Viva! Roxy Music

Roxy Music has always been one of my all time favourite bands. I first heard and saw the band when they appeared on the BBC's Top Of The Pops show way back in August, 1972. That night they played their Art Rock classic and first single; 'Virginia Plain'. Amazing stuff but with the camera almost entirely focused on frontman Bryan Ferry. You only get a blurry glimpse of Brian Eno in the background as well as a short close up of his sequin-gloved hands during the entire performance. A short, debut performance; clocking in at just under 3 minutes, but which had me converted to their cause immediately.

Anyhow, I couldn't wait to get my hands on the recently released, self-titled first album which had had rave reviews in the New Musical Express, Melody Maker and the other music weeklies that were available back then. I'm not sure where I got my copy but I imagine that it was from one of the John Menzies chain strores. Then again, it might have been from a Boots. I'm not sure. Fabulous album, fabulous artwork: glam, style, kitsch, art and pop culture all in one package. Only thing that disappointed me was the fact 'Virginia Plain' wasn't on this cracker of an album! No real fuss though as my mum, much to my pleasure picked up the single later that week in a local electrical goods shop.

At any rate, I was now a fully-fledged fan of Roxy Music and continued to be so right up to the 'High Road' EP (recorded at the Glasgow Apollo in 1982) and the demise of the band. Few bands that I've liked over the years have made as many great consecutive albums as Roxy Music. The first five are all remarkable and littered with great tracks such as 'Love is the Drug', 'Do the Strand', 'Ladytron', 'Psalm', etc. etc. The latter three albums are worthy of a place in any music fan's collection but you can feel that they were beginning to wane.

Another great feature of Roxy Music was their album artwork. Particularly on the first five albums with their stunning models and design. The 'Country Life' album even caused a bit of a stir in the USA where some stores sold the album in an opaque plastic wrapper because they refused to display the cover.
Later, Factory stalwart, Peter Saville designed the superb artwork on 'Flesh and Blood'. 'Manifesto' and 'Avalon' really look pale in comparison artwork-wise to all of the other covers.

Over the years I was fortunate to catch the band live a few times (with & without Eno). I have a few in concert shots from the 'Flesh and Blood' tour from 1980 -which I might post at my Flickr page or on Twitter, one day. You can also see a lot of archive stuff of the band on YouTube but if you want to hear them in vivo, so to speak, I highly recommend the 'Viva! Roxy Music' live album from 1976. Captured at their best the album features tracks recorded in their hometown, Newcastle and at the Glasgow Apollo in '75 and '76.

Of course, by 1982, and the release of 'Avalon' (the only Roxy Music album I don't have on tape), Bryan Ferry had released five solo albums. Deciding to continue as a solo artist Ferry disbanded Roxy Music in 1983. No more new music was forthcoming from the band but over the years a whole host of 'Live', 'Best of', 'Ultimate Collection', etc. etc. albums have been released. If you have the originals from 1972-1982 you really don't need any of them unless you're one of those sad anorak, diehard fans who simply must possess everything.

 All of these cassettes were bought when first released. I really cherish them and am glad that I've hung on to them all these years. They have pride of place in my tape collection. As do a couple of early Brian Eno ones!

david bowie : station to station

david bowie
station to station (tape)
rca records (1976)
apk1 1327

design : AGI
photography: steve schapiro

 Another classic album from Bowie's best decade; the 70s. The year was 1976 and this was incredibly Bowie's tenth album release! Station To Station was recorded after he completed shooting Nicolas Roeg's Sci-Fi film, The Man Who Fell to Earth. The actual album artwork features a still from that very same film. As does the first of the "Berlin Trilogy" albums, Low.

Musically, Station to Station is a bit of a transitional album for Bowie. Developing the funk and soul music of his previous release, Young Americans, Bowie takes a new direction towards synthesisers and deutsch-motorik rhythms. Rhythms highly influenced by German electronic bands such as Neu! and Kraftwerk that were beginning to emerge and become known to a wider audience.

This trend would culminate in some of his most acclaimed work, the so-called
"Berlin Trilogy", recorded with Brian Eno in 1977–79 at the famous Hansa Tonstudio in the Kreuzberg district of '70s Berlin. Interesting to note that Bowie's buddy, Iggy Pop, who accompanied the Thin White Duke on his German sojourn, also made what are probably his two best solo albums, The Idiot and Lust for Life, during the same period.

After recording Station to Station in the USA, Bowie heavily addicted to cocaine, decided to get away from his Los Angeles base. In an attempt to flee the substance-fuelled years that had taken a toil not only on his sense of judgement but had also seen him go from thin to downright emaciated, Bowie departed for Berlin.

