John Foxx

John Foxx is a mysterious and elegant figure in England's rock history. There are some details about him that have slipped through about his time as the lead singer of Ultravox! and as a solo artist. He appeared on three LPs in the 1970s and four in the 1980s, followed by a turn-of-the-century comeback which surprised his fans and followers of electronic music. He let it be known, in the liner notes the he wrote which accompany the Assembly compilation CD, released on Virgin Records, that The Shadows were an influence as well The Swimmer, Dada and Europop.

Solo

It has been said that Metamatic was the first proper synthpop record. It is just as likely that Gary Numan's The Pleasure Principle, released in 1979, deserves such a classification. Kraftwerk's Trans-Europe Express, from 1977 is also most definitely synthpop.

Related Topics:
Metamatic - 1977

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On the back of the 1979 LP, Movies, from Can's Holger Czukay, Foxx is thanked for encouragement to keep on.

Related Topics:
Can - Holger Czukay

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In terms of 1980s UK Pop Culture, Foxx had a synthpop record, a New Romantic record and a New Wave record.

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Signed to Virgin Records, Foxx achieved chart success with his first solo single, Underpass. This was a territory introduced by Throbbing Gristle's Hamburger Lady and United. All three of these achieved chart success in the UK, got much attention on college radio in the U.S. and yet, as catchy as these are, they really sidestep a lot of other pop requirements.

Related Topics:
Virgin Records - Throbbing Gristle

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Anyway, in 1959, a beautifully strange and noisy painting machine called Metamatic N°17, made by kinetic artist Jean Tinguely, was exhibited at the first Paris Biennial. Foxx decided to name his first solo album after the machine. Released on his Metal Beat record label, Metamatic appeared in record shops on January 17, 1980. Foxx played most of the synthesizers and "rhythm boxes," as they're listed on the jacket. The label is named after one of the songs from the album (or is it the other way around?), which was also released as a single. Despite the fact that, in interviews, he expressed enthusiasm for his label including others' releases along with his own, Metal Beat lasted from 1980 to 1985 with Foxx as its only artist, or "solo pilot" as he put it to his fans. Though musically far apart, both Foxx and Ultravox left the pop world of the eighties around the middle of that decade.

Related Topics:
1959 - Kinetic artist - Jean Tinguely - January 17 - 1980

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Glimmer, a Metamatic-era single B-side, may remind the fan of the music of Jean Michel Jarre, including his 1976 album Oxygene and his 1978 album Equinoxe.

Related Topics:
Jean Michel Jarre - 1976 - Oxygene - Equinoxe

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Embraced by the New Romantics was Foxx's next LP, The Garden, released 25 September, 1981. The New Romantic movement was spearheaded by fashion-conscious DJ, the former punk rocker turned entrepreneur named Steve Strange and his Club For Heroes. Strange also had a band, Visage, which is where Billy Currie met Midge Ure. Coming out of the club scenes in London and other urban centers of the UK, in the late 1970s, the New Romantics declared neither Glam nor Disco were dead. Like the Psychedelic, Glam and Disco scenes, the New Romantic's eighties statement involved tons of attitude, loud and atmospheric music, a very visual wardrobe, bi-sexual tendencies and a drug-friendly attitude toward life. Because of their clothing, hair and music, people like Foxx, Ultravox and the members of Japan were included in the NR scene, by default. The very successful Soft Cell, Duran Duran, and Culture Club also began in the NR era.

Related Topics:
The Garden - 25 September - 1981 - New Romantic - Steve Strange - Visage - Soft Cell - Duran Duran - Culture Club

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Foxx set up his own recording studio, called The Garden, housed in an artist's collective, surrounded by sculptors, painters and film makers. He was influential on the creation of Virginia Astley's first album (through his recording of demos for it), From Gardens Where We Feel Secure, a classic of English neo-romanticism.

Related Topics:
From Gardens Where We Feel Secure - Neo-romanticism

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In 1983, Foxx provided the soundtrack for Michelangelo Antonioni's film Identification Of A Woman (Identificazione Di Una Donna). This was a good choice by Antonioni, who had Pink Floyd provide him a soundtrack over ten years before. The images and mood of this movie are very Foxx. A musical reference point here could be Tangerine Dream's Phaedra.

Related Topics:
Michelangelo Antonioni - Pink Floyd - Tangerine Dream

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Also, in September of 1983, his The Golden Section LP was released.

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Not really belonging to an eighties category, the LP In Mysterious Ways was released in October of 1985.

Related Topics:
In Mysterious Ways - October - 1985

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Foxx produced, co-wrote and played on Pressure Points, by Anne Clark, which appeared in 1985.

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After In Mysterious Ways, Foxx gave up a public career in pop music. He sold his recording studio and returned to his earlier career as a graphic designer and artist, working under his original name of Dennis Leigh. For examples, see the book covers of Salman Rushdie's The Moor's Last Sigh and Jeanette Winterson's Sexing The Cherry. He also began experimenting in ambient music, working on a project called Cathedral Oceans.

Related Topics:
Salman Rushdie - Jeanette Winterson - Ambient music

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