“There was bass before Jaco and after Jaco; his playing turned my whole life around”: How Norman Watt-Roy brought a bit of Jaco to Ian Dury’s Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick

Norman Watt-Roy, Ian Dury and the Blockheads, performing on stage, Alkmaar Pop Festival, AZ 67 Stadion, Alkmaar, Netherlands, 17th June 1978.

The influential reach of Jaco Pastorius is immeasurable, spanning generations of bassists in all corners of the globe, in a multitude of musical styles. Just a few weeks after seeing Jaco perform with Weather Report at London’s Hammersmith Odeon in October 1978, Norman Watt-Roy found himself in the studio with Ian Dury & the Blockheads, suggesting a surging 16th-note bassline for Dury's self-proclaimed anti-violence song Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick.

“In rehearsal, we had the tempo, the chords, and the eighth-note piano riff, and having just seen Jaco, I got the idea to double up the bassline and play 16ths,” said Watt-Roy, who has been cited by everyone from Pino Palladino to Jamiroquai's Paul Turner as a key influence.