John Entwistle (1944–2002), bass guitarist of the English rock band The Who, was nicknamed «Thunderfingers» for a rapid, aggressive right-hand plucking technique that turned the bass guitar, in his hands, into a lead instrument in its own right. His playing on tracks like «My Generation» was a genuine novelty in the 1960s, when bass parts were typically simple and understated. By 1993, footage of Entwistle’s technique was widely circulated among musicians and rock fans as a byword for flashy, hyperactive finger-work — exactly the image conjured by Chicha’s nervous plucking at his own shirt sleeve.
John Entwistle
