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The song is “Footloose” which appeared on the soundtrack for the movie of the same name and was released in 1984. It was written and recorded by Kenny Loggins and featured the great Nathan East on bass.
Have you ever wondered what sort of song might completely and utterly kick my ass? Well, wonder no more because “this” one did. I’d say I probably did more than 40 takes on 3 different basses in my attempt to get a satisfactory take and mix. Granted, some of those takes were only 10 seconds in length. Some were much longer. The most painful mistakes are the ones that occur near the end of the song. What did I find so challenging about this song? For one, there aren’t many parts in the chorus’ that repeat exactly. There are subtle (and not so subtle) variations throughout and these took quite a while to figure out and commit to memory. Another aspect that I found challenging were all the 8th notes which definitely are not one of my strong points. As I’ve said before, I can play quickly in relatively short bursts, but I’ve never been one for endurance tests. The combination of these factors created lots of room for error when I was recording the video. And history has shown that, if I don’t get a song within the first 2 or 3 takes, it’s going to be a long day. I don’t think this version is bad, but it isn’t perfect either. The most grievous error is an error of omission where I leave out a note. This occurs at 2:55. I was so “done” with this song by that point that it barely registered a disapproving head nod. Also, the descending octave thing at 3:20 could have been much smoother than it was but, in the grand scheme of things, I’m fairly satisfied with the video. Ah, thanks once again to my friend, Jim Trice for bringing the song up (or down…I forget) to concert pitch for me.
The bass tone on the recording has a very unique and distinct tone to it…it has a very “nasal” EQ filter applied to it which really makes it stand out. For that reason, I knew I would be using a Spector to record it. I’ve included links to the unlisted videos of me using the other 2 Spectors below, if you’re into that sort of thing. I was satisfied with the version I did with the Legend, but then I got this bass and thought I’d give it another go. A week or so had passed since I’d recorded and, since I already had a video I was satisfied with, I figured some of the pressure would be off. That wasn’t exactly the case. Anyway, I went with this take because the bass was new. It’s a Kramer-era Spector NS-2A that came to me fitted with active EMG pickups which is something I thought could not be done. For some reason I thought these preamps only worked with passive p/u’s unless the pots were changed. I don’t know…in any case, it sounds a bit brighter than the Black NS-2A.
We had a very sad day yesterday. We had to take one of our cats, Briscoe (full name - Briscoe Kitty Jr.), to the vet to be euthanized. We were actually going to bring him in on Tuesday but he rallied and started eating again. That did not last. Still, we were grateful for the few extra days we were able to spend with him. We’ve had to do it before and will certainly have to do it again, but that last ride to the vet is never an easy one.
Alternate versions -
Footloose Black Spector NS-2A - https://youtu.be/qXXxMx9XQpU
Footloose Spector Legend with upgraded EMG’s and MightyMite HAZ Clone Preamp - https://youtu.be/55dlocGg56E