Norman Watt-Roy used two Alembic series basses not only on the Ian dury recordings mentioned but extensively live as well! Very cool guy. He bought them both from a broke Brazilian bassist for a ridiculously small sum of money!
 
Is this common knowledge here at the club?
 
John.

I knew he played at least one Alembic as he holds it in an old string endorsment ad but I've never been able to find much out on the internet about it. about the only thing I found was this quote ..
 had an Alembic for a while, lovely instrument but so delicate. And 'active' and 'passive', I couldn't deal with all that, I didn't see the point of it you know? from an interview posted here.
 
Graeme

Yeah, strange quote!
 
I had an interview in a guitarist magazine with him around 25 years ago and he stated his love of his two Alembics!!
 
He went on to describe how he had managed to secure them extremely cheap when in Brazil from a dude that was desperate for cash!
 
He certainly didnt have anything other than praise for his Alembics at that time!! I guess people change
 
John.

Saw Norman at Darlington Art College last year with Wilko Johnson, small audience, got right up close, did a really nice funky solo...was lost on some of the crowd as they were all 'bluesers'
Very energetic player and right in the pocket

I almost forgot Jungle Boogie Kool and the Gang

How about Dave Edmunds slippin away?
Cool use of six string bass-baritone guitar I think they called it back then.  May not compare with the heavy guns and thunder out there now, but I thought it was a great effect for the time it came out.  NLP

Forgive me if somone posted this and I didnt see it but I cant believe that no one has mentioned two of my favorite bass anthems, Stanley Clarke's School Days and Jaco Pastorius' Teen Town.  Great moments in bass history right there!

Duh, both were mentioned by the original poster, there you have it.

Minimalism rules! Here's two UK contestants:
 
Nick Lowe, I love the sound of breaking glass - don't know if it's Nick himself on bass (the Dave Edmunds track might well be him on bass too). Syncopation all over the place, sticking to the root most of time, then a playful break at the end of the chorus - and a very catchy tune to boot.
 
Medium Medium (Alan Turton on bass), Hungry So Angry - one three-note slap pattern played in two octaves. How much do you really need ...

On the Watt-Roy link posted by Graeme, it states that Norman played bass on all of Lowe's Jesus of Cool album, from which Glass comes.  What was really surprising is that he played bass on a substantial chunk of the Clash's Sandinista.

Good to know that was Norman on Glass!

I have another two:
 
Forget me nots
 
Soul man
 
They both have a real bass hook.

Stanley Clarke; Lopsy Lu

The Real Me was a seminal listening experience, as hearing that at a young age was both totally amazing and mystifying -- no idea what he was doing, but the sheer power coming through was just incredible. However, could you really call it a bass line? More like searing blues-scale riffage, kind of following its own logic through the course of the entire song.
 
(Message edited by hb3 on February 03, 2008)

I'm always a bit baffled by Teen Town. Yes, it was a great technical feat at the time,but as far as a great piece of music or a great bassline.....for me Come On Come Over, Okonkole Y Trompa, and several others are much better basslines, but I guess that's just my preference. Obviously I recognise its impact though.  
 
I love the Real Me, which is exactly how I like to play bass (!) but I kind of agree with the is it a bassline? comment. I love loads of John's lines though; Won't Get Fooled Again might be a better example. Great examples for me would be almost anything by Chic/Sister Sledge (i.e. Bernard), Tears of a Clown, certainly Hit Me ( a personal favourite, Lopsy Lu is another), the Chinese Way, School Days, almost anything by Jah Wobble, pretty much anything by Family Man or Stuart Zender, and absolutely anything by Chris Squire. Oh and the Bassline to Fascinatin'Rhythm by Bassomatic...although it's probably a keyboard. Peaches by the Stranglers...er, I think Im getting away from the original thread....oh, Penny Lane & Come Together!