Sting has so many strings to his bow – and his lute! – that it’s easy to forget how his bass guitar was what first powered him into our lives.

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Basslines #22: Danny Thompson is folk music’s best known bassist; in fact, I’m not sure I can name another.

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Aston ‘Family Man’ Barrett was the first reggae bassman I ever saw, when Bob Marley & The Wailers made their debut on the Old Grey Whistle Test in 1973.

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Paul Simonon of The Clash famously learned to play the bass guitar from scratch by practising note-for-note along to the Ramoones’ debut album.

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Bootsy Collins is as famous for his eccentric persona as his funky “space bass.” But there’s no doubt he’s an all-time great funkster.

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Chuck Rainey is one of those Zelig-like bassists who turn up everywhere, yet never became a household name. Probably because he never tried to steal the limelight.

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Memorable basslines don’t get much more memorable than Tina Weymouth’s intro to Talking Heads’ Psycho Killer.

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Bob Babbitt was one of only two white musicians among the core of 13 session men in Motown’s legendary studio group The Funk Brothers.

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Basslines #10: Bernard Edwards is the man behind a bassline that surely deserves that most overused of adjectives – “iconic” – and Good Times is arguably the first song I think of (alongside I Feel Love) when I hear the word disco.

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