I was tapping out a rhythm on my wine glass this evening (specifically the stem and base – try it and see) when it occurred to me that the riff resembled the opening sequencer bit on Roxy Music’s Same Old Scene. That naturally led me to ponder their place in this old scene that I like to call music. Are they given their props for their melding of rock, pop, roll, space and eyeliner. And saxophone? Or have they been tarnished by Ferry’s slide into crooner-ism? I have many fond memories of playing their albums, but can’t remember the last time I chose to listen to them. So tell me if there is something in what I’m saying, or am I just bogus, man.
Where do you stand on Roxy Music?*
by 150 Comments
*Leave your punchline in the comments. Ta 🤪
I was a bit late for Roxy. By the time I was really aware of them they’d got to Avalon. They were a massive influence on a lot of the bands that I grew up listening to and usually mentioned in the same breath as Bowie – but I think a lot of what they did isn’t as easy to appreciate after the fact (unlike Mr Jones’s ouvre) – you probably had to ‘be there’ to truly get it.
If you grew up in the 80s and 90s the music press (which was important in those days) was always going on about Bowie, Eno, Iggy, The Velvets/Lou Reed etc but I barely recall any mention of Roxy. The fact that Byron Ferrari comes across as a rather dour toff doesn’t help, and those album sleeves date them in a very specific era. They’re very 70s whereas Bowie isn’t. I’ve always been intrigued by them though, liked the obvious big tunes and I plumped for the CD box set last year and it’s excellent. I really like the music but it requires a bit more effort to appreciate, and I still need to spend some more time with it.
I really like the live album ‘Viva’ as well, it helps to put them in some context hearing them live in the Safari Suit era – you get this really odd contrast of these slick, stylish art rock tunes but then the crowd sound like they’re at a football match “ROXY! ROXY! ROXY!”
Viva was the first of their albums I heard after an older work colleague lent it to me. Must have been early eighties. It still holds a special place in my heart.
The music press? The first two, or I think three Roxy albums appear in the NME’s (in?)famous Top 100 Albums list of 1985.
Ah Ok. Didn’t read NME/Melody Maker until about 87 – prior to that I’d have been reading Smash Hits from around 83-ish and maybe Record Mirror from 86-87.
IIRC* the NME scribe given the job to comment on the list at the time observed that, while the OY(OTR)H had a total of three albums nominated by the collective staff, they all pitched up in the top 100, while Bob Marley or the Wailers had ten different albums nominated but the split vote resulted in them missing out on the 100 altogether.
This, he observed, illustrated “the benefits of a university education” (the wag!).
(*It’s 32 years ago, I may be mixing up my acts..)
You’re right. The same thing happened with Stevie Wonder and some other notable acts – compare them with Television, who got right there in the Top 10. Danny Kelly was the compiler / editor, bless ‘im.
African Herbsman was in “the next 10” over the page along with Climate of Hunter, Building the Perfect Beast (wha??) and, er, Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel.
I’m old enough to remember when every – that’s every – band from 1978-82 said their influences were “Bowie, Roxy, Velvets”… they were massively influential for musically inclined teens in the early ’70s, but managed to parlay their glam/prog beginnings into new wave & new romantic credibility, and then into the super-smooth upper atmosphere (or cul-de-sac, OOAA) where Ferry has remained to this day… mind you, I saw Roxy live at the Isle Of Wight festival in 2005, and was impressed that virtually the whole set came from the first 2 albums, though the crowd seemed slightly nonplussed…
(… and that debut Roxy album still sounds bonkers over 40 years later…)
In some ways I think they’re the perfect band. They had a bit of everything that’s good. They kept away from the worn-out furrow of blues rock (which gave them appeal to the next generation of acts), they had experimental, proggy aspects without getting drawn into excessive soloing, whimsy or pomposity, their songs are often catchy and melodic, they were happy to embrace basic three chord rock ‘n’ roll yet the musicianship was very much there. They appealed to both the old wave and new wave.
Every album is at least excellent and at best up there with the best, as in the case of For Your Pleasure. That’s a run of 8 superb albums. They don’t really have the intriguing myth behind them of Bowie or Lou to keep their name among those most referenced but that has nothing to do with the records. Much was made of Eno’s contribution but it’s really down to Ferry – the originality of the concept, the high standards, the songwriting.
