Les from Hull,
What a shame that you think just because of the traditional role that the bass has played in electric music that the few people who have stood up and decided that the bass doesn't have to be limiting should be smacked! Jack Bruce is great, but anything that can make a sound can be a lead instrument. DId you ever think that most of the guys that have been mentioned are good because they stood around just keeping plodding time? No, they decided to do something that stretched the capability of their instrument, and since most bass players are former guitarists, can you blame them! Dave Pegg has said that his amazing bass work on the classic instrumental Dirty LInen was not because he dreamed of playing a jig on the bass, but because he couldn't think of anything else to do! I don't know if that's true, but he single handedly did something with a bass that had never really been done, and for that he should be slagged because its more than two bars?