https://www.guitarworld.com/features/tony-visconti-recounts-the-making-of-david-bowies-the-man-who-sold-the-world
Your bassline on The Man Who Sold The World – the song – is very melodic to the point that you could identify the song purely from the bassline.
“Well, as I said, we wrote our own parts. Mick came up with his. I put the running scales in the chorus because the melody and lyrics were so sparse, 'Who knows, not me,' I played 16 notes under those four words alone.“
The actual riff for TMWSTW is cunningly simple, yet complex in its ability to sit over the shifting chords. Was that kind of compositional idea instinctive rather than something that was thought out theoretically?
”Mick and I worked our parts out against David’s simple chord structure. Mick doubled my bass part for the choruses. We were into the simplicity of the song and didn’t want to add too much to it. For the record, it was an eight-track recording so there was no room left to add more anyway. The limitations of tracks in those days made musicians think more creatively rather than leaving it all to the mix.“
Much more at the link about the full album.
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