1 00:00:06,460 --> 00:00:09,340 We're going right on to the next number. 2 00:00:09,340 --> 00:00:12,300 So, it's 1974, autumn, 3 00:00:12,300 --> 00:00:15,140 Chris and I moved down to New York City, 4 00:00:15,140 --> 00:00:17,940 and David Byrne is already there. 5 00:00:17,940 --> 00:00:22,140 We're going to become the Talking Heads, but we don't know that yet. 6 00:00:22,140 --> 00:00:26,380 We all get jobs, we find a loft, we move in together 7 00:00:26,380 --> 00:00:30,940 and they would go out every night to CBGB's to look for a bass player. 8 00:00:30,940 --> 00:00:32,740 They looked and looked and looked, 9 00:00:32,740 --> 00:00:35,180 maybe they were too clean-cut looking, 10 00:00:35,180 --> 00:00:37,620 something just didn't jibe right. 11 00:00:38,780 --> 00:00:41,980 Chris persuaded me that I was the only person 12 00:00:41,980 --> 00:00:44,620 who understood them as musicians. 13 00:00:46,340 --> 00:00:49,140 I, finally, on my 24th birthday, 14 00:00:49,140 --> 00:00:53,500 brought home a Leo Fender 1963 Precision Bass. 15 00:00:54,500 --> 00:00:56,380 David was so surprised. 16 00:00:56,380 --> 00:00:58,980 I turned on my amplifier. 17 00:00:58,980 --> 00:01:01,100 Chris said, "Come on, play," 18 00:01:01,100 --> 00:01:02,620 so I just did booom, 19 00:01:02,620 --> 00:01:06,540 and he said, "Yeah! Now we're cooking with gas!" 20 00:01:11,580 --> 00:01:13,540 Well, my young friends, 21 00:01:13,540 --> 00:01:17,300 I like to think of the orchestra divided into families. 22 00:01:17,300 --> 00:01:20,700 Violins, the violas, the cellos and the basses. 23 00:01:20,700 --> 00:01:22,860 # Yeah, boy! 24 00:01:22,860 --> 00:01:25,380 # Bass! How low can you go? # 25 00:01:25,380 --> 00:01:28,700 MUSIC: Bassline from Good Times by Chic 26 00:01:31,100 --> 00:01:33,700 This isn't a history of bass... HE CLICKS HIS TONGUE 27 00:01:33,700 --> 00:01:36,020 ..or a list of great players, 28 00:01:36,020 --> 00:01:41,060 it's a joy ride through the deepest register in music. 29 00:01:42,380 --> 00:01:45,700 The story of how an instrumental came out of the shadows 30 00:01:45,700 --> 00:01:47,900 to fight for the spotlight. 31 00:01:47,900 --> 00:01:52,420 Make its own culture and become a genre of music... 32 00:01:52,420 --> 00:01:54,500 LOW ELECTRIC HUM 33 00:01:54,500 --> 00:01:56,700 ..in its own right. 34 00:01:56,700 --> 00:01:59,300 That's it. Aha! 35 00:01:59,300 --> 00:02:01,980 These little licks that you get... 36 00:02:04,860 --> 00:02:07,020 ..they can influence generation. 37 00:02:07,020 --> 00:02:10,460 MUSIC: Bassline from Under Pressure by Queen and David Bowie 38 00:02:10,460 --> 00:02:14,220 You hear that and you know exactly where you are. 39 00:02:14,220 --> 00:02:18,100 In certain cases, it can be the absolute hook of a song. 40 00:02:18,100 --> 00:02:20,140 It's a melody within itself. 41 00:02:20,140 --> 00:02:23,580 James Brown said, do what you want to do and come back to that one. 42 00:02:23,580 --> 00:02:24,940 One! 43 00:02:24,940 --> 00:02:27,860 You make me happy and I'm glad I thought of it. 44 00:02:27,860 --> 00:02:32,220 In my world, bass isn't just a sound, it's not just a frequency - 45 00:02:32,220 --> 00:02:34,460 it's culture. 46 00:02:34,460 --> 00:02:36,740 In my generation, it's the dirty bass 47 00:02:36,740 --> 00:02:39,540 that the kids really respond to. 48 00:02:39,540 --> 00:02:43,420 You just need bass. It's like a conversation with no conclusion. 49 00:02:43,420 --> 00:02:46,100 It's like, yeah, you've got a melody, you've got some drums, 50 00:02:46,100 --> 00:02:47,940 but what's the point? 51 00:02:58,420 --> 00:03:03,420 At the start of rock and roll, THE bass instrument was one of these. 52 00:03:06,180 --> 00:03:10,300 But it was huge and it was expensive. 53 00:03:10,300 --> 00:03:14,700 A double bass like this would have cost thousands. 54 00:03:18,540 --> 00:03:22,660 From the beginning, double bass was a bit specialised. 55 00:03:22,660 --> 00:03:26,100 The preserve of orchestras and jazz, 56 00:03:26,100 --> 00:03:28,940 with its trademark walking baselines. 57 00:03:30,500 --> 00:03:32,140 You know, walking... 58 00:03:34,980 --> 00:03:38,660 The walking bassline came out of Blues and jazz. 59 00:03:41,980 --> 00:03:45,740 And it really, it became super popular in America 60 00:03:45,740 --> 00:03:47,980 when boogie-woogie sort of took over. 61 00:03:47,980 --> 00:03:50,500 # He puts the boys asleep with boogie every night 62 00:03:50,500 --> 00:03:53,140 # And wakes 'em the same way in the early bright... # 63 00:03:53,140 --> 00:03:56,180 Boogie-woogie was a huge fad in the 1940s. 64 00:03:56,180 --> 00:03:59,140 # He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B 65 00:03:59,140 --> 00:04:01,180 # Da-doo, da-doo... # 66 00:04:01,180 --> 00:04:04,460 And if you listen to Heartbreak Hotel by Elvis, you hear 67 00:04:04,460 --> 00:04:08,460 Bill Black playing in a plucked style, and it's slower but 68 00:04:08,460 --> 00:04:11,180 he's still playing the same boogie lines, you know, when he goes... 69 00:04:11,180 --> 00:04:15,220 # Since my baby left me I found a new place to dwell... # 70 00:04:15,220 --> 00:04:17,900 # Well, it's down at the end of Lonely Street 71 00:04:17,900 --> 00:04:20,980 # At Heartbreak Hotel 72 00:04:20,980 --> 00:04:23,940 # Where I get so lonely baby 73 00:04:23,940 --> 00:04:26,500 # Well, I'm so lonely 74 00:04:26,500 --> 00:04:30,500 # I get so lonely, I could die. # 75 00:04:32,540 --> 00:04:35,940 But plucked or bowed bass lines weren't the only way of 76 00:04:35,940 --> 00:04:38,380 playing this beautiful instrument. 77 00:04:38,380 --> 00:04:43,420 Blues legends like Willie Dixon began manhandling the double bass 78 00:04:43,980 --> 00:04:46,540 and pushing it to its limits. 79 00:04:47,900 --> 00:04:50,740 SLAP BASS 80 00:04:54,340 --> 00:04:59,340 And hillbilly bands slapped the bass to compensate for having no drummer. 81 00:04:59,620 --> 00:05:02,300 Johnny Cash and The Tennessee Two. 82 00:05:02,300 --> 00:05:05,180 All of a sudden, you've got these bands like Johnny Cash 83 00:05:05,180 --> 00:05:08,660 and the Tennessee Two, it's just three guys. 84 00:05:08,660 --> 00:05:13,140 Everybody has to make the maximum amount of noise that they can 85 00:05:13,140 --> 00:05:15,740 possibly make just to fill out the sound. 86 00:05:15,740 --> 00:05:18,460 # Hey, get rhythm 87 00:05:18,460 --> 00:05:20,060 # When you get the blues 88 00:05:20,060 --> 00:05:21,500 # Come on, get rhythm 89 00:05:22,620 --> 00:05:25,620 # When you get your blues 90 00:05:25,620 --> 00:05:28,020 # Get a rock and roll feeling in your bones 91 00:05:28,020 --> 00:05:30,220 # Put taps on your toes and get gone 92 00:05:30,220 --> 00:05:32,260 # Get rhythm 93 00:05:32,260 --> 00:05:34,660 # When you get your blues. # 94 00:05:36,460 --> 00:05:39,980 But back then, if you didn't have a double bass, 95 00:05:39,980 --> 00:05:41,780 there was another technique. 96 00:05:42,980 --> 00:05:47,980 Street corner doo-wop gave rock and roll the human bassline. 97 00:05:49,980 --> 00:05:52,220 # Bom-bom-bom-bom, bom-bom-bom-bom-bom 98 00:05:52,220 --> 00:05:54,740 # Bom-bom-bom-bom-bom-bom Dang-dang-dang-dang, ding a dong 99 00:05:54,740 --> 00:05:56,740 # Blue moon... # 100 00:05:56,740 --> 00:05:58,860 Such a great track! 101 00:05:58,860 --> 00:06:00,700 It reminds me of my childhood. 102 00:06:00,700 --> 00:06:04,300 # Without a dream in my heart... # 103 00:06:04,300 --> 00:06:07,980 To this day, a deep profundo basso male voice 104 00:06:07,980 --> 00:06:10,020 is exciting to me as a woman. 105 00:06:10,020 --> 00:06:12,620 # Ding a dong Blue moon... # 106 00:06:12,620 --> 00:06:15,260 I suppose because it vibrates me in all the right places. 107 00:06:15,260 --> 00:06:17,700 SHE CHUCKLES 108 00:06:17,700 --> 00:06:20,100 # Without a dream in my heart... # 109 00:06:20,100 --> 00:06:21,540 So beautiful. 110 00:06:25,140 --> 00:06:28,340 The Marcels were basically a street group. 111 00:06:28,340 --> 00:06:32,020 They were in Pittsburgh and they kept mailing me, 112 00:06:32,020 --> 00:06:34,460 they kept calling me and I said, 113 00:06:34,460 --> 00:06:37,380 "Guys, if you get to New York on your own nickel," 114 00:06:37,380 --> 00:06:40,220 I said, "I'll record you," and I figured they'll never do it. 115 00:06:40,220 --> 00:06:42,540 TV COMMENTARY: Wind, snow and icy cold 116 00:06:42,540 --> 00:06:45,580 as the Atlantic coast experienced a true blizzard. 117 00:06:47,900 --> 00:06:51,500 And of course, on some snowy January day, 118 00:06:51,500 --> 00:06:56,500 five Marcels and the manager walked from Penn Station 119 00:06:56,500 --> 00:07:01,380 all the way up to 7/11 Fifth Avenue in a blizzard. 120 00:07:01,380 --> 00:07:02,980 As a matter of fact, 121 00:07:02,980 --> 00:07:06,260 I think that was one of the coldest years maybe in history. 122 00:07:06,260 --> 00:07:10,140 To come to my office and say, "Here we are, we're The Marcels!" 123 00:07:10,140 --> 00:07:12,220 We recorded three songs, 124 00:07:12,220 --> 00:07:15,340 but in those days when you went into a studio 125 00:07:15,340 --> 00:07:17,820 you had to come out with four songs. 126 00:07:19,740 --> 00:07:22,500 The band had a song in mind they wanted to cover... 127 00:07:22,500 --> 00:07:25,860 # Bom-bom-bom-bom, bom-bom-bom-bom-bom... # 128 00:07:25,860 --> 00:07:29,980 ..but they only part of it that Stu liked was the opening bassline. 