2007

Ask and ye shall receive, folks: Uncle Neddy challenged us to create a B list of the 10 Best Chick Bass Players, and we answered the call.

From the early days of the instrument to the current era, ladies have been at the forefront of electric bass-playing. So many incredible fallopian tubers have added their talents to some of the biggest hits in the history of rock music, and picking the entries on this list was much harder than I had originally thought. Nonetheless, decisions had to be made in spite of the difficulty, so here we go:

10. Melissa Auf der Maur – Auf der Maur played in two of seminal alterna-rock bands of the ’90s: Smashing Pumpkins and Hole. She took over the role of bass player in Hole after the death of Kristen Pfaff and played on the Live Through This tour. After Courtney Love just completely lost her shit, Auf Der Maur played on the last few Smashing Pumpkins tours. Melissa is known for the overdriven tone she employs on her bass work, as well as her beautiful appearance. Billy Corgan would be wise to bring Auf Der Maur back for this summer’s Smashing Pumpkins reunion.

9. Tracy Wormworth – The Waitresses are one of my favorite little known rock bands of the ’80s. Tracy Wormworth made her presence felt with her pointed bass lines in songs such as Christmas Wrapping and I Know What Boys Like. Wormworth went on to play bass with Sting, the B-52s, and Wayne Shorter. Most recently she showed off her chops and personality as the leader of Rosie O’Donnell’s house band on the Rosie Show.

8. Johnette Napolitano – Not to be confused with Arizona Governor Janet, Napolitano is the voice and bass player behind Concrete Blonde. Johnette’s sweet, sweet voice is augmented by a killer set of bass chops. Seeing Concrete Blonde in concert was always a treat, because I would just stare at this beautiful woman with a silky voice who was laying down firm bass lines. After 20 years with Concrete Blonde, Napolitano will be releasing a solo album in late May.

Read on for the rest of this week’s estrogenic edition of The B List…

We don’t watch American Idol, but we’ll fight with our lives for your right to watch it. Seriously, even though it’s mostly pop shlock, at least they’re trying to find real singers

The city of Ithaca may be Gorges, but it’s also full of stone-cold noobs. Celebrating 5/8/77? Bah! I can’t wait ’til Uniondale throws a parade on 2/28/33. It’s been almost

Ten years ago you never could have convinced me that Widespread Panic would be the biggest ticket seller in that little jam corner of the live music scene. But sure

Yeah, this doesn’t have much to do with music. But I saw this on Deadspin early this morning and thought, “You know who would love this video? Everyone!” [youtube]Q62X73zQhK4[/youtube] I’m

Spinal Tap will make its triumphant return to the stage as part of inventor Al Gore’s inaugural Live Earth concert event on July 7th. Original members Nigel Tufnel, David St. Hubbins and

I haven’t been able to stop thinking about my high school days at all this week, so I thought I’d check in on some of my favorite bands from the glory days.

I’ll never forget the first time I saw Push Th’ Little Daisies on 120 Minutes, or the time I saw the Spin Doctors play with Blues Traveler at the Academy. Those were heady times, when I was discovering Phish and the groove-incensed songs of Medeski, Martin, and Wood. (Alright…this MMW show isn’t from 1994, but it’s so damn ridiculous that I needed to bring it to everyone’s attention immediately.) So head back in time with me as we go Grousing The Aisles:

Ween 07/01/1994 DAUD (FLAC):

I didn’t know what to make of Ween the first time I listened to Pure Guava. Was this a joke, or were these guys actually serious? I heard my answer the first saw them live; they were a mix of both with a hint of brown. In the summer of ’94, Ween transformed from a two-person act to a full-out rock band when they added Claude Coleman (drums) and Andrew Weiss (bass) to the mix. While I thought playing along with a DAT recorder was inventive, the Ween ‘brothers’ needed the power and energy that live musicians added.

One of the first shows the “band” played was at the 9:30 Club in Washington D.C. Ween ran through a set of songs that now are all considered legendary epics. From the first note of Touch My Tooter to the end of the Poopship Destroyer, this Ween show rages. Some things never change, as the rabid crowd continually would shout out requests and cheer the beginning of every song. If you aren’t familiar with the early days of Ween, this show is a good place to start your education. Read on for plenty more Grousing The Aisles…