Top 20 Simple Minds Bass Lines: Nos. 10 - 1 / Tribute to Derek Forbes (bass & backing track covers)

This is my top 10 Simple Minds bass lines.
There's another video with numbers 11 - 20 to complete my Top 20. Link at the end of this video.
00:00 In Trance As Mission
00:53 Promised You A Miracle
01:36 This Fear Of Gods
02:20 New Gold Dream (81-81-83-84)
03:05 Waterfront
03:45 Premonition
04:20 Glittering Prize
04:56 I Travel
05:30 Colours Fly And Catherine Wheel
06:14 Theme For Great Cities
I started playing bass guitar in 1984 at 15 years old and my Simple Minds records were among the first to play along to. Derek Forbes wrote some great repetitive bass lines that seemed doable. But don’t dismiss the bass part from In Trance As Mission for example as too easy. Just keep that up for 6 minutes locked in the groove. These couple of bass notes are the home base from which the track keeps developing. The brilliance of Forbes’ bass lines is not complexity but propulsiveness. It’s motorik.
Repetitious grooves are tribal, trancey. That’s what I like in techno music, Fela Kuti or a band like LCD Soundsystem for example. Simple Minds was the first band that got me hooked on, well, repetitive hooks.
When recording the bass lines for this top 10 I realised that they needed the context of the songs and arrangements to really show their brilliant functionality. So I recorded backing tracks also. Some for better some for worse. I made some use of free midi downloads but had to adjust quite a few parts. Some of the lesser known earlier songs I had to recreate myself with software instruments and electric guitar.
In post production I adjusted the sound of my bass parts to fit the tracks. Forbes was not merely the bass player but also helped sculpting Simple Minds’ sound.
Anyhow. Here’s to a bass hero.
Bass: Fender Classic 50s Precision
Strings: at least 5 year old Fender roundwounds
Interface: iRig Pro Duo
DAW: GarageBand
GB bass amp simulator: Big Stack (aka Ampeg SVT)
Effects: GB/LogicPro internal pedal board compressor and flanger (on some of the tracks). Subtle saturation and overdrive to taste with GB overdrive plug-in.

[@brucestellmacher5596]

Nice tribute to Derek Forbes. His bass lines were so essential to the first SM albums.

[@jmacdono]

Sons and Fascination was the first Simple Minds album I bought after Once Upon A Time came out. Back in 1986, I didn't even realize they had other albums, frankly. When I first heard 'In Trance As Mission', I was mesmerized. It was so different from other music I had listened to. Nearly 40 years later, they are still my favorite band. And their first 6 albums are so superb!

[@mikahousemouse]

Themes for Great Cities is #1 & one of the best Bass Lines ever!!!

[@twinlamps]

So many bangers from New Gold Dream! An underrated bassist for sure.

[@gregr6829]

Wonderful. Forbes is a true genius. Colours Fly soooo good 🙂

[@markgollop3726]

Brilliant. I'm sure Derek Forbes would be proud of these renditions of his bass lines.

[@j.m.6891]

I don't normally comment on videos but I have to tell you how amazing this is. A fantastic tribute to a great bassist.

[@RobvanBerlo]

Thank you very much!

[@deletebilderberg]

Changeling is a monster bass line. There are so many!

[@virginiafernandez4435]

This. Fear. Of. Gods!!!!! ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@Eoin109]

What great songs they are!😊

[@carollinson]

Superb. Thank you for sharing your talent!

[@lrwebb869]

Love this! Having the vinyl covers on show is a nice touch too 👍🏻

[@Judith.13.]

It’s so cosy over there. Thank you for playing🌷

[@benj2764]

Love this! great playing of great bass lines!

[@vracaricstefan2686]

Glittering prize is simply amazing👌

[@dinalli]

Ive watched this a few times now, absolutely spot on sound.

[@joeduffy4336]

Excellence great playing and a cool tribute to Derek Forbes 👍

[@emcash7042]

This is great! I love Derek’s bass lines on all those songs… a huge loss when he left.

[@LAFKO1]

thank you so much, you make me feel so happy !!