129 00:07:31,620 --> 00:07:35,860 I said, "OK, supposing we start with that." 130 00:07:35,860 --> 00:07:39,140 Kept thinking and thinking, and I said, "OK, anybody know Blue Moon?" 131 00:07:39,140 --> 00:07:41,340 And the lead singer says, "Yes, I do." 132 00:07:42,740 --> 00:07:46,660 # Blue moon, you saw me... # 133 00:07:46,660 --> 00:07:50,500 Then at about midnight, we had seven or eight minutes to do Blue Moon. 134 00:07:50,500 --> 00:07:53,580 I said, "OK, drummer, beat it off." 135 00:07:53,580 --> 00:07:55,700 # Bom-bom-bom-bom, bom-bom-bom-bom-bom 136 00:07:55,700 --> 00:07:58,100 # Dang-dang-dang-dang, ding a dong 137 00:07:58,100 --> 00:07:59,740 # Blue moon. # 138 00:07:59,740 --> 00:08:01,500 # Blue moon, blue moon 139 00:08:01,500 --> 00:08:03,020 # Dip-dip-dip-dip-dip 140 00:08:03,020 --> 00:08:05,780 # Moon, moon, moon, moon, blue moon... # 141 00:08:05,780 --> 00:08:08,100 Dang-a-dang dang, ding-a-dong ding, all of that, 142 00:08:08,100 --> 00:08:10,420 the bass riffs and all of that, I did that. 143 00:08:10,420 --> 00:08:12,740 # Bom-bom-bom-bom, bom-bom-bom-bom-bom 144 00:08:12,740 --> 00:08:14,180 # Dang-dang-dang-dang, ding a dong 145 00:08:14,180 --> 00:08:15,700 # Blue moon... # 146 00:08:15,700 --> 00:08:18,140 After I finished recording and listening to playbacks, 147 00:08:18,140 --> 00:08:22,300 the promotions man showed up and got floored when he heard Blue Moon. 148 00:08:22,300 --> 00:08:26,060 He convinced the engineer to make him an acetate. 149 00:08:26,060 --> 00:08:29,140 # Everything is swinging... # 150 00:08:29,140 --> 00:08:32,340 There was a station up there called WINS. 151 00:08:32,340 --> 00:08:34,300 # W.I.N.S. # 152 00:08:34,300 --> 00:08:37,140 Broadcasting for New York. 153 00:08:37,140 --> 00:08:40,900 Murray "The K" Kaufman, he played it 26 times in one day. 154 00:08:40,900 --> 00:08:42,540 RADIO: Hey, this is it! 155 00:08:42,540 --> 00:08:44,660 # Bom-bom-bom-bom, bom-bom-bom-bom-bom 156 00:08:44,660 --> 00:08:46,580 # Dang-dang-dang-dang, ding a dong... # 157 00:08:46,580 --> 00:08:49,540 Every time he went to a news break, he would play the beginning of the record... 158 00:08:49,540 --> 00:08:51,660 # Bom-bom-bom-bom... 159 00:08:51,660 --> 00:08:53,420 RADIO: I want to tell you to stand by. 160 00:08:53,420 --> 00:08:56,380 And then during the course of the hour, he'd play the whole record. 161 00:08:56,380 --> 00:08:59,180 Within a week, it went to number one 162 00:08:59,180 --> 00:09:01,620 and then it stayed on there for about a month. 163 00:09:01,620 --> 00:09:04,980 The bassline and the flavour of doo wop, it became one of the 164 00:09:04,980 --> 00:09:08,860 first times that it crossed over into white radio broadcasting. 165 00:09:12,460 --> 00:09:16,460 Blue Moon sparked a bass vocal craze. 166 00:09:18,540 --> 00:09:21,900 But there was a much bigger revolution happening 167 00:09:21,900 --> 00:09:23,540 in the world of bass. 168 00:09:26,380 --> 00:09:29,140 PLAYS LONGS LOW NOTE 169 00:09:31,580 --> 00:09:34,100 Such a great little bass guitar. 170 00:09:35,220 --> 00:09:38,580 I mean, these things, you can lift with one finger. 171 00:09:38,580 --> 00:09:40,420 And that's a dream. 172 00:09:43,780 --> 00:09:48,420 The early '60s saw the rise of the electric bass guitar. 173 00:09:48,420 --> 00:09:53,420 A user friendly instrument that brought bass playing to the masses 174 00:09:53,740 --> 00:09:57,660 and inspired a while new beat group generation. 175 00:09:59,500 --> 00:10:03,220 This thing of beauty is a Hofner Club Bass. 176 00:10:03,220 --> 00:10:06,100 It's one of the first electric basses of the 1960s. 177 00:10:07,620 --> 00:10:11,700 It had a short scale neck, it was very lightweight and, of course, 178 00:10:11,700 --> 00:10:15,700 it put a lot of string bass players out of work in the early '60s. 179 00:10:15,700 --> 00:10:19,620 I used it in 1981 on the Genius Of Love track. 180 00:10:19,620 --> 00:10:24,420 However, the first person I saw play a Hofner bass guitar 181 00:10:24,420 --> 00:10:26,900 was Paul McCartney. 182 00:10:26,900 --> 00:10:31,900 His was a violin shape and it had a big fat bottom sound. 183 00:10:32,220 --> 00:10:35,460 MUSIC: Day Tripper by the Beatles 184 00:10:41,660 --> 00:10:45,020 McCartney was the first frontman bassist. 185 00:10:45,020 --> 00:10:48,820 As McCartney said, before that it was always the fat guy in the back. 186 00:10:48,820 --> 00:10:50,700 # Got a good reason 187 00:10:52,580 --> 00:10:54,940 # For taking the easy way out 188 00:10:56,060 --> 00:10:57,780 # Got a good reason 189 00:10:59,100 --> 00:11:02,620 # For taking the easy way out now 190 00:11:02,620 --> 00:11:05,540 # She was a day tripper... # 191 00:11:05,540 --> 00:11:07,940 Most players in general don't sing. 192 00:11:09,180 --> 00:11:13,660 So for Paul to actually play an incredibly busy bassline like that 193 00:11:13,660 --> 00:11:17,380 and then sing over the top of it as well, is amazing. 194 00:11:17,380 --> 00:11:19,260 It was unheard of. 195 00:11:19,260 --> 00:11:21,260 One, two, three, four. 196 00:11:21,260 --> 00:11:23,380 MUSIC: Intro to I Saw Her Standing There 197 00:11:25,420 --> 00:11:28,700 # Well, she was just 17 198 00:11:28,700 --> 00:11:31,340 # You know what I mean 199 00:11:31,340 --> 00:11:35,780 # And the way she looked was way beyond compare... # 200 00:11:37,420 --> 00:11:41,820 It's not your standard rock and roll bassline that you would, 201 00:11:41,820 --> 00:11:45,420 it's flicking back and forth on notes so, you know, he's playing the 202 00:11:45,420 --> 00:11:49,060 root note but then rather than just playing a straight sort of... 203 00:11:49,060 --> 00:11:50,380 He's back and forth. 204 00:11:53,260 --> 00:11:57,260 # As I saw her standing there 205 00:11:57,260 --> 00:11:58,700 # Ow! # 206 00:12:00,060 --> 00:12:03,620 He was thinking of this bassline to really push the song along. 207 00:12:03,620 --> 00:12:05,300 It's the drums and it's that bass, 208 00:12:05,300 --> 00:12:08,060 the bass is getting you to the finish line. 209 00:12:10,780 --> 00:12:14,300 But while McCartney created extraordinary basslines, 210 00:12:14,300 --> 00:12:17,220 Paul's Hofner did have certain quirks of its own. 211 00:12:18,580 --> 00:12:21,260 He could try to play a G up the top of the neck 212 00:12:21,260 --> 00:12:22,980 and it would sound out of tune. 213 00:12:22,980 --> 00:12:26,260 And also, you can't really be flamboyant on it 214 00:12:26,260 --> 00:12:28,300 because you can't hold notes. 215 00:12:28,300 --> 00:12:32,460 So Paul received a Rickenbacker around about '64, '65. 216 00:12:32,460 --> 00:12:35,740 It stays in tune all the way up the fretboard 217 00:12:35,740 --> 00:12:39,420 which enabled Paul to not play, er, have to play basslines 218 00:12:39,420 --> 00:12:40,820 down the bottom. 219 00:12:40,820 --> 00:12:44,660 He could come up the top and he could be a little bit more 220 00:12:44,660 --> 00:12:47,380 elaborate up the top of the guitar. 221 00:12:47,380 --> 00:12:50,220 And also, a note on a Rickenbacker will sustain. 222 00:12:55,780 --> 00:12:59,100 That note does ring quite considerably longer 223 00:12:59,100 --> 00:13:01,860 than what would occur on the Hofner. 224 00:13:01,860 --> 00:13:03,380 The Hofner is very, sort of, abrupt. 225 00:13:06,780 --> 00:13:09,740 But with the new bass came a challenge. 226 00:13:09,740 --> 00:13:12,900 For years, Paul had wanted a bigger bass sound, 227 00:13:12,900 --> 00:13:16,260 the kind he was hearing on American soul records. 228 00:13:16,260 --> 00:13:19,860 So in '66, he worked with 19-year-old engineer 229 00:13:19,860 --> 00:13:24,260 Geoff Emerick, to find a new way of recording his bass, 230 00:13:24,260 --> 00:13:27,340 to do justice to that Rickenbacker tone. 231 00:13:28,980 --> 00:13:32,380 Geoff had this idea, taking a secondary speaker, 232 00:13:32,380 --> 00:13:35,700 reversing the wiring, making a giant microphone, 233 00:13:35,700 --> 00:13:40,100 so that instead of pushing the air out, it was absorbing the air in, 234 00:13:40,100 --> 00:13:42,940 as a microphone diaphragm should do. 235 00:13:42,940 --> 00:13:46,900 And so he put that giant microphone 236 00:13:46,900 --> 00:13:51,340 right over top of Paul's speaker. 237 00:13:51,340 --> 00:13:55,140 So that big whoomy bass sound, 238 00:13:55,140 --> 00:13:59,340 that's what you hear on Paperback Writer, Rain and Taxman. 239 00:14:01,020 --> 00:14:03,300 It's in ingenious. 240 00:14:03,300 --> 00:14:07,100 # Let me tell you how it will be... # 241 00:14:09,940 --> 00:14:12,820 There was nothing that sounded remotely like McCartney's bass 242 00:14:12,820 --> 00:14:14,300 in rock. 243 00:14:14,300 --> 00:14:16,460 BASSLINE BOOMS 244 00:14:16,460 --> 00:14:18,900 # Cos I'm the taxman... # 245 00:14:18,900 --> 00:14:22,740 They no longer sound like this moddy kind of business in the background, 246 00:14:22,740 --> 00:14:24,580 they become more melodic. 247 00:14:24,580 --> 00:14:27,620 So he was kind of, almost, playing lead guitar lines on the bass. 248 00:14:27,620 --> 00:14:29,980 If you listen to a song like Something, 249 00:14:29,980 --> 00:14:34,980 that bassline is a whole other melody under that song. 250 00:14:35,660 --> 00:14:38,180 You can sing that bassline. 251 00:14:38,180 --> 00:14:40,620 # I don't want to leave her now 252 00:14:42,020 --> 00:14:44,260 # You know I believe her how... # 253 00:14:44,260 --> 00:14:45,660 It was like Mozart. 254 00:14:49,900 --> 00:14:52,500 FANS SCREAM 255 00:15:02,580 --> 00:15:04,300 Meanwhile... 