Eno quite happily stated that he thought “Stranded” was a better album than their debut or “For Your Pleasure”.
He was wrong. FYP is the one.
I agree with Eno.
He was excellent in Twin Peaks.
I have the first three albums (I think – I definitely have three of them anyway*) which I bought in a sale at HMV a few years ago – 3 for £10 or something like that) and I enjoy them whenever they come up on the iPod but they’ve never made a permanent impression. It’s like listening to them for the first time again every time they crop up.
*I’ve checked and I have the first, second and fourth.
Hmmm … well that means you’re missing the third one, Tony. Which happens to be “Stranded”. Which is unequivocally a 25-carat, copper-bottomed Roxy classic. You can’t go wrong with it. It’s got Street Life, Mother of Pearl, A Song for Europe and (affects Bryan Ferry voice) “Ama … Zona”. Oh yes, an absolute corker.
We need Tiggerlion on this thread. He’s a real Roxy man!
You are right about what I’m missing, and probably right about what I’m missing too.
I came really late to them, but I like them a lot, even the Avalon era smoothie-croon stuff. For Your Pleasure is the one, though.
This, children, is the right answer.
Another late-comer. I bought the CD Box Set for the Baroness when it came out (2012) as a Xmas prezzie only for the pampered one to say she didn`t want any CDs. She was unaware that I had bought the box set, so I thoiught bollocks to it I`ll have it.
I`d only known Roxy Music through that Greatest Hits LP most of the UK owned and the box set sat unplayed on the shelf for five years. For some reason** I got the box out this morning and have been listening to the albums chronologically. I`m nearing the end of `Siren`. Feckin` hell what a strange band they were, Art Rock is probably the best description but Strange Art/Prog Rock is better IMHO. I know I referred to them as strange but up to and including `Siren` amd upon first listening of each of the first 5, I reckon they were bloody superb.
However I`m aware od the critisism of the next 3 but I`m gonna listen without predjudice.
**I only came across this blog while listening to `Siren`.
***I forgot, my favourite song so far, `Mother Of Pearl`. I can`t go on to describe why, remember I`ve only heard it once.
I adore Roxy Music.
I was just the right age, turning 14 just as the debut was released (on the same day as Ziggy Stardust), my head full of the wonder of T.Rex, Roxy Music’s space age sound blew me away. It also helped that my formative listening years were supervised by a slightly older cousin. He bought both Ziggy and Roxy and I found I preferred Roxy.
Their performances on TOTP & OGWT gripped me. I saw them at the Liverpool Empire, April 1973, then again for the Country Life tour and a final third time at Liverpool Docks for the Summer Festival, in 2007(?). This latter performance was easily their best, even though Phil Manzanera looked like he’d wandered off the streets having slept rough the previous night.
Those first two albums sound like nothing else on earth, even today. Bryan was always a romantic crooner, constantly yearning for the girl who had gone or wasn’t quite there. Just listen to the lyrics. The fire and passion was provided by the musicians, MacKay and Manzanera being spectacularly brilliant. Stranded is my favourite of all their albums. The ‘great’ Paul Thompson was augmented by a superb bassist for Stranded, Country Life & Siren and it shows.
They needed a break after Siren but their reunion in 1979 is grossly underestimated. Manifesto is a fabulous album, combining artful dance-pop with fireworks. The single, Trash, inspired the New Romantics as much as David Bowie. Thereafter, the success of the disco makeover songs and the removal of Thompson led to a smoother sound. The fire and passion of the musicians waned. There was still tremendous quality in the writing and the performance. Avalon is a masterclass in grace and beauty delivered with an almost insouciant cool.
They never made a bad album and created at least five stonewall classics. What is there not to like?
I rank Roxy Music in my top five best bands of all time!! 😀
Their debut and Ziggy on the same day! It doesn’t get much better than that
Agreed. I listened to Manifesto again a few weeks ago and its great. Easily up there with the run of the first four albums
Virginia Plain and Pyjamarama – surely two of the best “non-album” singles ever?