[@davecarty6503]

Excellent playing with the perfect tone... well done 👌

[@senserdawnseeker]

What a Joy ! Great Job + THNX

[@darrenseymour7568]

Excellent stuff!

[@manuelj6853]

FANTASTIC!!!!!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@andrewhughes3740]

Brilliant mate, Love simple minds !!👏👍👌💪✌😎💯

[@Undercoverbrotherfromanother]

You crushed them all, excellent work!! It made my day. Thank you.

[@namph72]

Wow that was great glad that In Trance As Mission and Colours Fly and Catherine Wheel were in there

[@nadiruddin]

Just wow! Amazing

[@micflanell6211]

Very cool , Sparkle In The Rain , Yeah!

[@Lysdexia]

Thank you! I learned more from you in minutes than in years of trying (and failing) to learn by ear myself.

[@julianpratt9616]

Some absolute classics there Rob, Theme For Great Cities was fabuloso!

[@grsministries9830]

What incredibly melodic bass riffs! They incorporate so many different techniques from using a pick, to using fingers and slapping and popping, unique timing (In Trans as Mission). Those tone/semitone shifts on New Gold Dream - wow! There's no doubt the bass really stands out in these earlier albums. Watching Rob play these riffs really makes me appreciate how intricate and sophisticated Derek Forbes is on bass. They must be a lot of fun to learn and play.

[@rexgrignon5538]

Wonderful tribute to a great bass player. Well played man!

[@nigelgoodwin5094]

Great lines! Thanks for this. Woot!

[@AMASportsPhotoAgency]

can't wait for the next ten!! Love Song, The American, Celebrate, Room, Factory - etc :) :) super stuff

[@lloydrobson]

You smashed it, happy days 🎸

[@CarlosWilde]

Very cool, Rob - Great playing and sound. Like that fact that you have the vinyl in the background!

[@petebellmusic]

Brilliant. Saw Derek Forbes play at a festival today. What a bassist!! And your versions highlight how good he is. Thank you!!

[@mariorecuero7451]

Briliant .... that is the core of Simple Minds , the amazing bass.

[@francescospiga6624]

Great tribute,thanks!

[@fionablackcatkitty]

This is excellent! Thank you!

[@artsantosv6198]

Super cool - thank you - hopefully more is coming

[@paulhindom2233]

Wow made my day thankyou and what a tribute ❤❤

[@floydlay9189]

Great jpb,,thank you!

[@markcbb]

Lovely stuff he's a really underrated bassist , top work.

[@giuseppegiacomoni7058]

Absolutely brilliant!! Thank you for sharing this with us? Brings back all the good memories of old!

[@RobvanBerlo]

Thank you Giuseppe. Have you seen part 2 also? kzbin.info/www/bejne/m6exkKOOpqiFmtEsi=rIs64mhXW6GiBIWA

[@girlvagabond]

Sons and Fascination is my new fave Album by SM, although I will always have a soft spot for New Gold Dream.

[@Slaneous]

Great playing on some brilliant tracks. Theme for great cities had to be number one, a bassists dream and one of the best instrumental songs of all time.👏🏼

[@KAchtchouk6660]

Excellent selection BRAVISSIMO

[@RobvanBerlo]

Thank you!

[@TheMusicianTom]

You’re spot on in the description about Forbes’s playing being propulsive. Melodic too in songs like Glittering Prize. Great playing by the way man!

[@davidfowers4274]

Amazing!!!!!!!

[@richardgudino7630]

You've TONE for days sir, thank you for these tasty lines.

[@soepil]

Wow! I'm totally floored. Love the lines, love the playing, love the record covers ... time to get the bass out and try some of them myself. What an inspiration. Thank you.

[@RobvanBerlo]

Thank you. Play the hell out of that bass! 🙂

[@jfrlucas]

Very nice and clean. I love it. I appreciate the album in the background. It's a nice touch.

[@RobvanBerlo]

Thanks for looking at the details beyond the bass. Much appreciated.

[@EvilSean62]

thank you so much !!!

[@stephanemallemont2989]

Je viens de regarder un Live de 2003, que du lourd, je suis batteur, ça fait 40ans que je joue du Simple Minds en accompagnement, bravo et bonne continuation 🙌💪☝️

[@wimsele]

Saved the best for last! ❤ Great playing 👍

[@jamesmilne8445]

One of my favourites is Thirty Frames A Second. I am surprised no one has sampled the song.

