Horace Panter

[parker_muse]

I've always been a massive ska fan, and i've loved the specials for a few years now. I've never been able to put my finger on what separates them from other 2tone/second wave acts. Now i'm more competent as a bassist i believe its his work. He's unreal! He lays down old school reggae with a side order of punk and a garnish of disco. His lines carry the tone of the song beautifully and it turns a standard ska band into a really special (excuse the pun) sound.

Anyone agree? What bassists have really inspired you with your music?

Edited July 24, 2010 by parker_muse

[mike f]

I played a gig in January and afterwards this chap in his 50s said I reminded him of Horace Panter, the way I played but mostly the way I moved and my presence on stage.

Having not really listened much to The Specials except to what was in the charts when I was a kid I didn't know what to make of this. Of course I said thank you cause I certainly know who The Specials are, i.e a great band.

Having now had a look and listen to The Specials I realise that it was some compliment!


For me I'll always point people towards Scott Thunes, who hardly ever gets a mention here. He played with Frank Zappa. He played good.

[woodster]

Did a gig with Roddy Radiation of The Specials once... We talked about the hayday of the band and he said he kept loads of press cuttings and the like, to show his kids. After a family evening of nostalgia one night, little Radiation junior said to him.....

"Daddy..... If you were so famous, why are we so poor?"


My inspiration, on a similar note, was Madness' Mark Bedford. I learned to play by playing along with all my madness albums!!

[Rayman]

I love reggae and dub, and Robbie Shakespeare is the man for me in that genre, although I agree with regard to Horace, he's a fantastic player. A Thunderbird never sounded so good.

When I first started in the early 80s, there were a handful of bass players that made me want to pick up a bass guitar. Colin Moulding from XTC, JJ Burnel from the Stranglers, and Tina Weymouth from Talking Heads.

However, I had many years away from bass, and it was about 10 years ago that I started again, and it was seeing Stu Hamm with Joe Satriani that started me off again.

So all of the above, and many many others have influenced me over the years.

[thisnameistaken]

I saw Madness at York races last night, I think it was Bedders playing bass but I couldn't be sure, the rest of the band was obviously the original band which was pretty impressive. They can still mash a crowd up with just 8 snare beats which is more than most bands can manage.

Specials: Horace was a monster and one of the biggest influences on me, I was tiny when the Specials were in the charts but their music (and tunes like Tom Hark (The Pirahnas), Pig Bag (Pig Bag) and House of Fun (Madness) were the first records I really remember singing along to when I was tiny.

But credit where it's due, the man who made Specials special was Jerry Dammers. Just how the main man in Madness was Mike Barson. Horace was amazing but that band was Jerry Dammers, the songs were his and without him they aren't the Specials.

I'm currently gigging a bunch of Desmond Dekker, Toots Hibbert, Alton Ellis, Max Romeo, Hopeton Lewis etc. songs as a busking duo with our guitarist, I love those old ska/rocksteady tunes, they are some of the first music I really loved as a child.

Edited July 25, 2010 by thisnameistaken

[bobbass4k]

Madness played at the races? That passed me by.

[thisnameistaken]

[quote name='bobbass4k' post='904486' date='Jul 25 2010, 02:54 AM']Madness played at the races? That passed me by.[/quote]

The show was decent, but it required people to be at York races. Oh my god... I've never been before and I won't go again, it was like a gentrified NF rally or something, I've never seen so many inexplicable f***heads in one place, and I've seen the X-Factor auditions.

I actually said to someone that I didn't think they could let them out into the general population, I thought they would have to filter them out gradually as they sobered up. I now understand why York is so unrecognisable when the races are on - it's the immeasurable set of unbelieveable dirty drunken gambling bastards who go to the races.

[bobbass4k]

Yea, my dad used to live on scarcroft road and I went to the college for 3 years, I've developed a healthy aversion to the races, I refuse to venture out of the house on race days, after you've seen one drunken guy in a top hat peeing on a dog it sort of loses it's appeal.

[Rayman]

Sounds like a cracking good day out to me

[OldGit]

Love Sir Horace's stuff...