And completely unconventional song structures – neither one has a chorus
Their TOTP debut is up there with Bowie’s Starman as a major 1972 WTF moment. Sadly unavailable on YT. Here’s the Country Life line-up and one of their very best choons Out Of The Blue
There’s a lot of love for the Roxys on here, as I recall:
I’m a huge fan of the band in all its phases, and in Ferry as a solo artist; I think he’s underrated in many respects, mainly due to the antagonism emanating from the music press in the 70s and the cliched ‘toff’ image that endures (with his complicity at times, it must be said). I’m in a Facebook Roxy/Ferry group which seems heavily weighted towards Roxy Mk I (first five albums) but I think Avalon is as much a work of art on its own terms as the earlier, more consciously arty material. There’s a place in my life for both retro-futurist, witty avant-rock and sophisticated, atmospheric pop soundscapes.
Cheers BT – I wasn’t around when this was posted, [I should have done a search, but never mind, Roxy deserve two posts a year at least!] – but I’m kind of spooked that Tigger and I both chose the same video to accompany our posts…
I was spooked too. Like minds and all that. 😉
I imagine I may be the only one here who was introduced to Roxy Music through the medium of BBC Comedy:
Love ’em. I remember an inky front cover, Melody Maker I think, eulogising them, so my mate Adam and I set off into Brighton, to the record shop then in the Lanes, and listening to it, both sides, on headphones. Mine had an electrical buzz and that put me off side 2, funnily to this day, but side 1 had played and I was already smitten. A week later and they were on Top of the Pops and they were my new favourite band. I suspect I have all the albums, dull moments in each but stonkers aplenty likewise, all good in their different ways. Here are my favourites:
If there was something.
Editions of You
Song for Europe
Out of the Blue
Both Ends Burning
Trash
O Yeah
Avalon
That clip is genius – have you seen Big Train’s George Martin sketch too?
I was born in 83 so totally missed the boat with them. I thought it was the sort of thing you had to be there to appreciate.
However, I then heard Love Is The Drug on a night out & it clicked. I absolutely loved it when played LOUD & decided to investigate further. I now think all of their albums have a real charm & are great works.
Great band, great albums and people in Oz still talk not only about their first tour but also the reunion tour. The latter being a mark of a great band.
Roxy Music, I was given that CD box set as a gift, I’ve only ever played the first album, after reading some of the comments on here I may sit down one afternoon for a good listen.
I got the CD box a couple of Christmases ago. Now I’m considering the half-speed mastered vinyl box as well. Only the price puts me off.
I also have that CD box set which is fabulous.
The only dissappointment was that it wast initially advertised as including hi-res versions of all albums, but that was quietly dropped just prior to release (no idea why and whether these hi-res masters do exist for a later release).
I do have Avalon on multi channel SACD and it’s one of the best surround albums out there – it’s not the whizz bang effects whizzing around the speakers type, but the surround really enhances the overall “atmosphere” of the album.
They did come out in Japan as SACDs a couple of years later.
So did the Byron Ferrari solo albums, btw.
My favourite of the NME’s variations on his name was Biriani Ferret
Me and my mate used to refer to Gram Parsons as Grant Parsnip.
The long winter evenings etc…
Absolute genius band.
The first three albums still sound like nothing else. Song For Europe? Amazona? Dream Home?
Even the weaker albums (yes, that’s you Manifesto and Siren) are 5k albums. They have been an ever-present for me since I started listening to music properly – Flesh & Blood (with that fantastically stylish cover) is O Level revision, I had 2 (2!) thin leather ties because of the Jealous Guy video, I crashed my bike when cycling back from Woolworth’s with the ‘Oh Yeah’ single etc
Have loyally followed the Bry albums – some are great, none terrible (although don’t have the love for In Your Mind)
Live – never saw them in their heyday. Seen BF a few times and Roxy themselves in the IOW Festival and best of all on their last tour at the O2 – cue couples retreating as the non-hits keep coming, a particular exodus for a great version of Prairie Rose.