[@drprick7432]

Some of the greatest bass lines ever. I love all their stuff bu especially NGD because it was so bass driven. Once Upon a time was key/piano heavy, and Sparkle was drum heavy. They all take me back

[@AlexandrePanta]

Amazing Job !

[@Gkirby001]

Excellent. Hard to choose a favourite but Glittering Prize is outstanding. Premonition is deceptively amazing.

[@thewrongman6709]

Wow wow wow Stunning bass playing and what a great selection! The face says you're in your element. Perfecto

[@RobvanBerlo]

Thank you!

[@williamclementsonbass1795]

Well Done. And what a compelling aesthetic!

[@philipsims337]

Every one a Forbes bass part. Damn right! As a young bass player he was my man.

[@LiquidAudio]

Awesome work, super smooth, my faves are New Gold Dream, Colours Fly and Theme for Great Cities.

[@vincentmitchell7624]

Love it fella 😊

[@gagsy100]

Forbes was great… well done sir

[@stephenmorse342]

New Gold Dream! :) I worked this out on my 6 string as I am not a bass player but love the groove. Later I nicked my sons bass and gave it a whirl and its great. Nice video.

[@lucioandriulo9011]

Well done!

[@giuseppegiacomoni7058]

Keep on listening to this over and over again? Keep on sharing your talent with us all and make more of these superb videos!!

[@RobvanBerlo]

Thank you Giuseppe. Have you seen part 2? kzbin.info/www/bejne/m6exkKOOpqiFmtEsi=LwFwKdEDaL922Twb

[@michaelweinman9051]

Cool vid! wow modern, impressive, stylish. Well done, mate.

[@stuartcarswell2815]

Superb tribute to the main man .great sound too

[@codyknudtson7851]

Liked 9 & 3 the best, great job.

[@makalu69]

Nailed the tone - Nice one!

[@joshkny]

You covered some great ones. Promised You a Miracle, New Gold Dream, and Glittering Prize are favorites

[@cwbalmer]

Good work there mate!

[@stevie2924]

Great stuff and hit on all my faves. Only one not there was League Of Nations which for me is Derek’s finest ever piece

[@RobvanBerlo]

A monolithic monotonous bass part! I especially like the tone of the bass there.

[@rogerstalbans7225]

This is great, I've listened quite a few times. I love early Simple Minds and Derek's bass lines are a big part of why. A Top 12 with Love Song and Sweat in Bullet would be even better!

[@RobvanBerlo]

Choices, choices. Sweat in Bullet would have been in my top 10 if I hadn’t excluded (most of the) fretless bass lines. I wouldn’t be doing those justice with my fretted bass.

[@brianmcaleer3958]

Brilliant. Saw SM with Forbes several times in the early 80s and have always been a massive fan of his. The guy is a genius nobody played bass the way he did (although you do a fine take on it)

[@bluemondayuk8967]

Waterfront was as amusing as I expected. Well done for keeping straight face. TFGC always going to be number one...

[@BIGeSTRING]

Derek Forbes was de basis van de Simple Minds. Toen hij de band verliet hebben ze nooit meer dat vette bas sound gehad, want Forbes was een meester in lekker klinkende bass lines

[@donatello80s]

Awesome work and tribute!

[@RobvanBerlo]

Thank you!

[@Baranoeda]

Thank you so much for this excellent bass playing. Simple Minds were New Age for sure, but I always also considered them as the first "trance" act. Premonition from 1979 is so incredibly ahead of its time.

[@emcash7042]

I agree! ‘Trance’ is a great way to describe their music

[@brianmcaleer3958]

Sons & Fascination/ Sister Feelings Call their best work for me - produced by Steve Hillage of Gong fame. Trance mastery.@@emcash7042

[@thorholgersson6860]

This illuminates the fact that the bass line is the true core of all the classic Simple Minds songs. On Sparkle in the rain album, the bass was pushed back in the final mix , the result is brash, top-heavy and thin sounding with screechy guitar, clanging piano and overworked drumming. Significantly, Forbes left the band shortly after.

