan, but my last band ended up covering Hedonism.  Simple enough but a great bass line.  It ended up being one of my favourite songs to play in the set.

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 Very jealous! If I’d have known they were playing the Engine Rooms I would have popped over…

A big influence on me is our Cass, I’d just started playing when they broke through. I’d regard them as a British version of RATM - heavy, groovy, politically charged, unique. And I’ve never seen anyone hit the drums as hard as Mark Richardson.

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