256 00:15:04,300 --> 00:15:06,180 # Going to a go go... # 257 00:15:06,180 --> 00:15:09,060 ..in one of the most industrialised cities in America... 258 00:15:09,060 --> 00:15:11,660 # Na, na, na, na, yeah-yeah... # 259 00:15:11,660 --> 00:15:15,860 ..unknown to the world, one man was quietly crafting up a bass sound 260 00:15:15,860 --> 00:15:19,140 that would outlive all of Detroit's production lines. 261 00:15:19,140 --> 00:15:21,420 # Going to a go go... # 262 00:15:22,980 --> 00:15:26,540 When I was just starting, I was playing maybe five, six months, 263 00:15:26,540 --> 00:15:29,180 I didn't know who the great bass players were 264 00:15:29,180 --> 00:15:31,820 because nobody put their names on the records. 265 00:15:31,820 --> 00:15:35,460 But one kid came up to me at CBGB's and he knew. 266 00:15:35,460 --> 00:15:39,020 He said, "Hey, you know the way you use your thumb and forefinger, 267 00:15:39,020 --> 00:15:40,900 "that's just like James Jamerson." 268 00:15:40,900 --> 00:15:42,420 I said, "who?" 269 00:15:42,420 --> 00:15:46,820 Jamerson, who played on the majority of early Motown records, 270 00:15:46,820 --> 00:15:49,780 was key to their unique sound. 271 00:15:49,780 --> 00:15:52,060 But like all of their studio players, 272 00:15:52,060 --> 00:15:55,140 he remained uncredited and invisible. 273 00:16:02,340 --> 00:16:07,380 # I got sunshine On a cloudy day... # 274 00:16:08,500 --> 00:16:11,380 James Jamerson created a groove 275 00:16:11,380 --> 00:16:14,100 which the rest of the musicians rode on. 276 00:16:14,100 --> 00:16:17,620 He was the foundation that other players vibrated with. 277 00:16:17,620 --> 00:16:21,180 Everyone else made up their parts based on what James was doing. 278 00:16:21,180 --> 00:16:25,620 # I guess you'd say 279 00:16:25,620 --> 00:16:29,940 # What can make me feel this way? 280 00:16:29,940 --> 00:16:32,180 # My girl My girl... # 281 00:16:32,180 --> 00:16:35,900 They incorporate the rhythm with the melodic part as well. 282 00:16:35,900 --> 00:16:38,380 He could have just gone... # Duh... # 283 00:16:38,380 --> 00:16:40,460 He could have just played the riff. 284 00:16:40,460 --> 00:16:42,500 # Duh duh-duh-duh-duh... # 285 00:16:42,500 --> 00:16:45,620 # Oh... # CLICKING 286 00:16:46,780 --> 00:16:51,260 But he chose to do something that you feel the rhythm in it as well. 287 00:16:51,260 --> 00:16:53,300 PLAYS DRIVING RIFF 288 00:16:53,300 --> 00:16:56,580 He brought the two elements together. 289 00:16:57,780 --> 00:17:02,780 Jamerson's bass, with big flat wound strings and there is a foam mute 290 00:17:03,220 --> 00:17:05,860 installed in Fenders at the time. 291 00:17:05,860 --> 00:17:07,500 That would mute the strings. 292 00:17:07,500 --> 00:17:10,060 They don't make them like that any more so now you can just stick 293 00:17:10,060 --> 00:17:14,100 a piece of air conditioning foam in to get that muted, muffled sound. 294 00:17:14,100 --> 00:17:18,540 And then the key to the sound is never touching it beyond that. 295 00:17:18,540 --> 00:17:22,140 I bought this years ago and I haven't cleaned it or done 296 00:17:22,140 --> 00:17:24,540 anything, cos you just let it ferment. 297 00:17:24,540 --> 00:17:29,100 # For once in my life I have someone who needs me 298 00:17:29,100 --> 00:17:32,980 # Someone I needed so long... # 299 00:17:32,980 --> 00:17:35,740 He didn't change his bass strings and so they got that little muddy, 300 00:17:35,740 --> 00:17:38,540 muffled sound, and so the notes didn't last long. 301 00:17:38,540 --> 00:17:41,420 Because the notes didn't last long it forced him to play 302 00:17:41,420 --> 00:17:43,860 more of a rhythmic feel to the bass. 303 00:17:43,860 --> 00:17:46,300 His bass playing goes... # Doo, doo-doo-doo-doo. # 304 00:17:46,300 --> 00:17:49,540 Right. He just found in between the grooves and just started a style 305 00:17:49,540 --> 00:17:51,100 that nobody had ever done before. 306 00:17:51,100 --> 00:17:54,300 # Oh, someone warm like you 307 00:17:55,340 --> 00:17:59,100 # Would make my dream come true, yeah... # 308 00:18:02,140 --> 00:18:04,740 What makes a hit record a hit? It feels good! 309 00:18:04,740 --> 00:18:08,060 He just made those feel good. You know, the way he's playing. 310 00:18:08,060 --> 00:18:10,380 Little short guy. The bass was bigger than him, you know. 311 00:18:10,380 --> 00:18:13,420 Unbelievable, just a touch. That's what made it so special. 312 00:18:13,420 --> 00:18:16,460 I Was Made To Love Her. You know, that initial sweep... 313 00:18:16,460 --> 00:18:18,540 BROKEN CHORD 314 00:18:18,540 --> 00:18:20,580 ..that you have to play really fast. 315 00:18:20,580 --> 00:18:22,580 PLAYS LICK 316 00:18:28,940 --> 00:18:31,140 # I was born in Lil' Rock 317 00:18:31,140 --> 00:18:33,820 # Had a childhood sweetheart 318 00:18:33,820 --> 00:18:36,980 # We were always hand in hand... # 319 00:18:39,420 --> 00:18:41,500 And Ain't No Mountain High Enough. 320 00:18:41,500 --> 00:18:44,780 His lines are taking these peaks and valleys. 321 00:18:44,780 --> 00:18:48,500 I did a bassline thing online so you can see it. 322 00:18:48,500 --> 00:18:51,620 # Listen, baby 323 00:18:51,620 --> 00:18:53,580 # Ain't no mountain high 324 00:18:53,580 --> 00:18:58,580 # Ain't no valley low, ain't no river wide enough, baby... # 325 00:19:00,220 --> 00:19:04,740 This was the advent of soul music, and Motown was soul music. 326 00:19:04,740 --> 00:19:06,740 # Don't worry, baby... # 327 00:19:06,740 --> 00:19:11,740 It had to be almost orchestral, but using rock instruments. 328 00:19:12,420 --> 00:19:17,220 # Cos baby there ain't no mountain high enough... # 329 00:19:17,220 --> 00:19:20,820 He climbs, when the other instruments are diving. 330 00:19:20,820 --> 00:19:24,500 And then he completely descends and drops under the vocal. 331 00:19:24,500 --> 00:19:28,060 # To keep me from getting to you, babe... # 332 00:19:29,460 --> 00:19:32,300 The first song we sent into Motown was Ain't No Mountain High Enough. 333 00:19:32,300 --> 00:19:37,300 We just knew it was a hit. You know, the song had so many levels. 334 00:19:37,500 --> 00:19:39,860 # I made a vow I'll be there when you want me 335 00:19:39,860 --> 00:19:42,300 # Some way, some how 336 00:19:42,300 --> 00:19:46,740 # Cos baby, there ain't no mountain high enough... # 337 00:19:46,740 --> 00:19:49,860 James Jamerson was a quiet genius. 338 00:19:49,860 --> 00:19:52,020 You didn't have to tell him anything. 339 00:19:52,020 --> 00:19:55,860 He instantly knew the feeling that you were going after. 340 00:19:55,860 --> 00:19:59,260 # We've got to find a way 341 00:19:59,260 --> 00:20:02,060 # To bring some understanding 342 00:20:02,060 --> 00:20:04,620 # Every day 343 00:20:04,620 --> 00:20:07,260 # Make it last... # 344 00:20:07,260 --> 00:20:11,820 Jamerson didn't just come to define the Motown sound, 345 00:20:11,820 --> 00:20:15,460 he kind of invented funk bass. 346 00:20:15,460 --> 00:20:20,500 But because he was anonymous, he was replaceable... 347 00:20:20,740 --> 00:20:23,940 MUSIC: I Want You Back by The Jackson 5 348 00:20:30,340 --> 00:20:33,900 # Oh 349 00:20:33,900 --> 00:20:35,500 # Let me tell you now... # 350 00:20:35,500 --> 00:20:38,140 ..as Motown producers looked elsewhere 351 00:20:38,140 --> 00:20:41,580 and began hiring LA studio musicians... 352 00:20:43,420 --> 00:20:48,380 One sad day, in 1972, there was a little handwritten note on the door 353 00:20:48,980 --> 00:20:52,420 with a piece of tape and it said, "No work today." 354 00:20:52,420 --> 00:20:54,460 And they never came back. 355 00:20:54,460 --> 00:20:58,540 Berry Gordy did not even tell them he was leaving Detroit. 356 00:20:58,540 --> 00:21:00,860 He just left. 357 00:21:05,740 --> 00:21:10,420 But in the end, the loss of James wouldn't hurt Motown, 358 00:21:10,420 --> 00:21:13,620 as they moved to a city with its own music scene... 359 00:21:16,860 --> 00:21:21,180 ..which, in the '60s, had many answers to the British invasion... 360 00:21:22,540 --> 00:21:26,340 ..and another extraordinary invisible player. 361 00:21:29,140 --> 00:21:31,980 LA had their own studio musicians, including the woman 362 00:21:31,980 --> 00:21:36,980 who wrote the book on how to play electric bass guitar. 363 00:21:37,580 --> 00:21:39,660 MUSIC: Games People Play by Joe South 364 00:21:41,340 --> 00:21:44,300 Carol Kaye is an inspiration to me. 365 00:21:44,300 --> 00:21:47,220 # La-de da da da da de da... # 366 00:21:47,220 --> 00:21:52,260 A woman in a man's world whose influence grew as pop grew. 367 00:21:53,260 --> 00:21:57,700 And one of her most famous tracks could almost be an ironic comment 368 00:21:57,700 --> 00:22:00,620 on what she brought to a recording session. 369 00:22:00,620 --> 00:22:03,260 # Oh, the games people play now... # 370 00:22:03,260 --> 00:22:05,220 I played the opening lick all by myself. 371 00:22:05,220 --> 00:22:07,580 SIGNATURE DESCENDING GLISSANDO 372 00:22:09,900 --> 00:22:13,420 And then it would go... WALKING BASS LINE 373 00:22:13,420 --> 00:22:15,980 Carol Kaye came in on that part too. 374 00:22:15,980 --> 00:22:17,860 So we had the click... CLICKS TONGUE 375 00:22:17,860 --> 00:22:20,340 You know, the click. She'd play with a pick, you know. 376 00:22:20,340 --> 00:22:22,300 So we played together. 377 00:22:23,980 --> 00:22:28,060 # You keep sayin' you've got something for me... # 378 00:22:28,060 --> 00:22:30,180 DRIVING BASS 379 00:22:30,180 --> 00:22:33,300 # Something you call love but confess... # 380 00:22:33,300 --> 00:22:36,340 One of these days these boots are going to walk all over you. 381 00:22:36,340 --> 00:22:39,740 # You've been a-messin' where you shouldn't have been a-messin'... # 382 00:22:39,740 --> 00:22:42,860 A woman's come back to somebody that's treating them poorly. 