Can’t Play; Must Work

But here’s some Luscious Jackson to keep you company. Did I mention I have a crush on Gabby Glaser? Apparently I have a fetish for female bassists. I don’t imagine this is incredibly uncommon.

36 Comments on “Can’t Play; Must Work”

  1. Hey John,

    You’ve probably seen Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog — the new Joss Whedon project — by this point. Either way, you should give it a little bit of a signal boost! Especially because the free viewing is going to go away on Sunday.

    http://www.drhorrible.com/

  2. Jacob:

    I very seriously doubt Joss Whedon needs a signal boost from me. Also, you know. This isn’t meant to be a pimp thread.

  3. Good tune, that. And you are far from alone in your penchant for the female wielders of those mightiest of axes. I just so happen to have snagged one myself.

  4. Alex Knapp:

    Here’s a hint: If I haven’t posted an entry about it, the answer is “no.”

  5. “Apparently I have a fetish for female bassists. I don’t imagine this is incredibly uncommon.”

    I am intrigued by your ideas and wish to subscribe to your newsletter… my attraction to female bass players has been a long-running joke with my wife. Glad there’s someone else in the clubhouse with me.

    May I direct your attention to this page.

  6. Three posters so far like female bassists, yay. Does this apply equally to classically-trained string bass playing females? How about former string bass playing females? Is there any hope for me?

  7. John,

    Here’s a hint: If I haven’t posted an entry about it, the answer is “no.”

    Heh. Understood. Don’t worry–not meeting self-set deadlines is a constitutional right! At least, I’m pretty sure it is. I’ll have the constitution read by tomorrow and let you know. :)

  8. A woman playing a bass is one of the hottest things, period.

    I like guys better, but a guy playing the bass just isn’t the same somehow.

  9. Kim Deal, for one, yowza.

    And who was the bassist for Belly. I remember seeing them back in the mid-90s at the University of Delaware. Radiohead opened for them, if you could believe it, in a gym auditorium. They had one woman (not Tanya Donnelly) whose desirability quotient tripled when she strapped on her bass.

  10. Gabby occasionally tends bar at Floyd’s in Brooklyn. She gets a lot of those “is that who I think it is?” kind of looks. She teaches guitar too, or at least offered lessons to a friend of mine.

    She still makes music and plays gigs. I think her homepage is out of date.

  11. According to Wiki Gabby Glaser is the guitar player and Jill Cunniff is the bass player. Not to be narky about it….

  12. You know, even the prepubescent bass player in the “School of Rock” movie had a really cool look. She’s off limits for like ten years, though. Did I say ten? I meant twenty. Meanwhile we can enjoy her musical talents; I heard a rumor they’re making a sequel to the movie.

  13. The members of the band did a lot of instrument switching, as I understand it. From an interview:

    OV: I actually saw you guys play a show last November and I noticed how you all alternate between guitar, bass, keyboards and vocals. How, especially with just you and Jill, do you decide who plays what?

    GG: We just do whatever works best, you know, whatever works best live. It really doesn’t matter how you record it. And live, whatever makes the most sense.

  14. A subject near and dear to my heart.

    Pat DiNizio of the Smithereens said it best:
    “Well she held a bass guitar and
    She was playing in a band and
    She stood just like Bill Wyman
    Now I am her biggest fan ”

    Patricia Morrison of The Gun Club, Sisters of Mercy, and the Damned:

    Big girl, big hair, big bass sound, Mary Huff:

    Thanks for the Gail Ann Dorsey link; wow!

    Can’t forget Me’shell:

    But my money is on Johnette Napolitano, plays hard and sings beautifully:

  15. Hey don’t get me wrong, I think that women bass players are generally hot, also.
    I have had the fortune to see Luscious Jackson twice back in the day. Both times Gabby was on the guitar.
    Also in all the liner notes it does not say who plays what.
    Off to watch the videos!

    @ sfc ski I second Johnette Napolitano SHE ROCKS!

  16. 30 posts and no mention of Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads? OK, so she is 57 now, but back in the day…

  17. Lyn-Z of Mindless Self Indulgence.

    at 2:40 in that video she does this bend over backward bass playing thing that is nifty as heck.

  18. I can’t believe I missed Tina Weymouth!

    Incredible grooving talent, just listen to this bassline (not sampled, played!)

  19. I’m surprised nobody has mentioned Carah Faye Charnow from Shiny Toy Guns… Yowza!

  20. The Man Who Loved a Double Bass” by Angela Carter. First appeared in Storyteller Contest July 1962. Reprinted in “Burning Your Boats: The Collected Short Stories”, intro by Salman Rushdie, [London: Chatto & Windus, 1995; New York: Penguin, 1997]

    “All artists, they say, are a little mad. This madness is, to a certain extent, a self-created myth designed to keep the generality away from the phenomenally close-knit creative community. Yet, in the world of the artists, the consciously eccentric are always respectful and admiring of those who have the courage to be genuinely a little mad….”

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