My playlist for September is devoted to bass guitarists and the iconic basslines they played. So we’ve lots of funk and soul, a bit of reggae, and classic tunes by legendary figures from Jaco Pastorius and Bootsy Collins to Jack Bruce and John Paul Jones, Jean-Jacques Burnel, James Jamerson and Robbie Shakespeare.

Here’s a classic from the early days of reggae, when the beats began to slow but you could still hear the influence of ska and rocksteady.

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Farewell then Eva Marie Saint, immortalised not just in celluloid On The Waterfront but in Lloyd Cole’s song a quarter of a century later.

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Larry Graham was the man who invented the “slap bass” technique. Or, as he preferred to call it: “thumpin’ and pluckin’.”

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George Porter Jr once considered becoming a Catholic priest. Thankfully for funk fans, he changed his mind and became bassist and singer of The Meters.

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Lee Sklar put the bass into Phil Collins’s poignant song Another Day In Paradise – and thousands of others too. But he’s always remained under the radar.

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Andrew Bodnar, bassist of The Rumour, created and played two of my all-time favourite basslines – but never really got the credit for either.

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John Paul Jones has played bass on many classic tunes with and without Led Zeppelin, but few of his contributions are more exceptional than The Lemon Song.

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Alphonso Johnson is the man whose funky basslines keep this slice of jazz fusion by Weather Report on what I can only call a pleasingly uneven keel.

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