383 00:22:42,860 --> 00:22:47,020 I had to be strong and tough, like the guys. 384 00:22:47,020 --> 00:22:49,780 # These boots are made for walking... # 385 00:22:49,780 --> 00:22:53,380 You know, I borrowed the way that they would walk and talk sometimes. 386 00:22:53,380 --> 00:22:58,380 # One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you... # 387 00:22:58,740 --> 00:23:02,380 If a couple of the guys swore, then I swore back at them, 388 00:23:02,380 --> 00:23:04,460 and cussing or something. 389 00:23:04,460 --> 00:23:07,340 I'm not proud of myself to do that, but sometimes you've got to do that 390 00:23:07,340 --> 00:23:09,260 cos that's the only language they understand. 391 00:23:09,260 --> 00:23:13,940 # You keep lyin' when you ought to be truthin'... # 392 00:23:13,940 --> 00:23:18,620 She could play. She had some real, erm...whatever. 393 00:23:18,620 --> 00:23:22,860 I don't want to use bad language, but she had...those, you know. 394 00:23:22,860 --> 00:23:25,460 CHUCKLES 395 00:23:25,460 --> 00:23:27,980 Say it, Chuck. She had balls, you know. 396 00:23:32,460 --> 00:23:35,580 Carol was inspiring to everyone, not just to women. 397 00:23:35,580 --> 00:23:39,900 She was just a really gutsy person. 398 00:23:39,900 --> 00:23:42,180 MUSIC: California Girls by The Beach Boys 399 00:23:42,180 --> 00:23:45,100 Her passion is there. You hear it. 400 00:23:45,100 --> 00:23:47,420 You hear it on Pet Sounds, you hear it on Smile. 401 00:23:47,420 --> 00:23:51,060 # La-la-la-la la la-la-la-la... # 402 00:23:52,460 --> 00:23:54,580 MUSIC: Wichita Lineman by Glen Campbell 403 00:23:54,580 --> 00:23:57,500 River Deep Mountain High. 404 00:23:59,740 --> 00:24:01,820 Over 10,000 sessions. 405 00:24:01,820 --> 00:24:06,140 # I wish I was homeward bound... # 406 00:24:06,140 --> 00:24:09,260 You can almost name it, and she played on it. 407 00:24:09,260 --> 00:24:12,660 # Whoa... # 408 00:24:12,660 --> 00:24:17,700 Made me feel very supported that somebody could be that competent and that respected, 409 00:24:18,140 --> 00:24:23,140 therefore it wasn't a field that women really were not allowed to enter into. 410 00:24:23,820 --> 00:24:27,780 I think that's her as well, on The Beat Goes On. 411 00:24:27,780 --> 00:24:30,300 DRIVING BLUESY RIFF 412 00:24:35,500 --> 00:24:38,220 Originally it was just a simple line, 413 00:24:38,220 --> 00:24:40,660 going back and forth or something, and she was like, 414 00:24:40,660 --> 00:24:43,780 "You know, that's..." You know, "It needs to do something." 415 00:24:43,780 --> 00:24:46,340 And that became the song. 416 00:24:48,420 --> 00:24:51,020 Sonny... # And the beat goes on... 417 00:24:51,020 --> 00:24:52,820 I don't know if this is the right key. 418 00:24:52,820 --> 00:24:54,980 # And the beat goes on... # 419 00:24:56,180 --> 00:24:58,140 And that's all it is. 420 00:24:58,140 --> 00:25:03,100 # Drums keep pounding a rhythm to the brain... # 421 00:25:03,260 --> 00:25:06,420 And Carol developed a way of playing the electric bass 422 00:25:06,420 --> 00:25:11,380 that became her unique trademark and the hook of multiple hits. 423 00:25:12,100 --> 00:25:15,140 On the Fender bass I played it with the pick. 424 00:25:15,140 --> 00:25:18,420 I could create lines with it, you know, 425 00:25:18,420 --> 00:25:20,900 that made the music pop a little bit better. 426 00:25:20,900 --> 00:25:25,740 # Boys keep chasing girls to get a kiss... # 427 00:25:25,740 --> 00:25:29,260 It has not only a bright, tight sound but it also... 428 00:25:29,260 --> 00:25:34,300 It cuts through the track and it's very, very accurate. 429 00:25:35,060 --> 00:25:37,260 The spirit of it was how to create a hit record 430 00:25:37,260 --> 00:25:40,460 with a simple little line. 431 00:25:40,460 --> 00:25:42,740 See, that was the challenge. 432 00:25:42,740 --> 00:25:46,820 # And the beat goes on... # DRIVING BLUESY RIFF 433 00:25:46,820 --> 00:25:50,660 # The beat goes on 434 00:25:51,780 --> 00:25:56,620 # Drums keep pounding a rhythm to the brain 435 00:25:58,460 --> 00:26:00,740 # La-de da-de dee 436 00:26:02,180 --> 00:26:04,380 # La-de da-de da 437 00:26:05,620 --> 00:26:08,540 # And the beat goes on... # 438 00:26:08,540 --> 00:26:12,060 While Carol was underpinning classic pop... 439 00:26:12,060 --> 00:26:15,580 MUSIC: Sunshine Of Your Love by Cream 440 00:26:15,580 --> 00:26:19,820 ..a whole new tradition of British rock brought bass to the fore... 441 00:26:24,260 --> 00:26:28,340 ..using the skills of British jazz players like Jack Bruce. 442 00:26:29,460 --> 00:26:33,020 # I've been waiting so long 443 00:26:33,020 --> 00:26:36,740 # To be where I'm going 444 00:26:36,740 --> 00:26:41,860 # In the sunshine of your love... # 445 00:26:43,380 --> 00:26:45,420 GUITAR LICK 446 00:26:45,420 --> 00:26:48,860 While Jack took the spotlight with Cream, 447 00:26:48,860 --> 00:26:53,900 another British jazzer would take a side path to bass immortality. 448 00:26:54,340 --> 00:26:56,580 CRESCENDO FLOURISH 449 00:27:00,100 --> 00:27:05,140 Yeah, I played on some of Henry Mancini's recordings that he did in London. 450 00:27:05,780 --> 00:27:09,180 MUSIC: The Pink Panther Theme by Henry Mancini And His Orchestra 451 00:27:09,180 --> 00:27:11,820 RHYTHMIC TICKING 452 00:27:13,100 --> 00:27:15,420 DESCENDING BLUESY SCALE 453 00:27:17,620 --> 00:27:20,660 ASCENDING BLUESY SCALE 454 00:27:25,140 --> 00:27:29,060 Us double bass players were still doing pit work, 455 00:27:29,060 --> 00:27:33,260 like "Hello, Dolly!", Sweet Charity, West Side Story, Kismet, "Oliver!", 456 00:27:33,260 --> 00:27:37,420 and then at ten o'clock at night you might go to Danny La Rue's club, 457 00:27:37,420 --> 00:27:40,660 The Gargoyle Club or the Dorchester 458 00:27:40,660 --> 00:27:44,180 and play jazzy stuff til four in the morning. 459 00:27:44,180 --> 00:27:46,340 That's how crazy it was. 460 00:27:49,380 --> 00:27:53,660 Us old jazzers had the good fortune of taking our experience 461 00:27:53,660 --> 00:27:56,300 of improvising into the pop world. 462 00:27:56,300 --> 00:28:00,500 I worked for David on things like Space Oddity. 463 00:28:00,500 --> 00:28:04,260 # Ground control to Major Tom... # 464 00:28:07,500 --> 00:28:11,100 Lou Reed came over from America and David suggested to him 465 00:28:11,100 --> 00:28:13,940 that he do some recording in London. 466 00:28:13,940 --> 00:28:17,820 We spent three days laying 12 tracks. 467 00:28:17,820 --> 00:28:21,300 And you got paid £12 for the recording session. 468 00:28:21,300 --> 00:28:25,380 No more, because you were paid to go there. 469 00:28:25,380 --> 00:28:27,860 They were paying for your bass playing. 470 00:28:27,860 --> 00:28:31,620 Nothing to do with the composition of songs like Walk On The Wild Side. 471 00:28:31,620 --> 00:28:34,540 You get paid a wage. A workman. 472 00:28:34,540 --> 00:28:36,780 We all sat round in a circle. 473 00:28:36,780 --> 00:28:40,460 There's me here, there's Mick Ronson there on acoustic guitar 474 00:28:40,460 --> 00:28:44,380 and there's Lou there with acoustic guitar and microphone. 475 00:28:44,380 --> 00:28:46,780 Mick Ronson sets a bar of C... HITS NOTE 476 00:28:46,780 --> 00:28:49,380 ..and a bar of F. HITS NOTE 477 00:28:49,380 --> 00:28:51,860 "Yeah. Then what?" Oh, that, round and round. 478 00:28:51,860 --> 00:28:56,220 "How long for?" He says, "I don't know yet." 479 00:28:56,220 --> 00:28:58,460 HITS NOTE 480 00:28:58,460 --> 00:29:02,300 So I went... HITS NOTE 481 00:29:02,300 --> 00:29:04,740 DESCENDING GLISSANDO 482 00:29:04,740 --> 00:29:07,180 ASCENDING GLISSANDO 483 00:29:07,180 --> 00:29:09,420 DESCENDING GLISSANDO 484 00:29:09,420 --> 00:29:11,660 ASCENDING GLISSANDO 485 00:29:11,660 --> 00:29:15,700 After we'd listened back to it, it was so raw and empty, 486 00:29:15,700 --> 00:29:17,740 it went through my mind, 487 00:29:17,740 --> 00:29:22,780 "Wouldn't it be nice to try another line on the bass but a tenth apart." 488 00:29:23,180 --> 00:29:28,220 Like, that's up here. So that the two...they call it portmanteau. 489 00:29:28,540 --> 00:29:32,100 One going down and the other going up. 490 00:29:32,100 --> 00:29:34,340 DESCENDING GLISSANDO ON BASS 491 00:29:34,340 --> 00:29:36,660 ASCENDING GLISSANDO ON GUITAR 492 00:29:36,660 --> 00:29:38,700 ASCENDING GLISSANDO ON BASS 493 00:29:38,700 --> 00:29:40,780 DESCENDING GLISSANDO ON GUITAR 494 00:29:40,780 --> 00:29:43,020 SHUFFLING DRUMS 495 00:29:50,340 --> 00:29:54,100 # Holly came from Miami FLA 496 00:29:55,700 --> 00:29:59,460 # Hitch-hiked her way across the USA 497 00:30:00,460 --> 00:30:02,820 # Plucked her eyebrows on the way 498 00:30:02,820 --> 00:30:04,700 # Shaved her legs and then he was a she 499 00:30:04,700 --> 00:30:08,860 # She said, hey, babe, take a walk on the wild side... # 500 00:30:08,860 --> 00:30:11,980 It didn't fill the track up too much. 501 00:30:11,980 --> 00:30:16,220 It filled it up enough to be different. 502 00:30:16,220 --> 00:30:19,140 You know, just like that. Bouncing ball, you know. 503 00:30:21,220 --> 00:30:23,700 Lou said, "That's gorgeous." 504 00:30:23,700 --> 00:30:27,940 # Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo... # 505 00:30:29,340 --> 00:30:32,700 It's melancholy as well as being happy. 