What Do the League of Gentlemen, Gang of Four, B-52s and Indigo Girls Have In Common?

One killer bass guitarist...

Thumbnail from “League of Gentlemen,” Youtube

We too often overlook people who are “only” session musicians. But many of the best musicians are career session musicians whose intuition and technical capabilities can make all the difference in whether or not a song “clicks.” They are the unsung heroes behind many of the big stars. Sara Lee is one of her generation's great session and touring musicians.

Lee is part of a cohort of women who became famous for playing the electric bass. For various reasons, women rarely broke through playing guitar or drums. But it was acceptable, even cool, for bands to have female bassists for a time. So we got Tina Weymouth, Sara Lee, Gail Ann Dorsey, and Jill Emery, to name a few.

Lee is both good at what she does and versatile. She has performed in a wide range of styles and always meshes well with the other musicians, bringing out just the right sound to suit the moment, even when all hell is breaking loose around her.

She was never going to be a headliner, keeping to the more traditional persona of the supporting bass player, but her actual playing style is not at all rote. She brings a funky, groovy sensibility even to punk and progressive metal songs. You may not know she played on a song, but you remember the catchy drive of her bass line.

Lee’s first major gig was with Robert Fripp’s “League of Gentlemen” project. Fripp, a leader of the progressive rock movement and best known for his band King Crimson, has a reputation for being extraordinarily demanding to work with. Lee thrived in that setting, doing some great work, as you will see here.

After League of Gentlemen, she moved on to the Gang of Four. For those unfamiliar with them, we are talking about one of the most influential and transgressive — some of their songs were banned in the UK — bands of the 80s. They are cited as formative influences by groups as diverse as REM, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana, and Bloc Party. Lee was with them for two years, during which they reached their peak popularity and produced their biggest hit (see below).

Lee has also recorded and toured with the B-52s and spent several years working with the folk-rock group Indigo Girls and doing session work with many other artists. She recently got together with the surviving original members of Gang of Four to tour and support their compilation album.

The history of women in rock can sometimes read like a litany of blocked opportunities, discrimination, sexism, and stereotyping. Sara Lee may have encountered some of that, but for once, it’s not a major theme of her story.

She has had a remarkable career — if one judges by the quality of the musicians she has worked with and the respect in which they hold her — and she’s still going strong

The League of Gentlemen: “Inductive Resonance” (1980)

Robert Fripp is regarded as synonymous with King Crimson, but he actually put Crimson on hiatus several times to focus on experimental projects. Typically, the sounds of those projects would find their way back into later Crimson recordings.

Sara Lee had almost no prior experience before Fripp tapped her to play bass on “League of Gentlemen” (she was working on staff at a record label when he heard her jamming). I’d say she met the occasion.

Gang of Four: “I Love a Man in a Uniform” (1982)

This was a staple of the club scene in the early 80s. Of course, most of the people dancing to it were not paying much attention to the political content of the lyrics, but that content was sufficient to get the song banned in the UK during the run-up to the Falklands war.

Ban or no ban, this became the group’s biggest hit, driven heavily by Lee’s groovy bass line and backing vocals.

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B-52s: “Love Shack”

As a friend of mine says, “The B-52s can do no wrong.” Lee throws down a great bass line and does a cameo as the lady in the bathtub.

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These are my favorite samples of Sara Lee’s work. I’ve found that readers rarely click on three, let alone four or more links, but she worked with a dozen or more New Wave groups in the 80s, including the Thompson Twins and Robyn Hitchcock. She also later toured with mainstream acts, including Todd Rundgren. Her longest stint with one group was with the Indigo Girls — there are lots of clips up on youtube if you want to check any of them out.