So much of great bass playing is taken from what has come before. When hip-hop was born, much of its inspiration came from building loops from drums and bass. Classic bass lines from the ’70s were lifted and reworked to create the backdrops for rap. Notice how many great bass players were trying to emulate Bernard Edwards of Chic or Larry Graham of Sly and the Family Stone. It’s not a coincidence these iconic basslines were pulling from the same grooves as their predecessors. The ’80s introduced the synthesizer bass (often referred to as synth bass) as well. Whether it’s the pluck of a string or the push of a key, it’s all designed to get you on the dance floor. Let’s look at eight iconic bass lines of the ’80s.
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“Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen (John Deacon, bassist)
Written by Queen bass player John Deacon, the bass part was inspired by Edwards’ bass on “Good Times” by Chic.
Edwards told New Musical Express, “Well, that Queen record came about because that bass player spent some time hanging out with us at our studio. But that’s OK. What isn’t OK is that the press started saying that we had ripped them off! Can you believe that? ‘Good Times’ came out more than a year before, but it was inconceivable to these people that black musicians could possibly be innovative like that. It was just these dumb disco guys ripping off this rock ‘n’ roll song.”
“Give It to Me Baby” by Rick James (Oscar Alston, bassist)
Rick James was often photographed with a Rickenbacker bass, but Oscar Alston played bass on his albums during this era. As James finished recording this song, he was listening back as the horns were overdubbed. He started playing a bass line over and over. His musicians encouraged him to continue working on the song. He wrote “Super Freak” right then and there. That would be the single that followed “Give It to Me Baby” and became James’ signature song.
“Genius of Love” by Tom Tom Club (bassist unknown)
Although Talking Heads bassist Tina Weymouth wrote the bass line, she was unable to perform during the recording sessions for the Tom Tom Club’s biggest hit. “I wrote the part, but I had to get someone else to play it at the last minute,” she said. “We were given extremely limited studio time—just three days—and when it was time to do that track, my whole right arm seized up in a terrible cramp, and I couldn’t play. I had never played in a studio around the clock like we were doing, so I didn’t even know that could happen.”
She enlisted an assistant engineer to play the bass on the recording. Two assistant engineers are listed on the studio logs, so it’s either Kendal Stubbs or Benji Armbrister.
Either way, it’s a killer bass line. Qu’est-ce que c’est?
“Rio” by Duran Duran (John Taylor, bassist)
Bassist John Taylor told The Guardian, “I loved Chic. While I was under no illusion I could play like their Bernard Edwards, I was trying to nod in that direction. But what I played on “Rio” had power, I think.”
Taylor said singer Simon LeBon wrote the lyrics about a girl. “His genius was infusing this girl named Rio with all the hedonism and romance of the Brazil of my fantasies,” Taylor said.
The Duran Duran bass player contributed several bass lines worthy of this list.
“Maneater” by Hall & Oates (Tom “T-Bone Wolk, bassist)
“T-Bone” Wolk played bass on Hall & Oates albums from 1982 until his death in 2010. He also worked with Carly Simon, Billy Joel, Elvis Costello, Jellyfish, Squeeze, and Shawn Colvin. He played bass on rap’s first Gold record, Kurtis Blow’s “The Breaks.”
“Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson (Louis Johnson, bassist)
Bassist Louis “Thunder Thumbs” Johnson went through multiple bass guitars in the studio. Michael Jackson was not satisfied until Johnson pulled out his Yamaha bass. That is the one he used on this recording.
Johnson was half of The Brothers Johnson, who had success with “Strawberry Letter 23” and “I’ll Be Good to You.” He also played bass on Jackson’s Off the Wall.
“Sweet Dreams” by Eurythmics (synth bass by Dave Stewart)
The first synth bass on this list. “The first downbeat, the doom, was actually a mistake ’cause the bloody drum computer kept doing the opposite of what I was trying to do,” bassist Dave Stewart said in 2018. “But then I thought, ‘Ooh, that actually sounds much better than what I was trying to do.’ That low drum, y’know, it’s good ’cause it’s not boomy. It’s like a thud, but it’s so low. And then with the [four on the floor] bass drum on top of it, still to this day, you put it on in any club, and everybody gets up.”
“White Lines (Don’t Do It)” by Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel (Doug Wimpish, bassist)
Doug Wimbish played bass in The Sugarhill Gang, who recorded a cover of “Cavern” by Liquid Liquid. The bass line from that song is sampled in “White Lines (Don’t Do It).”
The bass line is also sampled in “The Bottom Line” by Big Audio Dynamite, “Quiet Storm” by Mobb Deep, and “It’s Over Now” by 112.
“Sledgehammer” by Peter Gabriel (Tony Levin, bassist)
A Music Man fretless four-string bass was the axe of choice for Tony Levin on this iconic Peter Gabriel track. Levin played bass on records by a host of music greats: John Lennon, Seal, Paula Cole, Sarah McLachlan, Stevie Nicks, Lou Reed, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Robbie Robertson, Joan Armatrading, Tom Waits, Paul Simon, Buddy Rich, Todd Rundgren, Warren Zevon, and Bryan Ferry.
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Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
