John Rostill

[dave robinson]

Yes, John was a good bass player, but why does everything on this site have to turn into a contest ? McCartney needs no defending whatsoever, as his catalogue and bank account verify.
The truth is, you'll struggle to hear a Shadows track played on radio, McCartney is played daily. In the scheme of things there's your answer.

[drakula63]

Yes, John was a good bass player, but why does everything on this site have to turn into a contest ? McCartney needs no defending whatsoever, as his catalogue and bank account verify.
The truth is, you'll struggle to hear a Shadows track played on radio, McCartney is played daily. In the scheme of things there's your answer.

True. But I tend to think that McCartney's wealth and airplay is more down to him having been in a certain band in the 1960s, rather than his individual talent(s). You should hear what some Beatles fans have to say about him!

As to the lack of Shadows on the radio, my personal suspicion is that this is mainly due to most of their big hits being instrumental rather than vocal. The instrumental as a genre of popular music had had its day long before the Shadows enjoyed their renaissance. Sadly it seems that apart from the odd airing of Apache or Foottapper, you don't hear much of their music being played nowadays.

I'm not knocking Macca, even if I appear to be, but I DO think he is vastly overrated. Whereas the likes of John Rostill never really received the recognition they deserved.

[Steve Parish]

I think that often many Shads fans suffer from delusion;
As for the Beatles, 'they stole the Shads thunder' and what not syndrome is what a great several Shads fans suffer from.
No they didn't. Progress. Things change. It's natural.
As it is, in my opinion McCartney came up with many memorable bass lines, and was responsible for many, many great songs.
And, while we're all busy comparing, it is futile.
Everybody, whoever, did and does their thing, and that's what it really is all about.

[drakula63]

I think that often many Shads fans suffer from delusion;
As for the Beatles, 'they stole the Shads thunder' and what not syndrome is what a great several Shads fans suffer from.
No they didn't. Progress. Things change. It's natural.
As it is, in my opinion McCartney came up with many memorable bass lines, and was responsible for many, many great songs.
And, while we're all busy comparing, it is futile.
Everybody, whoever, did and does their thing, and that's what it really is all about.

Again, quite possibly true... although you'll notice that THAT was not what I was saying.

Ironically, as I understand it, the Shadows enjoyed one of their most successful years in 1963. Wasn't that the year of 'Beatlemania'? So it certainly would NOT be true to say that the fab four stole their thunder. '63 was also the year that John Rostill joined the band.

Things were always going to change. Sooner or later...

[drakula63]

Thinking of the above inspired me to go back and watch last week's episode of Britain's Best Part Time Band. Having just listened to The Caffrey's brilliant 3-part harmony, Peter Hook had something to say about playing in a band which, I think, speaks for most, if not all, of us here. Check it out on i-Player, round about 35 minutes into the programme. What he said caught me smack in the heart, and I must confess I broke down, thinking of all the fun we had playing this wonderful music. Please take a minute to check it out at http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... nd-2-north See if he's right, and thank your/our lucky stars we can still do it.
Love,
Mart.

I finally watched the episode in question last night on iPlayer and found it very interesting. Thanks.