…and I have even been able to cope with the sax
..and I was very excited when this turned up
@timtunes. My favourite song from ‘Avalon’. So much resonance for me. The first time I ventured out on my own to a gig when I had just turned 16 was to see Japan at the Edinburgh Playhouse on their last tour. I booked myself into a posh bed and breakfast which happened to look down upon the stage door. As soon as the gig was over I was back in my room looking over the imagined glamour unfolding before my innocent eyes. ‘To turn you on’ seemed to encapsulate that moment for me. Avalon the album was a touchstone for all Roxy/Bowie/Japan/Simple Minds fans back then. Such a Romantic time.
Is this a fell asleep a boy, awoke a man story, @bricameron? I await the appearance of the tart with a heart, well-preserved, who took your cherry and didn’t charge.
Me too!😜
Nice story – I too took in Japan on that tour
As did I – great times
Worth mentioning that they’re one of those rare breed who were every bit as much a singles band as an albums act… loads of compilations available of course, but as a single-disk digest, the “Street Life: 20 Great Hits” set is still pretty unbeatable, get a load of…
Virginia Plain
A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall
Pyjamarama
Do The Strand
These Foolish Things
Street Life
Let’s Stick Together
Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
Love Is the Drug
Sign Of The Times
Dance Away
Angel Eyes
Oh Yeah!
Over You
Same Old Scene
In The Midnight Hour
More Than This
Avalon
Slave to Love
Jealous Guy
Pretty awesome but weakened by some of the solo Ferry stuff unfortunately
Wrongitty wrong wrong wrong. The first two Bri solos are utterly ace.
I love Ferry’s early solo albums. Probably helps that when I first heard them I thought most of the songs were his own compositions. Ah, youth
Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall… These Foolish Things… The Tracks of My tears… Don’t Worry Baby.. Christ, this guy’s a genius!
I’ve a special affection for that album, which I got for a quid on the last stall on a car boot sale to pack up. A quid. This was 1998 – Trough Vinyl. Doesn’t he look fuck-off cool on that cover? I walked home with it under my arm (no bag) across an empty football pitch, well-pleased. Put it straight on, very loud, Paul Thompson’s drums kicking me in the guts. A great memory.
😂. The greatest songwriter ever! I did say *most* of the songs, Mooch.
He always looked amazing though, didn’t he?
(What’s the drummer called again?)
Can’t remember.
Pffft. Mine was 50p. 😜
Yeah… but you had to get up at 5 in the morning on a Sunday for that. I fell out of bed at ten, got dressed, walked across a field and picked up that album as if it had been prearranged.
No unpleasant bending involved.
Full disclosure: these days we don’t leave the house until half eight on a Sunday.
There was some unpleasant kneeling, though.
You should get kneepads.
Clever car booters carry a cushion. So do I.
(And so does Doc Cox.)
I blew up your cushion… but you blew my mind!
The Street Life compilation was my gateway to Roxy Music, courtesy of my Dad, who played it all the time in the car in the late ’80s. I was born in ’73, so missed them first time round, but they are definitely in my Top 10 bands. I am as much a fan of Avalon as I am For Your Pleasure. I also love ’70s Split Enz, some of it produced by Phil Manzanera.
I like both the early and the post-comeback stuff, and a lot of the Ferry solo albums, albeit cover heavy in many cases, are pretty good. They want shooting for their version of “In The Midnight Hour” though.
I’m a huge Wilson Pickett fan but I really like their version of ITMH.
I took a year 8 group for Art.
The topic they were covering was Pop Art.
I played them Roxy Music as an example of Pop Art.
They appeared somewhat confused.
Yes if anything under-rated. Pips in Manchester in the early eighties had a ‘Bowie, Roxy, Velvets’ night and if not quite the incredible level of the first, easily better than the third. @metal-mickey nails it absolutely – one mark of a truly great band is that they are both a singles and albums band. I might add another mark being that they can do uptembo numbers and ballads equally well. And their catalogue is almost freakishly consistent from start to end.
And immediately thought of the Mao fronts Roxy sketch too. Kevin Eldon’s finest hour.
And they’ve made the best-ever farewell album. Discuss.
Avon: not only a great album, but the entire album is themed around farewells, the transience of good things, and loss – the final track is called Tara for god sakes. Their sound also seems so perfect, but so ethereal and minimal on this album its impossible to think of anything come afterwards.