506 00:30:32,700 --> 00:30:36,180 It's got all the emotions in it. It's like a symphony. 507 00:30:36,180 --> 00:30:40,340 # Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo... # 508 00:30:40,340 --> 00:30:45,380 It just fitted the moment, and that's why I'm quite proud of it. 509 00:30:48,100 --> 00:30:50,140 Mm. 510 00:30:53,540 --> 00:30:57,580 Herbie's bassline was the feature of that record, 511 00:30:57,580 --> 00:31:00,420 and while he got no composing royalties, 512 00:31:00,420 --> 00:31:04,900 unlike James and Carol, he did get a credit. 513 00:31:07,180 --> 00:31:12,140 And in the '70s, technology also gave bass a big boost. 514 00:31:13,900 --> 00:31:17,540 Musicians were using bass like never before. 515 00:31:17,540 --> 00:31:20,140 The equipment was a factor. 516 00:31:20,140 --> 00:31:23,900 These big speakers could handle low frequencies. 517 00:31:23,900 --> 00:31:26,940 Now, bass could push the air ahead 518 00:31:26,940 --> 00:31:30,900 to propel sound forward to reach large audiences. 519 00:31:33,420 --> 00:31:37,700 And one guy who pioneered big bass sounds 520 00:31:37,700 --> 00:31:42,580 and found fame with James Brown is my good friend, Bootsy Collins. 521 00:31:43,460 --> 00:31:44,580 Hello! 522 00:31:44,580 --> 00:31:46,300 Oh, there you are! Ah! 523 00:31:46,300 --> 00:31:47,700 Ooh! 524 00:31:47,700 --> 00:31:49,100 How you doing, Tina? 525 00:31:49,100 --> 00:31:52,420 Oh, I am so happy to be with you this afternoon, Bootsy. 526 00:31:52,420 --> 00:31:54,060 It's been too long, actually. 527 00:31:54,060 --> 00:31:57,980 It seems just like yesterday that my mother was coming over to me 528 00:31:57,980 --> 00:32:01,740 and saying, "Tina, Tina, there's somebody out in the audience. 529 00:32:01,740 --> 00:32:03,500 "His name is Tootsie. 530 00:32:03,500 --> 00:32:07,980 "He's very tall, and he's dressed entirely in green leather. 531 00:32:07,980 --> 00:32:10,260 "Do you know somebody named Tootsie?" 532 00:32:10,260 --> 00:32:13,220 I said, "No, but it may be Bootsy!" 533 00:32:15,220 --> 00:32:17,380 Good! You know it, you know it! 534 00:32:18,540 --> 00:32:21,780 I'm ready to get up and do my thing! Yeah! 535 00:32:21,780 --> 00:32:23,820 How did James Brown find you? 536 00:32:23,820 --> 00:32:27,980 He was always recording here in Cincinnati, in my home town. 537 00:32:27,980 --> 00:32:30,900 Bobby Byrd called me and said, 538 00:32:30,900 --> 00:32:34,740 "James Brown needs y'all to come and perform." 539 00:32:34,740 --> 00:32:37,380 Oh, OK. Tonight. Tonight?! 540 00:32:38,740 --> 00:32:42,860 He came along with James Brown's Learjet to pick us up. 541 00:32:42,860 --> 00:32:44,860 # I don't care 542 00:32:44,860 --> 00:32:45,900 Huh! 543 00:32:46,820 --> 00:32:48,700 # About your past... # 544 00:32:48,700 --> 00:32:50,340 First of all, he told me, 545 00:32:50,340 --> 00:32:55,340 "You can't be on my stage with that green $29 bass you got." 546 00:32:56,380 --> 00:32:59,420 And then he said, "What kind you want, son? 547 00:32:59,420 --> 00:33:00,980 "What kind of bass you want?" 548 00:33:00,980 --> 00:33:04,620 I said, "Well, the Fender Jazz bass is what's happening now," you know, 549 00:33:04,620 --> 00:33:06,980 "I would love to have a Fender Jazz." 550 00:33:06,980 --> 00:33:10,700 And so, the next day, I had a Fender Jazz bass. Beautiful! 551 00:33:10,700 --> 00:33:14,100 And same, like, every little thing I would kind of ask for. 552 00:33:14,100 --> 00:33:18,980 He asked me about the Ampeg amps, and I was like, I want the SVT! 553 00:33:18,980 --> 00:33:23,740 Exactly. You know? I said, not one, but two of them. Two! Yes. 554 00:33:23,740 --> 00:33:25,100 Yeah, yeah. 555 00:33:25,100 --> 00:33:29,020 My vision was, I want one on one side of the stage so, 556 00:33:29,020 --> 00:33:32,340 you know, I can hear, and then the other one on the other side 557 00:33:32,340 --> 00:33:34,580 of the stage so they can hear on that side. 558 00:33:34,580 --> 00:33:37,220 # Know we need it Soul power! 559 00:33:37,220 --> 00:33:39,980 # We've got to have it Soul power... # 560 00:33:39,980 --> 00:33:42,460 Tell us, how did you get into doing Sex Machine? 561 00:33:42,460 --> 00:33:44,660 What happened was, after the show we did, 562 00:33:44,660 --> 00:33:46,500 I think we were in Nashville, 563 00:33:46,500 --> 00:33:49,940 I remember Bobby Byrd is sitting in front of Catfish and myself. 564 00:33:49,940 --> 00:33:53,980 And he pulls out a paper bag, and then he tells Bobby Byrd, 565 00:33:53,980 --> 00:33:57,660 "Yeah, I got a hit. I got a kid. It's called Sex Machine." 566 00:33:57,660 --> 00:34:01,740 Yeah, yeah, and then he started writing the lyrics. "Get up!" 567 00:34:01,740 --> 00:34:05,180 And he said, "You say, 'Get on up'". So he was teaching... 568 00:34:05,180 --> 00:34:09,060 You know, teaching Bobby the lyrics, and he was telling us, 569 00:34:09,060 --> 00:34:11,460 we got to get the groove to go with it, 570 00:34:11,460 --> 00:34:14,140 so by the time we got to the studio, 571 00:34:14,140 --> 00:34:18,500 we kind of basically had a vibe, and we went in the studio. 572 00:34:18,500 --> 00:34:22,900 James said, "Can I count it off?" We said, "Yeah!" 573 00:34:22,900 --> 00:34:24,900 Yeah! Can I count it off? Count it off! 574 00:34:24,900 --> 00:34:27,220 Count it off! Count it off! Count it off! Count it off! 575 00:34:27,220 --> 00:34:28,500 Count it off! Count it off! 576 00:34:28,500 --> 00:34:30,060 One, two, three four...! 577 00:34:30,060 --> 00:34:31,420 SEX MACHINE RIFF 578 00:34:31,420 --> 00:34:35,100 # Get up Get on up 579 00:34:35,100 --> 00:34:37,060 # Get on the scene Get on up 580 00:34:37,060 --> 00:34:39,060 # Like a sex machine Get on up... # 581 00:34:39,060 --> 00:34:42,740 My understanding is that you guys jammed your own parts, 582 00:34:42,740 --> 00:34:44,740 you improvised. You came up with the part, 583 00:34:44,740 --> 00:34:46,700 and then James would say, "Yeah, yeah". 584 00:34:46,700 --> 00:34:48,940 He would say, "I'm glad I thought of it." 585 00:34:48,940 --> 00:34:51,820 Exactly, "Uh-huh, uh-huh, I like that, that's a good groove. 586 00:34:51,820 --> 00:34:53,940 "Yeah, that's a James Brown groove." Yeah. 587 00:34:53,940 --> 00:34:56,020 # Like a sex machine Get on up... # 588 00:34:56,020 --> 00:34:59,980 Well, in his mind, that beat is his. Uh-huh, yeah. 589 00:34:59,980 --> 00:35:03,500 That's James Brown music. You know? That ain't Bootsy. Yeah. 590 00:35:03,500 --> 00:35:05,900 That's the way he looked at everything. 591 00:35:05,900 --> 00:35:07,140 # Get on up 592 00:35:07,140 --> 00:35:08,580 # Get up Get on up... # 593 00:35:08,580 --> 00:35:10,500 I've been in that situation. Yeah. 594 00:35:10,500 --> 00:35:13,500 We sit around, everybody comes up with a part, 595 00:35:13,500 --> 00:35:15,580 and we're just cooking along. Yeah. 596 00:35:15,580 --> 00:35:20,140 And then the lead cat says, "Yeah, and pretty soon, I wrote a song!" 597 00:35:20,140 --> 00:35:22,540 Well, that's exactly what happened. 598 00:35:22,540 --> 00:35:25,180 Yeah, take it to the bridge! Take it to the bridge! 599 00:35:25,180 --> 00:35:27,220 Take it to the bridge! Yeah! CHEERING 600 00:35:27,220 --> 00:35:30,460 Take 'em on! Yeah! CHEERING 601 00:35:33,300 --> 00:35:34,700 # Machine... # 602 00:35:34,700 --> 00:35:37,020 "I love what you've done. I'm glad I thought of it! 603 00:35:37,020 --> 00:35:41,060 "Just lay it back, lay it back. Uh! Good God. One..." 604 00:35:41,060 --> 00:35:43,860 BOOTSY ON VIDEO: One, two, three... And you hit on the one. 605 00:35:43,860 --> 00:35:47,540 Explain for folks who don't come from the Mothership 606 00:35:47,540 --> 00:35:50,940 what "down on the one" is. Oh, man. 607 00:35:50,940 --> 00:35:55,500 He would always tell me he loved all the stuff that I played, 608 00:35:55,500 --> 00:35:57,900 but I just need to add the... 609 00:35:57,900 --> 00:36:00,140 FOOTAGE: One. And then you would try to fetch a different note 610 00:36:00,140 --> 00:36:02,260 what you felt in between that, like... 611 00:36:02,260 --> 00:36:05,580 ADDS OTHER NOTES 612 00:36:05,580 --> 00:36:09,620 You know? And that's the funk. One...two...three...four... 613 00:36:09,620 --> 00:36:12,020 PLAYS A NOTE One...two... You know? Four... 614 00:36:12,020 --> 00:36:14,780 One! He says, "As long as you do what you want to do 615 00:36:14,780 --> 00:36:17,620 "and come back to that one, you'll make me happy. 616 00:36:17,620 --> 00:36:19,580 "And I'm glad I thought of it!" 617 00:36:19,580 --> 00:36:22,020 THEY LAUGH You know? 618 00:36:22,020 --> 00:36:25,340 MUSIC: Pull Up To The Bumper by Grace Jones 619 00:36:31,140 --> 00:36:34,300 In the early '80s, while recording Tom Tom Club 620 00:36:34,300 --> 00:36:36,300 at Compass Point in the Bahamas... 621 00:36:39,100 --> 00:36:42,060 We had the intense pleasure of hanging out with 622 00:36:42,060 --> 00:36:45,380 another great player, Robbie Shakespeare, 623 00:36:45,380 --> 00:36:50,340 bass half of Sly and Robbie, who was there working with Grace Jones. 624 00:36:50,500 --> 00:36:55,580 This is a track by the Compass Point All-Stars called Peanut Butter. 625 00:36:56,460 --> 00:37:00,380 When Grace Jones sings over it, then it becomes Pull Up To The Bumper. 626 00:37:00,380 --> 00:37:03,380 And it's great for demonstrating 627 00:37:03,380 --> 00:37:06,980 what Robbie Shakespeare can do on bass. 628 00:37:08,180 --> 00:37:11,140 DEEP BASS GROOVE 629 00:37:12,500 --> 00:37:14,700 It's just such a brilliant piece of work, 630 00:37:14,700 --> 00:37:16,900 because it's all on one string. 