The Last Bass Outpost

I can't believe it.

There was a time in the 80s where it seemed like every other hit song was either written or performed by Prince. He could play seemingly any instrument. He was weird (many of his songs seem like they're sung in character, and i don't know who the hell the character in question might be)... and massively talented, and often veered off into territory where the bulk of the audience didn't care to follow, often including me, but he never stopped following his muse and he could tear up a stage like nobody's business. 

He was a legendarily demanding bandleader, too.  If you wanted trial by fire in the 70s, you could try to keep up with Zappa ... or James Brown ... and in the 80s it was Prince.

I'll just leave this here. The guitar solo is making me cry.
http://uproxx.com/music/watch-prince-purple-rain-original-1983/

Okay. Now I really really want an RnR.  Too bad I have no bass funds at all currently

I'm not expecting anything but suckage from this ill-advised union, so I suppose there's always the chance of being pleasantly surprised.  I assumed it was pretty much over after Malcom departed.  As for Axl, I dislike his voice, and never thought much of GnR after about 1988 when I briefly found them a welcome slightly-gritty respite from several years of  boring hair metal on the radio and MTV. But maybe it'll work.

As for AC/DC, I've never worshipped them, but I do enjoy their classic stuff, and I like that they have proudly stuck to the same formula with mostly solid results. Usually I like a band to take chances with their music and risk failure, but why would you want that from AC/DC? It's not what they are  

I've found in my band that AC/DC songs are some of the most difficult to cover that we've tried.  There's nothing to hide behind. With something that simple, you have to get the feel right, and either you convincingly bring the ROCK, or you don't. Technique isn't that important here, and you can't compensate by overplaying or embellishing either, it doesn't add anything good to that music.

I gotta say, Midnight Oil did one of the best live shows ice I've seen.

Yeah i wish there was a clean shiny version, or at least the relicing was more subtle.

I like it!  I don't understand how the hell he does that without a pick.
His feel is somehow rocking, funky, and stiff all at once. An aesthetic slightly ahead of its time perhaps; Gang of Four would be one band among many that tried a similar combination a few years later:

That's a cool demonstration. I confess I hadn't known of Mr. Johnson before. This approach reminds me of years ago reading some interview with John Frusciante where he said that at some point during his time with the Red Hot Chili Peppers he developed hitting all 6 strings most of the time and control things entirely with careful left-hand muting. Probably the funk players he was emulating did similar things.

Interesting, never seen a photo of Entwistle with a II, but then he seems to have owned one of nearly everything imaginable at the time.