I’m reading backwards of course, but as an ending it’s remarkable.
Avalon even.
Tara makes me think of “ta-ra”, the repetition of which ends For Your Pleasure. Perhaps it’s intentional.
Look. here comes Lodey, dishevelled and muttering “Bah, humbug. Give me Dr Feelgood any day” before lurching off for another anger-control session. One last “Bunch of art school posers” and he’s gone
Well, I love Dr Feelgood just as much as anyone. I love Roxy equally. I was a long time naysayer for the post-Siren albums, regarded them as a pale imitation of real Roxy. Having heard them again after many years of ignoring, I find myself liking them more and more. Must be getting old…
Wherever they are inaudible
Walks over to Mousey, thinks of a hug, thinks better of it…
ok If it’s a bit of down by the jetty grunt you want Roxy aren’t going to give it to you but I’m surprised you don’t like them @Mousey. Any reasons you want to articulate ?
@Junior-Wells – it’s Ferry’s voice. Wobbly, out of tune, pretentious.
A band I feel I should love more than I do. Maybe it’s because of Ferry’s relatively weak voice. I think most of the albums are somewhat patchy. At their best they were pretty untouchable though.
Coincidentally I was playing the boxset on Sunday and thinking how good they were. Especially the deep album cuts that are less familiar. I love the saxophone on the first couple of albums. Phil Manzanera and Eno both went on to do great things so it wasn’t just a case of the singer getting all the fame.
Just in case you missed it – http://bryanferry.com/tour/
I bought the Roxy singles in the early 70s but never bought an LP until I heard John Peel play Viva! in its entirety just before it was released. I still love that album. Then I discovered the back catalogue.
Manifesto/Flesh & Blood/Avalon era Roxy is like another band to me, and I remember being very disappointed when I heard them. I never bought those last three albums.
I’m very surprised that this view is not more widely held.
Well I cannot concur. I much prefer the last 3 to the earlier, funnier stuff.
Soz. That’s what I meant – that, either way, there’d be tribes who liked the “early” but not the “late” or vice versa, not – as seems to be the case here – that the same folk who like far out stuff such as The Bogus Man just adore the hyperslick cocktail bar smoothies on F&B and Avalon.
(Mind, I kinda like ’em both, so you’d wonder where I get that idea from..)
Beyond the ‘hits’ I’d never explored much Roxy until a few years back when I got the opportunity to interview Byron Ferrari, around the time he put out that album of Roxy tunes performed by a Dixieland jazz orchestra. While the interview was a bit underwhelming – he was taciturn, mumbling and only unexpectedly talkative when, ironically, it came to his difficulties writing lyrics – the encounter got me listening to the back catalogue and finding much to love.
The sheer strangeness of the first couple of Eno albums must have been bizarre upon release as was I guess, that mad mix of arthouse, pop, futurism, retro glam and rock. ‘Do The Strand’ is all these, as well as bonkers lyrics “Rhododendron is a nice flower!” etc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiqcS1bIRW0
I’m also rather fond of Avalon-era Roxy as that castanets-and-keyboards sound reminds me of early 80s childhood.
There he looks very much like a workshy fop.
You’re mistaking him for our Mr Eno, he’s the work-shy fop in the glittery boa, manically pretending he has a fucking clue what any of those faders and buttons do as he stabs at a few keys on his little electronic keyboard, hoping he’s somewhere or other near to the tune. It took him the first three albums to figure out how he could justify his credits. I reckon he must have had some compromising Polaroids, the rascal.
Bryan Ferry is the only genuine working class member of the band. He hails from County Durham and his father was a farm labourer who looked after pit ponies.
Brian Eno’s full name is Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno.
Go figure.
All those middle names are made up. His dad was a postman!
The men’s a dem oik, don’t you know!
Anyway I really meant that BF looks like Vic Reeves in about 1991.
“Our next act on Novelty Island is… the 801”
St John Le Baptiste De La Salle is just one name and Brian, Peter, George are just the members of the Stones, Who and Beatles with the biggest noses..
Re: “Brian, Peter, George are just the members of the Stones, Who and Beatles with the biggest noses”
Wait a minute, Sewer ….
