When synthesizers become commonplace in the 1980s, bassists had to adapt or die! Among the most adept at working with the emerging digital technology that revolutionized (or some say “killed”) the pop music landscape was Paul Gardiner with Gary Numan’s Tubeway Army, and later as the anchor of Numan’s solo band.
Gardiner fortified synthesizer motifs with unison lines, pocket grooves, harmonic extensions, and fretless which afforded the instrument a role – albeit a greatly reduced one.
A composer and keyboardist, Gardiner also recorded a few minor hit singles under his own name in his native UK including a remake of the Velvet Underground’s “Venus in Furs,” and also guested on Robert Palmer’s groundbreaking Clues collection in 1980.