[@RobvanBerlo]

Although my favourite SM album over time alternates between NGD, E&D and S&F, I do have a soft spot for Sparkle in the Rain.

[@thorholgersson6860]

@@RobvanBerlo Some truly terrific songs on Sparkle also, but, in my opinion, they never reached their full potential with the ham-fisted production of Steve Lilywhite. Thank you so much for honoring Derek Forbes, I never bought any SM records after he quitted

[@MrCeltic1964]

brilliant man ..........

[@Dont_stay_long_k077]

Superb , SM , New Gold Dream , album of the year , in fact best I'd say they did great sound man

[@filmworksusa]

Thanks for this - you're nailing them - and you're playing is so clean. Excellent choices for your Top Ten, I was hoping that Someone Somewhere In Summertime would be in there... and so many others... and now I'm thinking Up On The Catwalk would be great too....there are just too many awesome DF bass lines to count!

[@MrToonfish]

Love it sick ! Thanks

[@hollawaldfee6777]

Very nice 👍

[@TheUglySlug666]

Great playing!!

[@RobvanBerlo]

Thank you!

[@andrefranciscodasilva7671]

Excelent performance!

[@permaveg]

I watched an interview with Derek recently and he said his favourite bassline in the Minds was 'This Fear of Gods'.

[@stefanobutini8838]

Bravo.

[@barackmycat9448]

Good job!

[@odaikorob]

Great work there on TFGC, mate!

[@xavica]

I was waiting for "Love song", anyway you did an amazing job

[@sdw1106]

I don't much care for precision basses, but DF (and this) may change my mind....

[@Bradonomous]

Superb. Totally solid. Dereks baselines are tricky to get right without them sounding too mechanical and plodding. You managed to get that urgent, manic, driving feel while still keeping the groove just right. Your choices of baselines really highlight how Derek was an integral part of the overall melodic structure, not just the bassline. This is some incredible work, not just technically but in terms of emotion and showing respect for the music.

[@RobvanBerlo]

Thank you.

[@SirSneakerPimp]

That was excellent…their Industrial Sounds period was Simple Minds absolute best. After, Don’t You, they started the downhill decent.

[@MrChippiechappie]

Wrong from Real life onwards.

[@lelenadi99]

I agree with you, but i think Street Fighting Years is a good album too

[@lf170]

I agree that was their best period! But Neapolis was the best album of their later period (not counting the last 3 which I haven't listened to much) and had more of a Euro/dance feel to it. Real Life had mostly great songs on it (along with 2 or 3 really terrible ones). And Once Upon A Time, the album that changed their sound completely and made them more mainstream, wasn't as strong as the previous albums, but it wasn't a bad album. The first half at least, is excellent.

[@grsministries9830]

@@lelenadi99 Yes! Street Fighting Years and Once Upon a Time are their most coherent, complete and comprehensive albums. The songs are more passionate, and make sense because the lyrics are more dynamic and have structure while still being melodically satisfying. I love these albums for this very reason, they're not just a bunch of interesting songs being recorded - they're real albums. Now, with that being said, New Gold Dream and Sparkle in the Rain are still amazing to listen to because of the musicianship (including vocals), but they fall a little flat lyrically. It's like they lack vision and direction - they really don't seem to go anywhere, although there are exceptions like Glittering Prize and Speed Your Love to Me. Again, with all that being said, they sure lost something very special in Derek Forbes when he left as shown by Rob here, and these aren't all of Forbes riffs - Big Sleep for example has an incredible bass riff that pushes the clever keyboard riff, that is completed by the guitar riff.

[@ziggypop79]

I kind of agree but I really like Real Life but agree Forbes was their best bassist.

[@matsfrommusic]

Very impressive, so tight.

[@Jurgenegges]

Wow! Die slap bas op Colours Fly!!!!!! ❤

[@RobvanBerlo]

@CoachingOurselvesNL Dank, mede-Ynnovator!

[@Jurgenegges]

@@RobvanBerlo Graag gedaan collega-Ynnovator. Leuk dat je Forbes hebt gekozen. Uit de tijd dat Simple Minds nog vooruitstrevende muziek maakten.