TheGreek Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 There's a car ad on the TV which features a track by Erasure - got me thinking how little acknowledgement Vince Clarke gets. Depeche Mode, Yazoo, The Assembly and Erasure - all his projects. Can't be many musicians who have been successful with 4 or more bands but don'treallyget a mention.... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassfinger Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 Although back when those acts were contemporary he was mentioned all the time. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tubbybloke68 Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 Certainly a very talented man in the genre Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 For what I recall of interviews with him in the 80s he was content to be in the background writing the hit tunes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Cloud Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 Never underestimate the importance of anonymity. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayman Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 Karl Wallinger, who sadly died recently, massively under acknowledged artist. I absolutely love Private Revolution, even it reminds me of an ex, who introduced me to World Party. Andy Partridge, XTC. Another genius who should get way more recognition. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mykesbass Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 Martyn Ware - Impressive discography as a musician - Heaven 17, Human League, BEF, and producer - Terence Trent Darby, Tina Turner, Scritti Politi etc. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowdown Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 A lot of musicians and the general public to this day, have not acknowledged, or are even aware of the achievements of John 'JR' Robinson. He was also responsible for one of the most iconic drum intros in pop history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Robinson_(drummer) 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lfalex v1.1 Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 22 hours ago, Rayman said: Andy Partridge, XTC. Another genius who should get way more recognition. I couldn't agree more. Alas that much of XTC's output is just too English/Idiosyncatic/Leftfield* (delete as appropriate) for some people's tastes. All too unfortunately evidenced by the fact that their Joke/Nostalgia "Dukes of the Stratosphear" venture commercially outperformed their regular album/s at the time. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lfalex v1.1 Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 On 23/03/2024 at 13:22, White Cloud said: Never underestimate the importance of anonymity. Or royalties. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 My unsung heroes are not band members but the session guys who worked in the studios pumping out the songs that influenced the rest of the bass playing world: Tommy Cogbill, David Hood, Mike Leech, Bob Babbitt, Jerry Jemmott, Jesse Boyce, Junior Lowe, Olsie Robinson and Vernie Robins etc etc. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinyd Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 On a related note, there was a good piece in the Guardian the other day about "unofficial" band members (people who play with the band, sometimes for decades, but aren't "in" the band). https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/mar/20/touring-musicians-who-play-with-bands-but-arent-official-members-manic-street-preachers-simple-minds I have to be honest that it sounds like a pretty good setup on the whole - getting paid to play but none (or very little, anyway) of the politics, drama, publicity etc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacDaddy Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 On 23/03/2024 at 15:25, Rayman said: Andy Partridge, XTC. Another genius who should get way more recognition. Genius? No doubt extremely talented, but if we compare to an acknowledged musical genius such as Beethoven can we really call Partridge a genius? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barking Spiders Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 (edited) I think the list of unacknowledged/unappreciated but hugely talented musicians goes down the road and around the block several times especially $h!t hot pioneering guitarists outside the rock genre e.g. Tommy Emmanuel, Lenny Breau, Danny Gatton, Leo Kottke, Adrian Legg, Peter Huttlinger, Roy Buchanan, Isaac Guillory, Martin Taylor, John Jourgensen, Pierre Bensusan, Davy Graham, Andy McKee, Tony McManus, Bryan Sutton, Scotty Anderson... Edited March 25 by Barking Spiders Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayman Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 1 hour ago, MacDaddy said: Genius? No doubt extremely talented, but if we compare to an acknowledged musical genius such as Beethoven can we really call Partridge a genius? Absolutely. If any contemporary musician can be considered a genius, then AP can totally be included in that list. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mykesbass Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 2 hours ago, Barking Spiders said: I think the list of unacknowledged/unappreciated but hugely talented musicians goes down the road and around the block several times especially $h!t hot pioneering guitarists outside the rock genre e.g. Tommy Emmanuel, Lenny Breau, Danny Gatton, Leo Kottke, Adrian Legg, Peter Huttlinger, Roy Buchanan, Isaac Guillory, Martin Taylor, John Jourgensen, Pierre Bensusan, Davy Graham, Andy McKee, Tony McManus, Bryan Sutton, Scotty Anderson... Some great names here, but all highly acknowledged albeit in their specialist fields. Unlike another example here of Andy Partridge who had some huge hits in the mainstream, but whose name, and musical contributions are somewhat overlooked. But then that's the joy of discussions such as this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 2 hours ago, Barking Spiders said: I think the list of unacknowledged/unappreciated but hugely talented musicians goes down the road and around the block several times especially $h!t hot pioneering guitarists outside the rock genre e.g. Tommy Emmanuel, Lenny Breau, Danny Gatton, Leo Kottke, Adrian Legg, Peter Huttlinger, Roy Buchanan, Isaac Guillory, Martin Taylor, John Jourgensen, Pierre Bensusan, Davy Graham, Andy McKee, Tony McManus, Bryan Sutton, Scotty Anderson... . . . . and one of the best, most overlooked guitarists of all time, Reggie Young. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted March 25 Author Share Posted March 25 Surely you mean Wes Montgomery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tubbybloke68 Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 5 hours ago, MacDaddy said: Genius? No doubt extremely talented, but if we compare to an acknowledged musical genius such as Beethoven can we really call Partridge a genius? Of course it’s each to his own, but personally yes, I’ll call Andy partridge a genius any day. X Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kentish Bass Posted June 13 Share Posted June 13 On 24/03/2024 at 13:53, Lfalex v1.1 said: I couldn't agree more. Alas that much of XTC's output is just too English/Idiosyncatic/Leftfield* (delete as appropriate) for some people's tastes. All too unfortunately evidenced by the fact that their Joke/Nostalgia "Dukes of the Stratosphear" venture commercially outperformed their regular album/s at the time. Another voice in support of XTC. Colin Moulding had a real knack for writing baselines that suit the songs—and some challenging ones along the way! Probably my favourite post-1976 band. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk_lefty Posted June 13 Share Posted June 13 On 23/03/2024 at 13:22, White Cloud said: Never underestimate the importance of anonymity. If that was on quotation marks with Unknown as the source... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barking Spiders Posted June 13 Share Posted June 13 Been listening to a lot of Herbie Hancock's 70s jazz funk albums and I'd nominate all his band members who both excelled on their instruments and also featured on hundreds of recordings by other artists. In particular there was guitarist Wah Wah Watson, the man behind the guitar on Papa Was a Rolling Stone by The Temptations. Other credits include Blondie, Beach Boys, Michael Jackson, Cher, Boz Scaggs... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinyd Posted June 13 Share Posted June 13 6 minutes ago, Barking Spiders said: Been listening to a lot of Herbie Hancock's 70s jazz funk albums and I'd nominate all his band members who both excelled on their instruments and also featured on hundreds of recordings by other artists. In particular there was guitarist Wah Wah Watson, the man behind the guitar on Papa Was a Rolling Stone by The Temptations. Other credits include Blondie, Beach Boys, Michael Jackson, Cher, Boz Scaggs... Great choice! For those who haven't seen it this is a good illustration; https://youtu.be/K3lgmnsTdcA?si=xxs4aKL7VXxSblbF 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowdown Posted June 13 Share Posted June 13 3 hours ago, Barking Spiders said: Been listening to a lot of Herbie Hancock's 70s jazz funk albums and I'd nominate all his band members who both excelled on their instruments and also featured on hundreds of recordings by other artists. In particular there was guitarist Wah Wah Watson, the man behind the guitar on Papa Was a Rolling Stone by The Temptations. Other credits include Blondie, Beach Boys, Michael Jackson, Cher, Boz Scaggs... I think that it might just be an age thing from the past with a lot of the old school musicians. Back in the 70's, 'Wah Wah Watson' was very much acknowledged and respected. A few, even knew of him by his real name, 'Mel (or Melvin) Ragin'. Back then, I seem to remember musicians debating (as they do) who was the better 'Wah-Wah Pedal' player. Him, or Charles ‘Skip’ Pitts. 'Skip' was quite an in demand sideman himself with a impressive CV of sessions. Obituary: Charles 'Skip' Pitts: Guitarist Of course, there was this... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itu Posted June 13 Share Posted June 13 On 24/03/2024 at 16:33, chris_b said: My unsung heroes are not band members but the session guys who worked in the studios pumping out the songs that influenced the rest of the bass playing world: Tommy Cogbill, David Hood, Mike Leech, Bob Babbitt, Jerry Jemmott, Jesse Boyce, Junior Lowe, Olsie Robinson and Vernie Robins etc etc. Outside this forum there are just a few who know these mentioned above. Or any bassist. "I know Pistorius is that runner from..." I might suggest Tony Joe White, and Danny Whitten. If we take any band from the 80's, who knows about them except the name of the band, and maybe the singer? Sure, we do know a few, but we are the rare exception to the rule. Church? Dexy's midnight runners? Classix Nouveax? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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