Amongst the many bass players that I learned from, copied and ripped off there was one who is little known.
In the 60's John Mayall did two albums with a "light" band, Acoustic guitar, sax/flute, Mayall and bass.
They are called "Empty Rooms" (studio) and "The Turning Point" (live)
The Bass player was Steve Thompson and I've never heard anything by him since but I played the two albums constantly ever since.
Here's "California" from The Turning Point.

Edited July 25, 2010 by OldGit

[Spoombung]

He's a superb bassist. In fact the whole of the band were immaculate musicians (except Roddy Radiation who sounded like a pub guitarist)

[Lozz196]

[quote name='Spoombung' post='904563' date='Jul 25 2010, 10:27 AM']He's a superb bassist. In fact the whole of the band were immaculate musicians (except Roddy Radiation who sounded like a pub guitarist) [/quote]
Definately a great bassist, very capable, and a great ear for melody, some of his lines are just amazing, so melodic.

With regards to the original point - who inspired me - many from the punk era, Glen Matlock, JJ Burnell, Paul Simenon to name a few, but if I had to name one who stood out, for me it would be Bruce Foxton from The Jam. Again, amazing melodies, and, in many of their songs, he sang backing vocs virtually all the time. To compose those lines is hard enough, but to play those lines and sing at the same time - amazing. And bear in mind he was late teens/early 20s, and only took over bass when the original bassist left. A name you don`t hear much, as Paul Weller was the obvious focal point, but Bruce Foxton was essential to The Jams sound.

[tredders]

I'm totally with Lozz on this one (we must have had the same taste in music, mate - Jam, Clash, Pistols!) - Foxton was the reason I ever picked up a bass in the first place. Love his basslines and playing, and still find myself playing old Jam songs when I pick up the bass.

However, over the last 18 months, I've rediscovered the Specials, and absolutely love Horace's playing. I knew all the songs already (all of the Too Much Too Young era songs remind me of school discos), but never really listened to the basslines. Genius. Really opened my eyes to a different style of playing. And if you've not read it, Horace's book, Ska'd For Life, is a really good read.

[JoT]

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='904483' date='Jul 25 2010, 01:37 AM']I saw Madness at York races last night, I think it was Bedders playing bass but I couldn't be sure, the rest of the band was obviously the original band which was pretty impressive. They can still mash a crowd up with just 8 snare beats which is more than most bands can manage.[/quote]


It was Graham Bush. Been with them since recording Norton Folgate. Bedders has been taking time out.

[Shaggy]

[quote name='Lozz196' post='904684' date='Jul 25 2010, 11:40 AM']Definately a great bassist, very capable, and a great ear for melody, some of his lines are just amazing, so melodic.

With regards to the original point - who inspired me - many from the punk era, Glen Matlock, JJ Burnell, Paul Simenon to name a few, but if I had to name one who stood out, for me it would be Bruce Foxton from The Jam. Again, amazing melodies, and, in many of their songs, he sang backing vocs virtually all the time. To compose those lines is hard enough, but to play those lines and sing at the same time - amazing. And bear in mind he was late teens/early 20s, and only took over bass when the original bassist left. A name you don`t hear much, as Paul Weller was the obvious focal point, but Bruce Foxton was essential to The Jams sound.[/quote]

Saw the Jam at Deeside on the "Setting Sons" tour (a lone black bike-jacketed "Rocker" in a vast sea of khaki Parkas), Bruce playing his Fender P. He's the man.

Don't know if anyone caught it, but BBC3 showed an old "Rock goes to College" with a Specials gig from 1979 week before last - sheer class: raw and unpolished by modern live production standards and all the better for it. To me HP is the [b]only[/b] bassist that looks cool playing with his bass chest-high

+1 on Jerry Damners being the driving force behind them though, and what a sad end "Fun boy three" was to a fine band

[quote name='mike f' post='904276' date='Jul 24 2010, 07:00 PM']I played a gig in January and afterwards this chap in his 50s said I reminded him of Horace Panter, the way I played but mostly the way I moved and my presence on stage.[/quote]

I was compared to Wilko Johnson which ain't so flattering

Edited February 20, 2011 by Shaggy

[Old Horse Murphy]

Spent a pleasant hour on the train yesterday listening to a Marillion Live album. I've always been a huge fan of Pete Trewavas but he's definitely one of those players who's better live than in the studio.

What a stunning player.