631 00:37:20,380 --> 00:37:25,260 Keeps it nice and heavy and deep, but it's rolling all the time, 632 00:37:25,260 --> 00:37:27,900 it's driving the track forward, it's moving, 633 00:37:27,900 --> 00:37:30,660 and it's so cool to dance to. 634 00:37:35,420 --> 00:37:39,380 Robbie, feet rooted to the ground like a samurai, 635 00:37:39,380 --> 00:37:42,980 is one of the first generation of reggae bass men, 636 00:37:42,980 --> 00:37:46,380 and was a key player in the '70s sound systems 637 00:37:46,380 --> 00:37:48,940 that came to the UK from Jamaica. 638 00:37:48,940 --> 00:37:51,020 # So we have to 639 00:37:51,020 --> 00:37:54,060 # Move ya... # 640 00:37:56,220 --> 00:37:59,980 A scene where bass took on a bigger role than it ever had before. 641 00:37:59,980 --> 00:38:01,820 # Hear what dem say... # 642 00:38:01,820 --> 00:38:05,500 Where it became part of a cultural identity. 643 00:38:05,500 --> 00:38:07,580 For those that don't know, a sound system is like 644 00:38:07,580 --> 00:38:11,340 a giant mobile disco that's all about the bass. 645 00:38:12,540 --> 00:38:15,500 With bass cabinets that are like six feet high. 646 00:38:15,500 --> 00:38:17,460 I mean, my father had a sound system. 647 00:38:17,460 --> 00:38:20,460 It was called Duke Letts Superstonic Sound. 648 00:38:24,260 --> 00:38:26,980 At any given time in Brixton or Notting Hill, 649 00:38:26,980 --> 00:38:29,860 you'd find what you called a shebeen, these basement clubs. 650 00:38:29,860 --> 00:38:33,260 REGGAE PLAYS 651 00:38:33,260 --> 00:38:37,780 Tiny rooms, filled with speakers, more speakers than people. 652 00:38:37,780 --> 00:38:40,140 Earth-shattering frequencies. 653 00:38:40,140 --> 00:38:42,540 You know, you'd be making a spliff in front of these things, 654 00:38:42,540 --> 00:38:44,780 and the bass would blow the spliff out of your hand. 655 00:38:46,500 --> 00:38:48,100 In fact, a lot of times, you'd find them, 656 00:38:48,100 --> 00:38:50,540 you'd drive around at night-time, one o'clock in the morning, 657 00:38:50,540 --> 00:38:52,540 and you'd listen out for bass. 658 00:38:53,980 --> 00:38:58,500 You end up with sound systems competing for crowds, 659 00:38:58,500 --> 00:39:01,460 and for that, sound systems would find 660 00:39:01,460 --> 00:39:05,140 engineers that would be able to cut them one-off dubplates, 661 00:39:05,140 --> 00:39:10,060 individual, exclusive records pushing the bass as far as possible. 662 00:39:12,500 --> 00:39:16,900 There was one out in the suburbs, and it was a beautiful set-up. 663 00:39:20,260 --> 00:39:24,620 This couple in their mid-to-late-'60s, and these guys 664 00:39:24,620 --> 00:39:28,660 from a local London sound system rock up, 665 00:39:28,660 --> 00:39:30,220 feeling slightly out of place. 666 00:39:30,220 --> 00:39:32,980 # Send him to outer space 667 00:39:32,980 --> 00:39:35,700 # To find another race... # 668 00:39:37,620 --> 00:39:40,220 If there wasn't enough bass, you could boost that... 669 00:39:40,220 --> 00:39:42,340 BASS BECOMES HEAVIER 670 00:39:42,340 --> 00:39:45,180 ..to transform your mix, 671 00:39:45,180 --> 00:39:48,620 and give it power, and then the dubplate would be cut. 672 00:39:50,460 --> 00:39:52,700 Undoubtedly, when these things are mastered, 673 00:39:52,700 --> 00:39:56,460 you're maxing out the bass, and then you're playing it on a sound system 674 00:39:56,460 --> 00:39:58,740 through valve amps that are going to max it out, 675 00:39:58,740 --> 00:40:01,620 you know, so at night, it's like lightning and thunder. 676 00:40:01,620 --> 00:40:03,060 HEAVY BASSLINE 677 00:40:03,060 --> 00:40:05,660 # I love you so 678 00:40:05,660 --> 00:40:07,900 # If ya... # 679 00:40:07,900 --> 00:40:10,940 You know, in my world, bass is a culture. 680 00:40:10,940 --> 00:40:12,940 You know, I travel around the planet, 681 00:40:12,940 --> 00:40:15,540 and it connects me to X amount of people. 682 00:40:15,540 --> 00:40:18,420 To put it into words as to what exactly that is, 683 00:40:18,420 --> 00:40:21,220 very difficult, but it's definitely an attitude. 684 00:40:21,220 --> 00:40:23,060 It's definitely a school of thought. 685 00:40:23,060 --> 00:40:25,940 It's definitely a way that you carry yourself on a day-to-day basis. 686 00:40:25,940 --> 00:40:29,180 It's not just about the frequency. 687 00:40:29,180 --> 00:40:32,740 MUSIC: This Must Be The Place by Talking Heads 688 00:40:40,380 --> 00:40:43,900 So here we are, just coming into Downtown Manhattan. 689 00:40:43,900 --> 00:40:46,900 Are we on Delancey? Yes, we're on Delancey. 690 00:40:46,900 --> 00:40:50,580 Well, in some ways, it's the same as it ever was. 691 00:40:50,580 --> 00:40:53,860 But in some ways, it's changed radically. 692 00:40:53,860 --> 00:40:55,660 It's very much gentrified. 693 00:40:57,060 --> 00:41:01,140 I can't see which one is our door any more, it's so changed. 694 00:41:03,060 --> 00:41:05,780 We'll figure it out by the actual address, right? 695 00:41:05,780 --> 00:41:07,580 # Home 696 00:41:07,580 --> 00:41:09,500 # Is where I want to be 697 00:41:09,500 --> 00:41:12,540 # Pick me up and turn me round... # 698 00:41:13,580 --> 00:41:17,660 That way was the way to CBGB's. 699 00:41:17,660 --> 00:41:20,380 This was where I parked my car. 700 00:41:20,380 --> 00:41:22,860 We were on the top floor. 701 00:41:22,860 --> 00:41:25,540 Just below us was a blacksmith, 702 00:41:25,540 --> 00:41:27,380 so it was sweltering in the summer, 703 00:41:27,380 --> 00:41:32,060 but it was a godsend in winter, because that was all we had, 704 00:41:32,060 --> 00:41:35,900 the heat that percolated up through the concrete floors. 705 00:41:35,900 --> 00:41:38,940 We wrote our first two albums in here. 706 00:41:38,940 --> 00:41:41,580 MUSIC: Burning Down The House by Talking Heads 707 00:41:41,580 --> 00:41:43,140 # Watch out... # 708 00:41:44,300 --> 00:41:48,500 When we lived here, the kids adored coming out here, 709 00:41:48,500 --> 00:41:51,780 hanging out on the street, and they had their boom boxes, 710 00:41:51,780 --> 00:41:53,860 they bring their pieces of cardboard, 711 00:41:53,860 --> 00:41:55,820 they were spinning on their heads, 712 00:41:55,820 --> 00:41:59,900 doing all kinds of B-boy dance, hip-hop tricks. 713 00:41:59,900 --> 00:42:03,260 And that was when New York City was really starting to get cool. 714 00:42:03,260 --> 00:42:04,740 # The party's over... # 715 00:42:05,980 --> 00:42:11,020 In the late 1970s, I bought my first boom box. It was a Sony. 716 00:42:11,100 --> 00:42:16,140 And the most important part, it had bass, it had big bottom, 717 00:42:16,380 --> 00:42:18,900 and that was everything we were looking for. 718 00:42:18,900 --> 00:42:21,140 We could listen to dance music. 719 00:42:21,140 --> 00:42:25,820 It was like you had your own private personal club. 720 00:42:25,820 --> 00:42:27,620 # Burning down the house... # 721 00:42:29,180 --> 00:42:32,780 In 1979, the summer I got that boom box, 722 00:42:32,780 --> 00:42:35,820 all music styles blossomed. 723 00:42:35,820 --> 00:42:38,060 Bass-heavy disco was huge. 724 00:42:39,300 --> 00:42:42,140 And there was one group who supercharged it 725 00:42:42,140 --> 00:42:47,140 and laid a foundation for hip-hop with the perfect bassline breakdown. 726 00:42:47,220 --> 00:42:49,660 # Burning down the house. # 727 00:42:49,660 --> 00:42:51,460 PLAYS THREE NOTES 728 00:42:51,460 --> 00:42:53,100 Three on E... 729 00:42:53,100 --> 00:42:55,700 Everybody knows about three on E, right? 730 00:42:55,700 --> 00:43:00,140 I mean, Another One Bites The Dust, Hollywood Swinging, 731 00:43:00,140 --> 00:43:02,340 like, if you want to get people moving, 732 00:43:02,340 --> 00:43:04,700 just take the lowest string and hit it three times. 733 00:43:04,700 --> 00:43:06,380 PLAYS THREE NOTES 734 00:43:06,380 --> 00:43:11,060 MUSIC: Good Times by Chic 735 00:43:18,980 --> 00:43:22,140 Good Times was maybe our greatest bassline. 736 00:43:24,020 --> 00:43:28,940 For many years, we had been trying to put walking bass lines in songs, 737 00:43:28,940 --> 00:43:32,700 and I guess that's probably because of my jazz background. 738 00:43:32,700 --> 00:43:33,900 # Good times 739 00:43:35,140 --> 00:43:37,100 # These are the... # 740 00:43:37,100 --> 00:43:40,420 This particular day, Bernard came to the studio late, 741 00:43:40,420 --> 00:43:42,860 and he said to our engineer at the time, he said, 742 00:43:42,860 --> 00:43:44,700 "Hey, man, what's going on? What's that?" 743 00:43:44,700 --> 00:43:46,340 And he said, "I don't know, 744 00:43:46,340 --> 00:43:48,980 "that's something Nile came up with last night or this morning, 745 00:43:48,980 --> 00:43:51,940 "or something, I don't know, but all the guys were playing it." 746 00:43:51,940 --> 00:43:54,380 So Bernard just plugged in, and he was copying me. 747 00:43:54,380 --> 00:43:55,660 So I was playing... 748 00:43:59,700 --> 00:44:01,420 So he was probably going... 749 00:44:01,420 --> 00:44:04,380 MORE MUTED RIFF 750 00:44:07,460 --> 00:44:08,900 That sounded OK. 751 00:44:08,900 --> 00:44:11,380 But then I just screamed, "Walk, walk, walk!" 752 00:44:11,380 --> 00:44:14,140 And for no reason, other than the fact that we have been trying it 753 00:44:14,140 --> 00:44:15,980 A million times. Anyway... 754 00:44:15,980 --> 00:44:17,700 Doo...doo..doo... 755 00:44:17,700 --> 00:44:20,140 # Go 'head, go 'head 756 00:44:20,140 --> 00:44:22,100 # Go 'head, go 'head... # 757 00:44:22,100 --> 00:44:25,940 And it just felt amazing to us, and I screamed to the engineer, 758 00:44:25,940 --> 00:44:27,220 I said, "Make it red!" 759 00:44:32,980 --> 00:44:35,980 And we just recorded, first take, and it was right. 