Best bass lines are thumpin' to please

Jim: Thank you for your article on Roger Waters (July 23). Theidea of best bass hooks would make an interesting sidebar, as Iinstantly thought of "Come Together" by the Beatles and "Walking onthe Moon" by the Police.

Bruce Colon

Best bass line? My vote goes to the Animals for "It's My Life."A great opening to a powerful song.

Ken Dietz

Other great bass lines: "Breakdown," the Alan Parsons Project;"Sledgehammer," Peter Gabriel; "Parallels," Yes; "Long Cool Woman (ina Black Dress)," the Hollies; "Stayin' Alive," the Bee Gees (hate toadmit it, but); "Good Times," Chic; "Come Together," the Beatles;"Bouree," Jethro Tull (by way of Bach, who, if you think about it,wrote the best bass lines of all time); "Electric Funeral," BlackSabbath (Geezer is the band's secret weapon).

John Hirn

I'd like to add my two cents and say that Tommy James & theShondells' "I Think Were Alone Now" and Queen's "Another One Bitesthe Dust" (and to a lesser degree, "Under Pressure") are right upthere as far as bass lines go. RJ

Bass lines? What about Keith Richards' (yes, Keith; look at thealbum credits) on "Live With Me"?

Marty Lennartz

Jim: Enjoyed your thoughts on Roger Waters/Pink Floyd. One thing,though: For "Money," you wrote the bass line out as dum da-da-dum,dum dum dum, which musically counts as five. The actual bass line isin seven-four time, which would write out as dum da-da-dum, dum dumdum dum dum. Ethan Spotts

A. Ethan's right. Dum, dum indeed.

Dear Sun-Times: Upon reading the Fatboy Slim and Chemical Brothersreview by Jim DeRogatis (July 21), I was immediately conscious of hisdisdain for electronic dance music. Throughout his review hisopinions about the genre are evident, showing that his review wasnothing more than an outsiders' perspective on the scene.

Jeremy Thompson

Jim: Just what, exactly, is your bone with techno? OK, so youobviously don't "get it." But your personal distaste and ignorancehardly justify your vitriolic rant. Rather, your unfounded prejudicemakes it obvious you know nothing of the genre. AnnaHanuszewicz

Anna and Jeremy: Call me old school, but the central point in myFatboy Slim/Chemical Brothers review was that techno is bestappreciated in a rave setting, not a tarted-up rock concert like theone at the Aragon. That contention comes from having enjoyed a lotof techno at quite a few raves, all of them featuring better musicthan Fatboy Slim and the Chemical Brothers.