"If you swing too much, it interrupts the head-banging, and that’s the last thing I wanted to do – the head-banging reigns supreme!" In praise of Living Colour's Vivid

In summer 1988, at a time when dance music was on the rise and heavy rock was dominated by hairspray and make-up, a band appeared who added a huge dose of funk to their riffs and permanently refuted the preconception that rock was the property of white artists. 

Formed in 1984, Living Colour were made up of vocalist Corey Glover, guitarist Vernon Reid, bassist Muzz Skillings and drummer Will Calhoun. From the off, they were not a band likely to settle for the status quo. After impressing Mick Jagger, who produced two tracks on their debut album and creating a buzz in New York, they embarked on a career that lasts to this day.

That first album, Vivid, reached Number 6 in the US album charts and, although it never charted in the UK, remains a Class A example of the rock-funk hybrid that was developing in the late 80s.

At the time of recording Vivid, Muzz Skillings was most commonly seen playing standard and custom ESP Horizon basses, as well as a Spector NS2, all fitted with steel roundwound strings. His amplification was either Trace Elliot, Ampeg or Gallien-Krueger, with the occasional Hartke XL cabinet, the flavor of the month at the time.

“At the time, rock music was filled with a lot of straight eighth notes,” Skillings told BP “We wanted to get away from that, but if you swing too much, it interrupts the head banging, and that’s the last thing I wanted to do – the head banging reigns supreme!”

Fire up the album, and Malcolm X’s ‘Message To The Grass Roots’ speech from 1963 opens Cult Of Personality before Vernon Reid’s guitar riff sets the tone and the powerhouse rhythm section joins the musical blitzkrieg. Glover offers a vocal filled with soul and anger; Will Calhoun demonstrates skills that would soon make him the talk of the drumming community; and Reid’s face-melting solo reveals why he was asked to play with none other than Jack Bruce in later years. As a calling card, Cult Of Personality is some statement of intent. Listen to Skillings' isolated bass part here.

I Want To Know is more standard pop-rock fare by comparison, but the bass tone is sublime. Skillings’ tight fingerstyle tone is embellished with razor-sharp plucks and snaps throughout. Middle Man is a rockgroove bass workout, the rhythm section flexing their muscles, while Desperate People, a tale of drug addiction, sees Skillings more than holding his own in the bass department. 

Open Letter (To A Landlord) starts with a soulful chorus from Glover that eventually makes way for a killer fingerstyle bass groove; this underpins the verses before dropping back to a half-time figure in the subsequent choruses.

Chuck D and Flavor Flav from Public Enemy offer their rapping talents across a bass solo from 2’08” to 2’17” on Funny Vibe, a funk-rock instrumental featuring a slap groove that’s tighter than two coats of paint. Memories Can’t Wait features a sixteenth bass figure in the verses, and there are some superb slid harmonics, perhaps on a fretless, from 3’18” onwards.

If you’re looking for a bass solo of sorts, head to 2’16” on Broken Hearts where Skillings dances around the dusty end of the fretboard with a melodic fingerstyle solo that beautifully fits the style and context of the song. Glamour Boys, which received significant airplay in the UK in the summer of 1988, gave the UK audience a false sense of what the band were about, but as one of the Jagger-produced songs, (the other being Which Way To America) and with its in-your-face slap tone, it’s no surprise the radio stations started to take notice.

Skillings only stayed with Living Colour for two albums, but he certainly left his mark on the bass-playing community. As a debut album, Vivid was an angry ball of colorful energy that still shines brightly today. 

Vivid is available to buy or stream.