760 00:44:40,940 --> 00:44:45,020 With Bernard Edwards, he claimed he could never hold on to a pick. 761 00:44:46,180 --> 00:44:48,900 But he would play like he had a pick in his hands, 762 00:44:48,900 --> 00:44:53,940 and you get this bizarre sound of when you're going down, 763 00:44:54,300 --> 00:44:57,700 it hits the fingernail, and when you're going up, 764 00:44:57,700 --> 00:44:59,860 it hits the pad of the finger. 765 00:44:59,860 --> 00:45:02,100 His whole chucking thing... 766 00:45:02,100 --> 00:45:03,500 ..it's really hard to play. 767 00:45:03,500 --> 00:45:04,980 You see... 768 00:45:04,980 --> 00:45:09,700 PICKS AT BASS QUICKLY 769 00:45:09,700 --> 00:45:11,820 FINGERS BASS SLOWLY 770 00:45:13,940 --> 00:45:19,020 REPEATS THE TWO PHASES 771 00:45:19,220 --> 00:45:20,260 Play it again. 772 00:45:26,660 --> 00:45:29,180 Something like that. I'll try it again. 773 00:45:34,580 --> 00:45:36,460 That was not bad. 774 00:45:37,980 --> 00:45:41,740 So...it's a mixture of using the finger as a pick... 775 00:45:42,980 --> 00:45:47,940 ..and using regular...traditional bass fingering...at the same time. 776 00:45:50,980 --> 00:45:54,740 And that used to always amaze me, and amazed other bass players. 777 00:45:54,740 --> 00:45:59,020 Because they thought he had a pick but that was his technique. 778 00:46:01,300 --> 00:46:04,420 Which I haven't seen anyone even do to this day. 779 00:46:07,140 --> 00:46:09,100 And it was so complicated! 780 00:46:09,100 --> 00:46:10,860 I just decided to go... 781 00:46:10,860 --> 00:46:13,300 PLAYS CHORDS 782 00:46:17,860 --> 00:46:19,660 # Everybody dance 783 00:46:21,140 --> 00:46:23,460 # Clap your hands, clap your hands... # 784 00:46:24,540 --> 00:46:28,020 But Chic's bass-heavy breakdowns weren't just innovative. 785 00:46:28,020 --> 00:46:30,620 They were key to their success. 786 00:46:30,620 --> 00:46:32,100 And their legacy. 787 00:46:38,660 --> 00:46:40,620 It worked with every crowd. 788 00:46:40,620 --> 00:46:43,780 With the newly growing hip-hop crowd, 789 00:46:43,780 --> 00:46:46,540 because we had amazing breakdowns. 790 00:46:46,540 --> 00:46:49,020 It worked with the super-funkers, 791 00:46:49,020 --> 00:46:52,620 because our music was always different, jazzy basslines. 792 00:46:52,620 --> 00:46:55,020 # Everybody dance... # 793 00:46:56,700 --> 00:47:00,700 All of our hit records had that melodic bass breakdown. 794 00:47:00,700 --> 00:47:03,420 That was the Chic magic, so we wrote up on the wall, 795 00:47:03,420 --> 00:47:06,380 and we kept this model for all time. 796 00:47:06,380 --> 00:47:09,700 "A song is an excuse to go to a chorus and a chorus 797 00:47:09,700 --> 00:47:12,260 "is an excuse to go to the breakdown." 798 00:47:12,260 --> 00:47:14,100 Period. That's our philosophy. 799 00:47:14,100 --> 00:47:16,060 MUSIC: Blitzkrieg Bop by The Ramones 800 00:47:16,060 --> 00:47:23,460 # Hey-ho, let's go! 801 00:47:23,460 --> 00:47:25,460 # They're forming in straight line 802 00:47:26,500 --> 00:47:29,140 # They're going through a tight wind... # 803 00:47:29,140 --> 00:47:31,060 We're standing here in front of CBGB's. 804 00:47:31,060 --> 00:47:32,900 # Blitzkrieg bop... # 805 00:47:32,900 --> 00:47:36,900 Well, used to be. Now it's a men's clothing shop. 806 00:47:36,900 --> 00:47:39,780 I saw some great bands here in my day. 807 00:47:39,780 --> 00:47:43,180 There was Television, then there was Patti Smith, then there was Blondie 808 00:47:43,180 --> 00:47:47,700 and The Ramones. Oh, my goodness, it was an amazing time! 809 00:47:47,700 --> 00:47:51,580 One of the most liberating things was for people who played bass 810 00:47:51,580 --> 00:47:54,860 was they could move around because the parts were very simple. 811 00:47:54,860 --> 00:47:56,020 They could just go... 812 00:47:56,020 --> 00:47:58,100 # Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta! # 813 00:47:58,100 --> 00:48:02,580 Or feet firmly planted to play bass like this, 814 00:48:02,580 --> 00:48:06,740 which was a very different style from the funk and jazz players, 815 00:48:06,740 --> 00:48:08,500 who played up here like this. 816 00:48:08,500 --> 00:48:09,860 # Hey-ho... # 817 00:48:09,860 --> 00:48:12,860 The great thing about punk was it liberated us. 818 00:48:12,860 --> 00:48:14,140 # ..let's go! # 819 00:48:14,140 --> 00:48:16,660 And we all felt we could do anything. 820 00:48:16,660 --> 00:48:19,020 # Hey-ho, let's go! # 821 00:48:24,260 --> 00:48:29,260 And, at the end of the '70s, in a parallel punk city, one band 822 00:48:30,140 --> 00:48:35,180 took that spirit and redefined the role of the bass as lead guitar. 823 00:48:36,860 --> 00:48:40,180 When I started playing, at 21... 824 00:48:40,180 --> 00:48:45,220 ..it was actually more important for me not to play like anybody else 825 00:48:50,700 --> 00:48:52,940 I do remember going into music shops, 826 00:48:52,940 --> 00:48:55,380 which was our big Saturday regime, 827 00:48:55,380 --> 00:48:59,820 and listening to all these tossers playing Stairway To Heaven 828 00:48:59,820 --> 00:49:02,780 and Smoke On The Water, and all that lot. 829 00:49:02,780 --> 00:49:05,420 Our attitude was that we had to stay away from that. 830 00:49:09,460 --> 00:49:14,500 My style came quite naturally from being unable to hear myself 831 00:49:15,380 --> 00:49:16,860 in the rehearsal room. 832 00:49:16,860 --> 00:49:18,180 I started playing high. 833 00:49:18,180 --> 00:49:20,900 # Confusion in her eyes that says it all 834 00:49:20,900 --> 00:49:22,820 # She's lost control... # 835 00:49:22,820 --> 00:49:26,620 And the singer loved it. Ian Curtis, God rest his soul, "Play like that! 836 00:49:26,620 --> 00:49:29,940 "Play high! Play high!" 837 00:49:32,100 --> 00:49:35,900 It's nice that I have a different style, and I must admit that it 838 00:49:35,900 --> 00:49:37,500 sort of fits in with my ego 839 00:49:37,500 --> 00:49:40,300 because I'm not good at standing at the back. 840 00:49:40,300 --> 00:49:42,820 MUSIC: Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division 841 00:49:42,820 --> 00:49:44,500 Love Will Tear Us Apart. 842 00:49:45,860 --> 00:49:47,420 The song came from the bass. 843 00:49:49,180 --> 00:49:52,660 It took us about three hours. We had the bassline... 844 00:49:59,700 --> 00:50:01,100 ..got the break... 845 00:50:05,900 --> 00:50:07,380 ..and then the end... 846 00:50:12,860 --> 00:50:14,260 ..in about an hour. 847 00:50:16,900 --> 00:50:20,220 And Ian loved it. He said, "I'm going to rip your riff off. 848 00:50:20,220 --> 00:50:25,260 "I'm going to get some vocals that go with that riff." And he did. 849 00:50:25,500 --> 00:50:30,540 # Love, love will tear us apart again... # 850 00:50:30,940 --> 00:50:34,220 It became part of our persona, as a group. 851 00:50:34,220 --> 00:50:38,220 I would play around the vocal. A different melody. 852 00:50:38,220 --> 00:50:40,620 # Why is it something so good... # 853 00:50:40,620 --> 00:50:43,460 To me, that gave a depth to the songs. 854 00:50:48,620 --> 00:50:52,020 As the band morphed into New Order in the '80s synth boom... 855 00:50:53,500 --> 00:50:56,260 ..Hooky and his bass found they had competition. 856 00:50:58,700 --> 00:51:01,940 They always say that drum machines and bass synths 857 00:51:01,940 --> 00:51:04,740 were invented so that the lead singer doesn't have to talk to 858 00:51:04,740 --> 00:51:06,300 the bass player or the drummer. 859 00:51:06,300 --> 00:51:08,340 HE LAUGHS 860 00:51:08,340 --> 00:51:12,060 All of a sudden, you've sort of lost your role in the group 861 00:51:12,060 --> 00:51:17,100 and you're fighting with a sequencer that is taking your role. 862 00:51:17,380 --> 00:51:20,300 Kicking off with New Order, playing live, 863 00:51:20,300 --> 00:51:22,580 singing live, with Blue Monday! 864 00:51:26,060 --> 00:51:30,380 Drum machines and synth bass drove the band's seminal hit. 865 00:51:36,140 --> 00:51:39,180 But Hooky still found a way to steal the day. 866 00:51:48,700 --> 00:51:51,980 And that's the famous line of Blue Monday 867 00:51:51,980 --> 00:51:54,500 that I stole from Ennio Morricone. 868 00:51:54,500 --> 00:51:59,540 BASSLINE PLAYS 869 00:52:01,340 --> 00:52:04,020 In the studio, we were watching For A Few Dollars More, 870 00:52:04,020 --> 00:52:05,940 and I thought, "I wonder if that'd work?" 871 00:52:05,940 --> 00:52:07,220 HE GASPS 872 00:52:07,220 --> 00:52:10,060 Went in and got it. Easy as that. 873 00:52:14,660 --> 00:52:17,500 That's Ennio. Don't tell him! 874 00:52:17,500 --> 00:52:19,900 Very careless of you, old man. 875 00:52:19,900 --> 00:52:24,500 BASSLINE PLAYS 876 00:52:34,220 --> 00:52:37,100 What we have here is the Moog Rogue 877 00:52:37,100 --> 00:52:40,260 that I took on tour with Talking Heads. 878 00:52:40,260 --> 00:52:41,740 # Burning down the house... # 879 00:52:43,780 --> 00:52:46,420 We could think about bass in a new way and play bass 880 00:52:46,420 --> 00:52:50,140 in a different way, and play parts that we wouldn't have thought to 881 00:52:50,140 --> 00:52:53,140 play before because when you're playing on a neck, you're 882 00:52:53,140 --> 00:52:57,300 thinking of one kind of part because of the physical dexterity of it. 883 00:52:58,860 --> 00:53:00,900 I found this a really useful tool. 884 00:53:00,900 --> 00:53:02,740 Not only that, but it's funky. 