Mention '80s British pop to us bassists and we're bound to conjure up Sting's deep, compositional Police lines, Pino Palladino's ultra-melodic fretless sub-hooks with Go West and Paul Young, and Mark King's iron-clad thumb work with Level 42. But there's another voice of the era whose contributions loom larger in retrospect: John Taylor of Duran Duran.
A guitarist who switched to bass guitar, Taylor brought equal parts punk rock (à la New York Dolls guitarist Johnny Thunders' swagger-filled approach) and R&B bass – specifically the ghost-note throb of Chic's Bernard Edwards, who would later produce Taylor's second gold-selling band, Power Station.
