There used to be an unwritten rule that the sexy members in any band were always the singer and the lead guitarist, or even just the singer/guitarist on their own (selfishly bagging both roles in one). That model was set by acts like Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, The Who, and before them, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry and others. Drummers were always relegated to the back row. In the Rock and Roll era they would be lanky beanpoles with thick glasses. Later on, they morphed into hairy cavemen types (ref. Animal from The Muppets). They never spoke in interviews, or even took a particularly good photo, usually pulling a funny expression. They mainly drank too much and threw things out of hotel windows. Then there was the bass player. Virtually invisible, they plonked away unnoticed stage right, standing only marginally forward of the drummer and forming part of the ‘rhythm section’. Tasked with holding the beat they kept everything locked down whilst the lead guitarist egotistically waved their arms in the air and churned out Hendrix-esque mangled guitar solos, running all over the stage and barely keeping in time with the rest of the band. Meanwhile, the singer wailed, drawled, and yelped incomprehensibly, pouting and twerking at the many cameras pointed in their direction.Some bands broke that mould, but only usually when driven by the commercial need to have more than two faces to go up on teenage girls bedroom walls (eg The Beatles).
Until the late 70’s that is. Suddenly, things behind the front men and women began to change. Drummers were still stuck at the back, hidden behind their kit and flailing away, but bass players became cool. I’m not talking about the Stings, who are just singers with a bass strapped on as an accessory, but the formerly boring Bill Wyman’s of the rock world, now magically transformed into Gaye Advert, JJ Burnel, Sid Vicious, Jah Wobble, Kim Gordon, Peter Hook, Tina Weymouth, Kim Deal, and many, many cool others. They wore shades, exuded detached distain or psycho aggression, provided iconic opening riffs, and took centre stage, strutting and posing with the best of them. What caused this seismic shift in the status quo (lets not mention them – absolutely no one can remember Status Quo’s bassist)? Several things, in my not-so-humble opinion.
Firstly, it was those iconic bass riffs, taking the place of the lead guitar power chord. Think of the intro to The Damned’s ‘Neat Neat Neat’, or Public Image’s ‘Public Image’ single, Joy Division’s ‘She’s Lost Control’, Motorhead’s ‘Ace of Spades’ and especially The Stranglers ‘Peaches’, which for all its misogynistic grunting, has an instantly recognisable opening trio of bass notes.
Secondly, it was the fact that, looking at that list of bass players, several are female, marking a land grab for the previously male dominated territory of the electric guitar. Rather than be satisfied strumming away on an acoustic guitar like Joni Mitchell or Joan Armatrading, these women took the big heavy bass guitar, the chunkier, muscle-bound sibling of the weedier lead and rhythm guitars, and claimed it as their own, shattering misogynistic preconceptions about what instruments women should take up in the process. They didn’t pander to any perceptions that they would play it in a lighter, more feminine way, or favour smaller, short scale versions of the instrument either. On went the hefty Fender Precisions and out came that booming, crunchy, grungy sound, pushing and elbowing its way to the front of the mix.
Then there is that sound. The sound of a bass is very different to that of any lead or rhythm guitar. It shakes the earth, it punishes, it crushes, yet it can also be melodic and gentle. It may be that it's appeal revolves around playing individual notes rather than chords. The reason I originally took up the bass myself was because I felt uncomfortable contorting my fingers into unnatural shapes to form chords on cheese wire guitar strings. Bass strings felt like real strings to me. Honest and substantial. Playing felt more natural and in tune with me. It wasn’t that there were fewer strings to cope with either. There are five, and even six string basses (though the neck gets a bit too wide when you try and fit that many bass strings in) and you can play chords on any bass if you are so inclined, as the tuning is the same as the bottom four strings on a guitar. No, the reason was that primal sound, and, to some extent, the look of the instrument.
That leads us on to the heart of the matter. Bass players just look so much cooler than the rest of the band. Take a band like Mexican three-piece rock act The Warning. Whilst the singer/guitarist screams and grimaces, the drummer/singer thrashes away and belts out lyrics wide eyed with OTT excitement, bassist Alejandra just exudes effortless cool as she strolls confidently around the stage driving the whole thing along. Kim Gordon was every bit as cool as Thurston Moore (and still is) in Sonic Youth, ditto for Kim Deal in The Pixies/Breeders. JJ Burnel set the template for dangerous bad boy bassists, karate kicking his way across the pages of the music press, and although Sid Vicious will never go down in history as a great, or even average, bass player, he certainly rocked that look and successfully competed for media column inches with punk loudmouth and serial attention grabber Johnny Rotten/Lydon. Gaye Advert’s surly, panda eyed punk look inspired many girls to get up on stage, and Peter Hook’s low slung bass antics in Joy Division and New Order provided a visual foil to the singer in both acts.
So, will bass players fall from grace and be forced back into a support role as the rhythm section? I doubt it. That genie is well and truly out of the bottle now. It is the lead instrument in many bands, an essential visual and stylistic element in many others. Are four strings better than six? Its not really a necessary choice, but if I had to, I know which one I would choose.
Essential Information
Main image: Alejandra Villarreal (The Warning) at Teatro Metropolitan, Mexico City August 2022 (Youtube screen grab)
Other images: Top to bottom - Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth), JJ Burnel (Stranglers), Gaye Advert & Lemmy (The Adverts & Motorhead)