Incidents such as the infamous and supposedly "Nazi" salute photograph in the New Musical Express, under the headline "Heil and Farewell", as well as Bowie's apparent fascination with fascism and collecting Nazi paraphenalia really weren't doing his public image any good at the time. So, Bowie and Iggy packed their suitcases and set up home in the then very much divided and isolated former Reich capital. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Anyhow, I'd sort of gone off Bowie with  the Diamond Dogs and Young Americans albums -albums which I've since reappraised and found that they belong up there with Bowie's other great seventies recordings- but Station To Station put back him on track (no pun intended!) as far as I was concerned and gave us a glimpse of what was to come with the fabulous "Berlin Trilogy." Golden Years indeed!

talking heads : remain in light

talking heads
remain in light
sire records (1980)
srk 6095 npc

This is a tape produced for the Spanish market which I bought at a car boot sale 5 or 6 years ago. Although the J-card and the tape itself have seen better days it's still in fine condition and plays perfectly well. Remain In Light has always been my favourite Talking Heads album and I still have my original vinyl copy. Released in October 1980 during a period of high unemployment in the UK; the Thatcher era had seen the recession got worse and the introduction of cash limits on public spending, and reduced expenditure on social services such as education and housing were the order of the day. The usual Tory policies still used today by the utterly dreadful Theresa May and her ilk who are doing their utmost to destroy the NHS as well. That year too the Yorkshire Ripper (Peter Sutcliffe) still hadn't been caught, Ronald Reagan was about to become president of the USA; Ian Curtis (Joy Division) had hanged himself in May of the same year, and, only a couple of months after the album's release, John Lennon would be gunned down as he left the Dakota building in Mahattan . Not exactly a fun year but I imagine that, if you look back, every year has ups and downs. 1980 was after all the year that the Rubik's Cube first appeared.


When punk first started I was never really into any of the bands that started a whole new musical movement in '76 & '77. Having been a fan of David Bowie, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Neil Young, Patti Smith and even Pink Floyd (whom I still like) during the 70s I never really bought into the whole amateurish shambles that a lot of the bands were trying to flog. I was looking for decent bands with good music; something less abrasive than what most of punk had to offer. Most of it passed over my head apart from bands like The Buzzcocks, The Clash, and, of course, The Sex Pistols. Post-punk was a much better period music-wise. A lot of bands that had started in the short punk era or even before had so much more to offer. Bands like Cabaret Voltaire, Joy Division, Magazine, Gang of Four, PIL, This Heat, The Pop Group among others whose recordings have stood the test of time and are just as good today as they were then.

On the American front bands like The New York Dolls, Johnny Thunders, without or with the Heartbreakers, Richard Hell and the Voidoids weren't really my cup of tea either. On the other hand there were three bands -four if you include Patti Smith whose career had taken off before punk- that were really good; Television (whom Richard Hell had left before their groundbreaking Marquee Moon album had been released), The Ramones, and Talking Heads.

The Ramones' loud, fast, up front, in your face musical style were fun but is was bands like Television and especially Talking Heads that were much more in my line.
Over a short period of time (1977 -1980), and in my mind, Talking Heads made their best recordings. Four really good albums -three of them collaborations with the mighty Brian Eno- which culminated with the release of their 4th studio album, Remain In Light. Album, which, in my opinion, is their best and one which sounds as good today as it did back then. Their art rock, funk, world music and avant-garde style makes almost every track on it is outstanding; the Once In A Lifetime track (also released as a single) is the one I like least on an album which in my books gets a 9/10 rating.

Of course, Brian Eno played a big part in its success by getting the group to "experiment with African polyrhythms, funk, and electronics." By "recording instrumental tracks as a series of sampled and looped grooves, which were an innovative technique at the time." (Source: Wikipedia)

Remain In Light would, unfortunately, be the last of the band's collaborations with Eno; who would team up with Byrne on My Life in the Bush of Ghosts which was released the following year.Their career continued with members going off on various side projects for a while before getting together again, but anything they did as a band after Remain In Light was never as good.

brian eno : before and after science + button badge

brian eno
before and after science
polydor 3100 386
polydor records (1977)
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before and after science
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brian eno - before and after science (tape)

brian eno - before and after science / tape, a photo by japanese forms on Flickr.

brian eno
before and after science
polydor 3100 386
polydor records (1977)

brian eno - here come the warm jets (tape)

brian eno - here come the warm jets (tape), a photo by japanese forms on Flickr.

brian eno
here come the warm jets
island tapes zci9268
island records (1974)