ALLEY CAT
Jan 04, 2022
4 minutes
Interview: Ellen O’Reilly
Photography
:Getty
Phil Thornalley, songwriter and bass player, laughs as he recalls the creation of a certain iconic bass part. Back in 1983, he was producing the British band The Cure when their long-time bass player Simon Gallup stepped away from the band for a while. In Gallup’s absence, a single called ‘The Love Cats’ was given an unusual bass part.
“Robert Smith, the Cure’s singer, had shown me the principal bass-line when we were on tour, and I’d learned it on electric bass. When we got to the studio to record it, I saw this double bass—and Robert said to me, ‘You’ve gotta play that!’ I had to get a tuner out and put some
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