885 00:53:02,740 --> 00:53:03,780 SHE PLAYS SOUND 886 00:53:03,780 --> 00:53:05,780 And you can change the sound. 887 00:53:05,780 --> 00:53:07,220 If I pitch it down... 888 00:53:07,220 --> 00:53:09,740 SOUND PITCHES DOWN ..it's fun. 889 00:53:09,740 --> 00:53:11,460 SHE PITCHES UP AND DOWN 890 00:53:11,460 --> 00:53:16,100 The equipment really changed how the artist thought about 891 00:53:16,100 --> 00:53:18,020 what they could do. 892 00:53:18,020 --> 00:53:19,260 MODULATING SOUND PLAYS 893 00:53:19,260 --> 00:53:20,740 That's me going "A-a-a-h." 894 00:53:21,900 --> 00:53:25,860 And one of the favourite tools '90s house producers used 895 00:53:25,860 --> 00:53:30,900 to get really deep bass sounds was the low frequency oscillator, 896 00:53:31,260 --> 00:53:34,580 otherwise known as the LFO. 897 00:53:34,580 --> 00:53:35,660 # L 898 00:53:35,660 --> 00:53:36,660 # F 899 00:53:36,660 --> 00:53:37,980 # O... # 900 00:53:39,060 --> 00:53:44,100 And these subsonic breakdowns became a genre in themselves, 901 00:53:44,540 --> 00:53:49,300 as drum and bass clubbers craved these low frequencies. 902 00:53:49,300 --> 00:53:51,660 BREAKDOWN WITH LOW FREQUENCY BASS 903 00:53:53,300 --> 00:53:56,220 During the '90s, I started to develop bass sounds 904 00:53:56,220 --> 00:53:58,100 that had a wobble effect... 905 00:53:58,100 --> 00:53:59,260 HE MAKES WOBBLE SOUND 906 00:54:01,340 --> 00:54:04,580 People always took it as my signature and the credited me 907 00:54:04,580 --> 00:54:06,860 with the wobble bass sound. 908 00:54:06,860 --> 00:54:11,460 And Aphrodite wasn't using synths or expensive gear. 909 00:54:11,460 --> 00:54:15,420 As one of the first bedroom producers, he made deeper 910 00:54:15,420 --> 00:54:20,060 bass sounds with just a home computer and budget software. 911 00:54:20,060 --> 00:54:23,540 This was the kit. This is the Commodore Amiga. 912 00:54:23,540 --> 00:54:25,940 In there, you have everything. 913 00:54:25,940 --> 00:54:30,340 You have a sequencer that allows you to write notes 914 00:54:30,340 --> 00:54:32,540 as if they were on a stave. 915 00:54:32,540 --> 00:54:35,100 These rows are white notes from a keyboard, 916 00:54:35,100 --> 00:54:37,260 these rows are black notes from a keyboard. 917 00:54:37,260 --> 00:54:39,380 You literally figured it in your head 918 00:54:39,380 --> 00:54:41,420 and then programmed it straight in. 919 00:54:41,420 --> 00:54:43,860 HE PLAYS MELODIC BASSLINE 920 00:54:47,580 --> 00:54:50,820 Then, in order to get it going down... 921 00:54:51,900 --> 00:54:55,660 ..you put a pitch control in OctaMED, 922 00:54:55,660 --> 00:55:00,660 which was a piece of software I bought for £1 back in 1989. 923 00:55:01,300 --> 00:55:05,380 BASSLINE PITCHES TO LOW FREQUENCY 924 00:55:05,380 --> 00:55:08,900 If you take that digital output and put that to a big rig, 925 00:55:08,900 --> 00:55:13,500 it is as low as possible that a bass can go. 926 00:55:13,500 --> 00:55:17,380 On a track, like Drop Top Caddy, which was myself and Micky Finn, 927 00:55:17,380 --> 00:55:19,620 we had this bassline that I created here... 928 00:55:19,620 --> 00:55:21,820 PLAYS BASSLINE 929 00:55:21,820 --> 00:55:23,500 ..down. 930 00:55:23,500 --> 00:55:25,300 BASSLINE PITCHES DOWN 931 00:55:26,300 --> 00:55:28,220 With the hit - woof! - 932 00:55:28,220 --> 00:55:31,580 you're taking the frequency down incredibly low and that's 933 00:55:31,580 --> 00:55:33,100 what gets you in the stomach. 934 00:55:34,420 --> 00:55:35,860 Yeah! 935 00:55:35,860 --> 00:55:37,260 Yeah. 936 00:55:37,260 --> 00:55:38,700 What are you doing? 937 00:55:39,780 --> 00:55:41,820 Don't touch it! Who told you to touch it? 938 00:55:41,820 --> 00:55:43,540 Don't ever touch that shit again! 939 00:55:49,020 --> 00:55:51,100 # I'm a fiend for a big, dirty bassline 940 00:55:51,100 --> 00:55:53,100 # When I hear one, I have a great time... # 941 00:55:53,100 --> 00:55:57,060 By the millennium, bass had gone from a shy passenger at the back 942 00:55:57,060 --> 00:55:59,700 to a new generation's addiction. 943 00:55:59,700 --> 00:56:01,100 # If you take my bass away... # 944 00:56:01,100 --> 00:56:03,380 A frequency they didn't just want to hear... 945 00:56:03,380 --> 00:56:04,620 # You think I'm over the top 946 00:56:04,620 --> 00:56:06,300 # But when I hear that bassline drop... # 947 00:56:06,300 --> 00:56:08,740 ..but wanted to feel. 948 00:56:08,740 --> 00:56:09,980 # I still feel satisfaction 949 00:56:09,980 --> 00:56:11,460 # So don't come around here whingeing 950 00:56:11,460 --> 00:56:13,260 # I just want to hear the bassline rinsing... # 951 00:56:13,260 --> 00:56:14,580 Bass means everything to me. 952 00:56:14,580 --> 00:56:16,980 I've made songs about bass, bassline junkie. 953 00:56:16,980 --> 00:56:19,940 # I don't need no speed I don't need no heroine... # 954 00:56:19,940 --> 00:56:22,340 That's a song basically where I'm saying... 955 00:56:22,340 --> 00:56:24,660 ..I'd rather have bass than drugs. 956 00:56:24,660 --> 00:56:28,780 # I'm a bassline junkie 957 00:56:28,780 --> 00:56:30,380 # And I like it funky 958 00:56:30,380 --> 00:56:32,300 # Big, dirty, stinking bass... # 959 00:56:32,300 --> 00:56:34,340 I had an Audi RS5, 960 00:56:34,340 --> 00:56:38,220 and I got a subwoofer put in it that was half the size of the boot. 961 00:56:38,220 --> 00:56:40,620 I was always wondering why's everyone always looking at me? 962 00:56:40,620 --> 00:56:42,100 You could hear me from down there. 963 00:56:42,100 --> 00:56:44,220 # Bass, bass, bass, bass, bass... # 964 00:56:44,220 --> 00:56:45,900 The ladies like bass as well. 965 00:56:47,140 --> 00:56:48,380 Their hair standing up. 966 00:56:49,460 --> 00:56:51,220 I've heard it gets the girls... 967 00:56:51,220 --> 00:56:53,340 I mean that's why girls sometimes they stand 968 00:56:53,340 --> 00:56:55,620 right next to the speaker. 969 00:56:55,620 --> 00:56:58,740 They like to feel it through them, going through them, innit? 970 00:56:58,740 --> 00:57:02,860 My name's Dizzee Rascal. It's about time we got a little bit bonkers! 971 00:57:02,860 --> 00:57:05,420 CHEERING 972 00:57:05,420 --> 00:57:09,340 And Dizzee would have his biggest hit when house-cum-pop producer 973 00:57:09,340 --> 00:57:12,780 Armand van Helden sent him a track with a bass drop 974 00:57:12,780 --> 00:57:14,460 that crossed all genres. 975 00:57:14,460 --> 00:57:15,820 Let's do this! 976 00:57:15,820 --> 00:57:18,500 Check it, check it. Come on! 977 00:57:18,500 --> 00:57:20,540 I heard it on a laptop speaker. 978 00:57:20,540 --> 00:57:23,980 And that's why that's dangerous because sometimes you don't take... 979 00:57:23,980 --> 00:57:26,980 There's music I'll dismiss because of the way I listen to it. 980 00:57:26,980 --> 00:57:29,260 I think I even sat on it for six months or something. 981 00:57:29,260 --> 00:57:30,780 They had to tell me, like... 982 00:57:30,780 --> 00:57:32,740 "You might want this for your album." 983 00:57:32,740 --> 00:57:35,060 I said, "Yeah?" I'd forgotten about it. 984 00:57:35,060 --> 00:57:37,380 # I wake up everyday it's a daydream 985 00:57:37,380 --> 00:57:39,460 # Everythin' in my life ain't what it seems 986 00:57:39,460 --> 00:57:41,180 # I wake up just to go back to sleep 987 00:57:41,180 --> 00:57:43,300 # I act real shallow but I'm in too deep... # 988 00:57:43,300 --> 00:57:47,220 I performed for the first time in Liverpool. The reaction was mental. 989 00:57:47,220 --> 00:57:49,500 It was like it was a hit already. I couldn't believe it. 990 00:57:49,500 --> 00:57:52,740 I think we did it twice. Like, the crowd, they went mad. 991 00:57:52,740 --> 00:57:54,740 And I didn't even realise the hit I had. 992 00:57:56,700 --> 00:57:58,900 And it is, it's that drop. 993 00:57:58,900 --> 00:58:00,140 # Bonkers... # 994 00:58:00,140 --> 00:58:01,900 BASSLINE DROPS 995 00:58:01,900 --> 00:58:04,220 CHEERING 996 00:58:06,060 --> 00:58:07,820 Come on, come on, ooh-ooh! 997 00:58:07,820 --> 00:58:09,620 VOICE-OVER: When that bassline drops, 998 00:58:09,620 --> 00:58:11,180 every country I go to anywhere, 999 00:58:11,180 --> 00:58:13,860 they go mad, and it's been like that for ten years. 1000 00:58:15,260 --> 00:58:16,700 Mental. 1001 00:58:24,180 --> 00:58:25,740 The purpose of bass... 1002 00:58:25,740 --> 00:58:29,100 ..it's like the glue. Yeah, that's what the bass is. 1003 00:58:29,100 --> 00:58:30,740 The bass is like the glue. 1004 00:58:30,740 --> 00:58:34,380 It's powerful. It's emotional. 1005 00:58:34,380 --> 00:58:35,820 It's gutsy. 1006 00:58:35,820 --> 00:58:38,100 It comes from deep down. 1007 00:58:41,900 --> 00:58:44,700 Bass has been central to my life. 1008 00:58:45,940 --> 00:58:47,740 I've seen bass grow... 1009 00:58:47,740 --> 00:58:49,660 ..I've seen it flourish... 1010 00:58:49,660 --> 00:58:53,820 ..and, maybe now more than ever, it's centre stage. 1011 00:58:53,820 --> 00:58:57,460 It ain't just the big, fat guy at the back. 1012 00:58:57,460 --> 00:58:59,500 # What you gonna do when you get out of jail? 1013 00:58:59,500 --> 00:59:01,460 # I'm gonna have some fun 1014 00:59:01,460 --> 00:59:03,900 # What do you consider fun? 1015 00:59:03,900 --> 00:59:05,620 # Fun, nasty fun... # 1016 00:59:07,700 --> 00:59:09,500 The girls can do it, too, y'all! 1017 00:59:13,860 --> 00:59:17,860 # I'm in heaven 1018 00:59:17,860 --> 00:59:22,340 # With my boyfriend, my laughing boyfriend 1019 00:59:22,340 --> 00:59:26,100 # There's no beginning and there is no end. #