… you’re saying that George had a bigger hooter than Ringo?
That cannot be!
The real answer was ruder but I’m being careful what I say in case there’s nippers about – there’s a fella up there ⬆️ who was born in 1973 fer Crissakes..
(*You got me. Stretching for a gag I f**ked up. Time for a spell in the AW sin bin)
If you’re a postman you come across an awful lot of names. They were just some of his favourites.
Postman v farm labourer…
Eno also went to an independent boarding school. He didn’t board, though.
Not sure there’s ever been a better album opener than Do The Strand. WHAT a tune.
Yeah – I love that bit towards the end where Ferry sings “Do …. the …. Strandsky”
Marvellous.
The sax break on that song is my wife’s mobile ringtone. That is all.
Bearing in mind the “split” between Siren and Manifesto (pre- and post-“comeback”) has been alluded to so often in this thread, it’s salutory to note that it was only 3 and a half years (October 75 to March 79).
These days that’s probably about average for the time between albums for most major acts, which just shows how different it was in the 70s – Stranded came out only 8 months after For Your Pleasure, which itself came only 10 months after the debut… zeesh.
Paul Thompson. Paul Thompson. Paul Thompson. Paul Thompson. Paul Thompson. Paul Thompson.
Did I mention Paul Thompson?
Good.
PAUL THOMPSON.
Currently a member of Lindisfarne, I suppose via the geordie connection, by way of stints with the Angelic Upstarts and with Concrete Blonde.
Now that’s eclectic!
Lindisfarne… brother in law saw their “last ever show” about 12 years ago …
Original bassman Rod Clements, who left the post-Alan Hull lineup for a long time, has regained the rights to the name and is using it again. He is the only original member left, but the current lineup includes Charlie Harcourt, who was a member of the band in the lineup formed after the original split that led to the formation of Jack The Lad.
In their heyday they were the greatest. First four albums were brilliant. I think I heard that they were all in the studio together when those were recorded. After that, with advances in recording technology, the band members did their thing on their own. I suspect that the spontaneity was lost.
They made some classy pop records after that, but were no longer essential listening.
My starting point/introduction to Roxy was the Lounge Lizard-y cover of Jealous Guy.
More Than This and Avalon did nothing to change my dis-interest.
And neither did Bryan Ferry’s solo stuff.
But there was something slightly mad and unhinges about Virginia Plain, and Do The Strand was a belter.
The aforementioned Street Life 20 Great Hits, and the first couple of albums changed my view.
Fully deserving of a mention on the 70s Pop thread.
Still never really got the arty pretensions, but the original Roxy albums to Siren still get a regular run-out.
I think there is some sort of “law” that says if you’re talking about Roxy Music, you must post this clip:
Fab. I thought I’d seen all the Vic and Bob/Shooting stars skits but I don’t remember that one.
R & M are obsessed with Roxy. Vic Reeves said that once during the writing of The Smell… they had spent an entire day at their office “working”, and at the end all they had to show for it were the words “BRYAN FERRY” on a piece of paper.
They ain’t the only comedy duo with Ferry love – Vince was raised by him don’t you know…
Brilliant band from start to finish, timeless music that never gets old.
One of my favourite tracks (besides the obvious ones) is Ain’t That So. Back in the days of mix tapes I’d try to put that track on most tapes I made.
A great band. I came to in 1979 with the Manifesto singles and then bought the final two albums and love them.
Haven’t played them in years so thanks to this thread I am back to them and happy!
Oh Yeah was their best tune.
It’s odd that Roxy were always cool and Bryan Ferry somehow wasn’t…? Personally I prefer the later Roxy stuff, but only at album level – the early Roxy singles are peerless.
The recent Ferry album Avonmore is bloody marvellous by the way. We have seen him live a couple of times in recent years and the guy is astonishingly good. His attitude at Looe in the pissing rain did rather annoy us though….
You’re so right about Avonmore…bloomin’ fabulous album! His recent tours have been ace, despite his failing voice (he can still muster it up and/ or use it skilfully when it matters). His bands are always top- notch (special shout-out for the divine Jorja Chalmers…bless him, but Andy Mackay never looked that good!). Not sure about BF being uncool…he can even do dad-dancing with élan!
