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Tony McGuinness (musician)
Encyclopedia
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
-born bassist
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
of the Irish rock band Aslan
Aslan (rock band)
Aslan are an Irish rock band from Dublin who formed in 1982. Comprising Christy Dignam, Joe Jewell, Billy McGuinness, Alan Downey and Rodney O'Brien, the band has released five studio albums - Feel No Shame , Goodbye Charlie Moonhead , Here Comes Lucy Jones , Waiting For This Madness To End and...
. He originally started his music career as a drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but switched to bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
soon after being influenced by watching his cousin Steve Garvey on bass guitar for UK punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
outfit The Buzzcocks. He is one of the co-founders of Aslan, and wrote many of their most popular songs including "She's So Beautiful", "Comfort Me", "Jealous Little Thing", "Sooner Or Later" and "Here Comes The Sun". He also produced some of the band's b-sides
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
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He is highly regarded by fellow musicians and critics as an outstanding bass player/acoustic & songwriter, with an unorthodox and unique playing style which ultimately gave Aslans music that distinctive sound.Tony has also worked with Sinead O'Connor & co wrote with The Script.
In February 2008, McGuinness announced that he was to move to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
with his wife Margaret, and daughter Georgia, and would be replaced by Rodney O'Brien as bass player for Aslan.