Malcolm Foster is a British musician known best for being the bass player for

the Pretenders Pretenders are an English–American rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete Fa ...

between 1982 and 1987, and a session player for

Simple Minds Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977. They have released a string of hit singles, becoming best known internationally for "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the '' Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United St ...

between 1989 and 1995.

Career

The Pretenders

Foster received an invitation from

Chrissie Hynde Christine Ellen Hynde (born September 7, 1951) is an American musician. She is a founding member and the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band the Pretenders, and one of the band's two remaining original members alon ...

to join the Pretenders after Hynde dismissed original bassist

Pete Farndon Peter Granville Farndon (12 June 1952 – 14 April 1983) was an English bassist and founding member of the rock band the Pretenders. In addition to playing bass with the group, Farndon sang backup vocals and co-wrote two of the group's songs ("T ...

. Foster permanently joined in late 1982, and helped the band finish their 1984 album, ''

Learning to Crawl ''Learning to Crawl'' is the third studio album by British-American rock band The Pretenders. It was released on 21 January 1984 after a hiatus during which band members James Honeyman-Scott and Pete Farndon died of drug overdoses. The album's ...

'' (his only full album with them). ''

'' was the band's commercial rebound after losing

James Honeyman-Scott James Honeyman-Scott (4 November 1956 – 16 June 1982) was an English rock guitarist, songwriter and founding member of the band The Pretenders. With the band, Honeyman-Scott established a reputation, in the words of AllMusic, as "one of the ...

and Pete Farndon, featuring hits such as "

Back on the Chain Gang "Back on the Chain Gang" is a song written by Chrissie Hynde and originally recorded by her band the Pretenders, and released as a single by Sire Records in September 1982. The song also was released on '' The King of Comedy'' soundtrack album i ...

," " Middle of The Road," and their cover of the Persuaders' hit "

Thin Line Between Love and Hate "Thin Line Between Love and Hate" is the title of a 1971 song by the New York City-based R&B vocal group The Persuaders. The song was written and produced by the Poindexter brothers, Robert and Richard, and was also co-written by Robert's wife, ...

". After the band's 1984–1985 tour, which wrapped up with a show at

Live Aid Live Aid was a multi-venue benefit concert held on Saturday 13 July 1985, as well as a music-based fundraising initiative. The original event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 fami ...

, the Pretenders went in to work on their fourth album, ''

Get Close ''Get Close'' is the fourth studio album by Rock music, rock band the Pretenders, released on 20 October 1986 in the United Kingdom by Real Records and on 4 November 1986 in the United States by Sire Records. The album contains the band's two ...

''. Hynde was not satisfied with

Martin Chambers Martin Dale Chambers (born 4 September 1951 in Hereford) is an English musician, who is best known as a founding member and drummer of the rock band the Pretenders. In addition to playing the drums with the group, Chambers sings backing vocals ...

' drumming and let him go. During another session, Foster decided to follow Chambers out of the group.

Simple Minds

Foster joined Simple Minds in 1989, replacing bassist

John Giblin John Giblin, is an active session musician, contributing mainly as an acoustic and electric bass player, and spanning genres of jazz, classical, rock, folk and avant-garde music. Best known as a studio musician, recording film scores and cont ...

. Foster was a session bassist on the albums ''

Street Fighting Years ''Street Fighting Years'' is the eighth studio album by Scottish rock band Simple Minds, released in May 1989 by record label Virgin Records worldwide apart from the US, where it was released by A&M. Produced by Trevor Horn and Stephen Lipson, ...

'' (1989), ''

Real Life Real life is a phrase used originally in literature to distinguish between the real world and fictional, virtual or idealized worlds, and in acting to distinguish between actors and the characters they portray. It has become a popular term on the ...

'' (1991), and ''

Good News from the Next World ''Good News from the Next World'' is the tenth studio album by Scottish rock band Simple Minds, released in January 1995 by record label Virgin. The album's recording started in the band's own studio in Perthshire, Scotland, in 1993, and finish ...

'' (1995).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Malcolm Living people British bass guitarists The Pretenders members Simple Minds members 1956 births