A great band. I came to in 1979 with the Manifesto singles and then bought the final two albums and love them.
Haven’t played them in years so thanks to this thread I am back to them and happy!
Oh Yeah was their best tune.
I am genuinely surprised – I really didn’t know Roxy were held in such high esteem (apart from two or three miserable gits like me). In between listening to other people’s Top 20 yesterday I tried a couple of Roxy albums. Shakes head and wanders off to make some bread. Fair play and all that….
Which ones Lodes ?
Me and Mousey, that makes three of us
Ah, you’re asking about the albums – I started off with the first one then hit a Greatest Hits shuffle…
For your pleasure then Stranded would be my recommendation or even For Your Pleasure a couple of times in a row.
While they may have had hits I never regarded them as a singles band.
Let’s see how long it lasts before “Get that rubbish off and play some proper music” rings through the crisp air (an air currently filled by approximately 623.7 million starlings)
A new personal best from Lady W – 1 minute 24 seconds. A woman of taste and discernment (no idea how I snared her – perhaps my enormous (contd p94))
-ly punchable face?
As ever spot on, Moochie
I’ll only believe when I actually see it, but it looks like the long awaited deluxe box set of the first album will finally be getting a release in Feb next year…….
This was supposed to be released years ago and I believe contains a new 5.1 mix by Steven Wilson.
Looks expensive though
And this is what it looks like, according to a post on the Hoffman Forum…
Mmmmmm, nice!
Funny that there have been many mentions of the Manifesto album but not the title track . Brilliant… one of my favourites. A real sense of drama. “We’re back from the dead… on your knees, peasants!”
Hey… Gary Tibbs is on it!
Talking of lyrics, I’ve always loved the line “Too much cheesecake too soon” (from ‘Editions Of You’)
Does he actually sing that? Always had that down as a comedy misheard lyric a la Living Is Easy With Nice Clothes.
I never doubted it was the real lyric, Google seem to agree…
Splendid! More references to mouthwatering desserts from art-rock records I say.
Always loved “Do the Strand” and could never understand why it wasn’t released as a single when “For Your Pleasure” originally came out.
Have never really taken to solo Ferry though I loved the Dixieland “Jazz Age” album that came out a couple of years ago.
Although I’ve got the box set I had never listened to “Manifesto” until about 20 minutes ago as I always just play “For Your Pleasure” or the “Singles” CD. I’m rectifying that right now so thanks for awakening my interest !
I realise that I may well have to stay behind after class for extra tuition, but my favourite RM album is Flesh + Blood.
Don’t worry, Jack – it’s all good.
Is that a young Paul Carrack in the video in the OP at about 0:25? I had no idea. Gary Tibbs, of course, too.
He’s credited for ‘strings’ on the record.
What, Gary Tibbs as in “Marco! Merrick! Terry Lee! Gary Tibbs and yours truly!”
None other!
Fresh from The Vibrators, to give them some new wave cred. He didn’t play much on the albums, mind. It was an image thing
Blimey, Vibrators –> Roxy Music –> Adam & The Ants, has any other “named” musician (i.e. not a session player) had such a varied career?
What a wonderful thread, Lemonhope. Thank you.
Next up, Talking Heads?
In which case we all know what you’re going to say.
He’s right Tiggs. You and I would have to abstain.
Let’s tell ’em about that Davey Bowie feller… pretty spiffy isn’t he?
I’m thinking of that damn Heads single he’s always harping on about as being their best. The poor misguided fool.
We ought to start a Clash thread to see what Deram would have to say…
And The Stones. Be fascinating to find out.
When I was about 10 years old me and my mates at school all decided that we would buy our first single, as until this point any records we had would have been brought in by our parents. A bike shop round the corner from our house used to sell ex-juke box records for next to nothing (I think they came in a sleeve with POP-EX stamped on it), so my mum used to buy some of those for me and my sister. It really was pot luck what she’d come home with. One day it was Milk And Alcohol, great, but another day it was Ring My Bell, not so great.
