Because it’s Sunday and you can still just about see things, why not watch the most interesting bass player who ever lived glide across the stage and arrive back at the mic perfectly on time for his singing bit?
Watch Mick Karn glide
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That clip has made my day. Definitely the happiest I’ve been all week…
Brilliant! Is he on casters? Is a roadie pulling him back and forth on wires? Did he rehearse the timing of that for hours? I demand answers.
A great bass player, obviously, who was fundamental to Japan’s sound. And his song with Midge Ure, After a Fashion, is a tune of the first order.
However, HOWEVER, I cannot stand the sound of his fretless bass – that sproingy, boingy noise that always seems to jump out of the mix.
Kudos to him for having such a recognisable style – when I hear him on a song by Kate Bush or Gary Numan, for example, it’s obvious that it’s him playing – but I wish he had chosen a different style to showcase his talents.
Still, he was a lovely mover. RIP.
Well…up to a point, Lord Copper.
There was a group of bass players that really made the fretless Wal work; Mick Karn was one, Percy Jones, John Giblin…it was a unique bass and the sound they got was a world away from what Moose would have called the “boooo-DOOOWWW” merchants.
Each to their own, I suppose…
I’m unfamiliar with Percy Jones, but John Giblin was a terrific player. Didn’t know he was another fretless fan. To me he sounded quite different to Mick Karn.
Probably not exclusively – but then there’s this: same bass, fretless Wal! John Giblin in action.
See also: Percy Jones
John Giblin is just brilliant on that album. The whole band is, really.
Yep – you can’t fault ‘em., but Giblin especially.
Although the live band always found a way to recreate it – I was especially impressed with the trio (Martyn/Alan Thompson/Jeff Allen) and the full sound they managed – never sounded like anything was missing.
I’m with you, that was also a great lineup.
Yes Giblin is superb throughout.
I adore Karn’s playing. More than any other bass player. He’s not on coasters or anything, he just did this bizarre sideways fast shuffle thing with his feet. I imagine it’s similar to MJ’s moonwalk in how he did it. I saw Japan live once and was a little disappointed as the music seemed note-for-note exactly the same as on record. Not a bad thing but not that exciting to watch until Karn did his gliding thing.
My late wife bought me a fretless Wal once – think it was a significant birthday. I sat at home, endlessly playing Sons of Pioneers. That showed her!
I did gig with it a few times – but it weighed an absolute ton.
I think the intro to Sons of Pioneers might be the only complicated bass line I can reproduce accurately inside my head.
Same here and I’m pretty sure I’m note perfect.
Sideways moonwalk?
You never see Mick Karn and Michael Jackson in the same room, do you?
I saw their last gig and he was mesmerising.
I have not seen that before – it’s tremendous. Did he do that for the entire show, or just for a particular song? I would hope the latter.
When I saw them, just briefly once or maybe twice.
I love this clip and have watched it many times over the years trying to figure out exactly what he is doing. If only the cameraman had panned down a few degrees!
The bits that have me amazed are: a) how he keeps his head so perfectly level, despite what must be furious duck-like paddling below; and b) how he never seems to look down to avoid the usual tangle of cables etc that litter a stage. Surely he went leg up a couple of times?
Thanks, Gary. You made my day with Mick’s gliding. It is a thing of awesome beauty.
Are there, or have there ever been, any other musicians with such an idiosyncratic stage movement?
Jacko’s moonwalk. Chuck Berry’s duckwalk.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqS76TFCCYs
That’s about it.
Wilko Johnson had those jerky moves, swinging his guitar left and right, moving backwards and forwards.
Nils Lofgren had his backflip thing, I saw him do it. He was touring an album called Flip.
What about Ron Mael’s shuffle? The fact that he is largely unmoving (other than his hands, of course) for most of a Sparks gig before doing his shuffle, and then returns calmly to his seat, does turn it into a bit of a highlight for me.
Here’s his shuffle in various Sparks videos:
“Pull my finger!” at the 38 seconds mark.
I’m prepared to bet David Byrne has seen that.
Jaris Cocker also rocks the finger, dunee?
That clip is way cooler than I was expecting it to be. Mick Karn is way cooler than a bloke called Mick, wearing that much make up with slicked back hair playing bass should ever be. I wasn’t the biggest Japan fan but all the best bits were the best bits because of Mick Karn.