Anyway, our gang all decided we would ask our mums to give us 50p, or however much singles were in Barnsley in 1979, and to take us to a record shop where we could buy one of the two singles we had deemed to be the best two singles in the chart. One was Dance Away by Roxy Music, the other, which I bought, was Pop Muzik by M. Fortunately, Dance Away soon turned up in the ex-juke box bargain racks, so I soon had both. Nearly 40 years later and I have all of Roxy Music and Bryan Ferry’s albums (some of his solo work is as good as the Roxy Music stuff, if not better), but I still only have that one record by M.
I can’t imagine that many 10 year olds these days would shortlist something like Dance Away as being one of the best two singles in the charts. Maybe we were more sophisticated back then or something?
Ring My Bell “not so great”?
Harumph!
At the age of seven or whatever I was I understood that Ring My Bell was rude but I didn’t know why – after all there aren’t any naughty words in it. Perhaps my rudeness radar – my, if you will, Rudar© – was already developing.
Just thought I’d share.
1979, Shawlands Primary School, Barnsley.
Cool – The Police, Blondie, Ian Dury and the Blockheads, The BoomTown Rats, The Stranglers, Elvis Costello and the Attractions, Joe Jackson, Squeeze
Not cool – Abba, Leo Sayer, Boney M, Disco
I would no sooner have gone to school singing Ring My Bell as I would wearing a Sheffield Wednesday scarf!
I have the 12 inch of Ring My Bell. Chooooooooooooooooon.
Debut album Super Deluxe Edition finally coming out on 2nd Feb 2018.
£130, though. And still no hi-res stereo. Hmmm.
Yeah, for 3 cds & a book
Some interesting stuff for sure, but needs to be priced comparably with the excellent Tull, Yes, XTC reissues. Its certainly taken long enough, given the 5.1 mix was finished in 2012!
Thanks to an older brother, I grew up listening to Roxy and inherited his records when he left home (he kept all his singles in a Family Circle biscuit tin). They’re a band that mean an awful lot to me and along with Bowie gave me the best musical education anyone could wish for with the worlds they opened up.
Street Life is my favourite song by anyone ever (what IS that noise at the beginning and end?). And For Your Pleasure is my favourite album by anyone ever and still sounds incredible and other-worldly. Was way too young to see them live back in the day but saw them several times on the 2001 tour, which was very nicely done.
Not a Ferry fan these days though, and I think it’s important to make that distinction between Roxy and Ferry (I’m probably in the minority there). He was OK up to Boys And Girls, but other than As Time Goes By (utterly charming) and a few tracks on Frantic, he’s churned out a wash of endless cod-funk grooves of no discernible tune. He’s bringing the good name of Roxy down with his endless touring too, playing sped-up soulless renditions of the back catalogue and that once powerful voice is now nothing but a thin, husky croak. GIVE IT UP, BRY!
Strongly disagree with you on the later points. Firstly, I rate Bete Noire higher than its predecessor. If you’re counting covers albums in the critique, Dylanesque is well worthy of praise – it sounds immediate, spontaneous and fresh (in Ferry terms, you understand!). And Avonmore has become possibly my favourite of his solo albums; if you can’t find any tunes on there you need to sort your hearing out.
Regarding his live shows, I agree of course that his voice isn’t as strong most of the time, but I think he’s very astute in how the songs are arranged and performed so that it comes across effectively and appropriate to the song in question. Part of the attraction for me is the added dimension of vulnerability in the vocal which suits a lot of the material. It’s the same quality that I find so affecting in Johnny Cash’s late-career American Recordings.
I know a lot of people who are rather fond of Bete Noire, and I played it a lot at the time, but for me it’s not aged well, especially those Patrick Leonard co-writes. And I’ve really tried with every album since, but they just don’t do it for me. Every album since Frantic has been a hotchpotch of musicians, sessions and songs recorded over years, even decades in some cases (one of the tracks on Avonmore dates back to the Avalon sessions) and to me, it shows.
He canned the album that really could have set him back on the right track (the original Alphaville produced by Dave Stewart in 1996/97) and has since bowlderised most of the material from those sessions, stretching them out over several albums. A real shame.
Love early Roxy then my own Love to hate musician joined ,Gary Tibbs and haven’t listened since. I hated that Dance Away single.