Roxy Music

Roxy Music is a British art rock group founded in the early 1970s as a collaborative project between art school graduates Bryan Ferry (vocals, keyboards) and Brian Eno (electronic music specialist). The band existed from 1971 through 1983 (though without Eno after 1973), then reunited for a concert tour in 2001, and has announced that they will be recording a new album in 2005.

History

Roxy Music (1971 – 1983)

In the winter of 1970/71, ceramics teacher Bryan Ferry advertised for a keyboard player to collaborate with him and Graham Simpson, a bass player he knew from his art college band, "The Gas Board." Andy MacKay replied to the advertisement, not as a keyboard player but as a saxophonist and oboist; however, he did possess a VCS3 synthesiser. Andy met Brian Eno during university days, as both were interested in avant-garde and electronic music. It was some time later that they met again, and as Brian could play a synthesizer and owned a Revox reel to reel tape machine, Andy convinced him to join the fledgling band as a technical advisor. It wasn't long before Eno was a performing member of the group. After Dexter Lloyd, a classically trained timpanist, left the fledgling band, the group placed an ad seeking a 'wonder drummer'. Drummer Paul Thompson joined the line-up in June, 1971. Soon after that guitarist Phil Manzanera made them a five-piece.

Related Topics:
1970 - 71 - Bryan Ferry - Andy MacKay - VCS3 - Brian Eno - Paul Thompson - Phil Manzanera

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Their first single Virginia Plain, which reached #4 in the British charts, was typical of the band's blend of highly literate lyrics and musical inventiveness, combined with a powerhouse glam rock backbone. During that decade, they emerged as one of the foremost bands of the time, popular throughout the UK and Europe. In the US, the band was esteemed by critics and an ardent "cult" following, but they remained little known among the general public.

Related Topics:
British - Glam rock

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Eno left after the group's second album – For Your Pleasure – amidst increasing differences with Ferry over the direction and runnning of the group. He was replaced on keyboards by Eddie Jobson, late of progressive rockers Curved Air, who also played electric violin. Bassist John Gustafson also performed and toured with the band on the next three albums, although curiously he was never invited to become a permanent member.

Related Topics:
For Your Pleasure - Eddie Jobson - Progressive rock - Curved Air

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Although some fans lamented the loss of the experimental attitude that Eno had brought to the band, the classically-trained Jobson, fresh out of music school, was a far more accomplished musician than Eno. His arrival reinvigorated the group, with his keyboard expertise freeing Ferry from his former keyboard duties on stage, as well as lending greater refinement to the group's studio recordings, and his dazzling violin skills added an exciting new dimension to their sound, as showcased on their song "Out Of The Blue". Eno himself later acknowldeged the superb quality of the two albums that followed his departure, Stranded (1973) and Country Life (1974) and they are widely regarded as being among the most original and consistent British rock albums of the period.

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The other key members of the band – the classically trained Mackay, the experienced progressive rock guitarist Manzanera and the hard-pounding drummer nicknamed "The Great Paul Thompson" – are reported to have shared some of Eno's concerns about Ferry's dominance of the band, but they elected to remain in the group. Gradually, their songwriting and musicianship became more integral to the band's sound, although all but one of Roxy's singles were written either wholly or jointly by Ferry. The exception was their only number one hit, Jealous Guy, which they recorded as a tribute to John Lennon shortly after his death.

Related Topics:
Mackay - Guitar - Manzanera - Drummer - Paul Thompson - Jealous Guy - John Lennon

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Manzanera and Mackay both undertook solo projects, and Manzanera also played guitar on many of Eno's solo and collaborative recordings of the mid-70s. Phil and Andy, along with Thompson and Jobson, also took part in various of Ferry's solo recordings (some of which included reworkings of old Roxy material) and Manzanera also regularly played with Ferry on his solo tours.

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Ferry's solo career began in 1973, while still very much a member of the band, and his solo albums (mostly containing ironic cover versions of pop standards) alternated with Roxy's releases. Although rarely acknowledged as such, Ferry's solo debut These Foolish Things (1973) was one of the first albums by a major pop-rock performer that was deliberately made up of cover versions of songs from earlier eras, which were chosen for their influence on the artist's musical development. It certainly predated David Bowie's similarly structured (but much more successful) Pinups LP by more than a year.

Related Topics:
1973 - Pop standard - David Bowie

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Their fifth album, Siren, contained their only US hit, "Love is the Drug" (Ferry said the song came to him while kicking the leaves in a walk through Hyde Park). By this time Ferry was involved in a relationship with American supermodel Jerry Hall (who later married Mick Jagger). Hall had a major impact on the group's music and image, being the subject of the influential Roxy song "Prairie Rose" (from the group's 1974 Country Life LP) as well as featuring both on the cover of Siren and in the promotional video for Ferry's 1977 solo hit "Let's Stick Together".

Related Topics:
Siren - Hyde Park - Jerry Hall - Mick Jagger

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Following the concert tours in support of Siren in 1976, Roxy Music temporarily disbanded. During this time Ferry released two solo records on which Manzanera and Thompson performed, and Manzanera reunited with Eno on the one-off 801 Live album in 1976, which set new standards for concert recording.

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Roxy Music reunited in 1978 to record a new album, Manifesto, but with a reshuffled line-up. Jobson and Gustafson were not present (reportedly they were not contacted for the reunion). After the tour and prior recording of the next one, Flesh + Blood, Thompson left the band because he broke his thumb during a motorcycle incident (and soon after that he left permanently). The three remaining core members were supplemented by a variety of session players over the next few years, including Andy Newmark, Neil Hubbard and Alan Spenner.

Related Topics:
1978 - Manifesto - Flesh + Blood

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The changed line-up was reflected in a distinct change in Roxy's music, with the jagged and unpredictable elements of the groups sound giving way to smooth, brooding musical arrangements, culminating in the sombre perfectionism and beautifully sculpted soundscapes of their eighth and final album Avalon in 1982. The trio toured extensively till 1983, when Bryan Ferry dissolved the band and devoted himself full time to a solo career.

Related Topics:
Avalon - 1982 - 1983

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Solo work (1983 – present)

After their last album and tour, Mackay, Manzanera and Ferry all released solo albums. Ferry's solo career has continued uninterrupted; Newmark participated on all of Ferry's subsequent records and tours. Thompson worked as a session drummer for various artists; his post-Roxy session work included such diverse acts as a punk band The Angelic Upstarts on their 1983 album Reason Why and blues-rocker Gary Moore on his Emerald Aisles Live In Ireland tour in 1985, which was released on video. In 1990-91, Thompson replaced Harry Rushakoff as the drummer in Concrete Blonde, during which time they had their biggest hit with the single "Joey."

Related Topics:
Manzanera - Ferry - The Angelic Upstarts - Blues - Gary Moore

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In 1984, Manzanera and Mackay teamed with vocalist James Wraith to form The Explorers. Signed to Virgin, the band released a self-titled album and a number of singles ("Venus de Milo" and "Falling for Nightlife", the latter of which which was not included on the LP version), but none of their material charted in England. Virgin dropped the band while in the studio recording a second album. This eventually emerged in 1990 under the name Manzanera / Mackay. In 1987, Manzanera teamed with former Roxy and King Crimson bassist John Wetton for the LP Wetton/Manzanera.

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Reunions (2001 – present)

Ferry, Manzanera, Mackay, and Thompson reformed in 2001 and toured extensively for a couple of years. Conspicuously absent was Brian Eno, who criticized the motives of the band's reunion. "I just don't like the idea," Eno explained, "It leaves a bad taste." Later Eno remarked that his comment had been taken out of context. Manzanera and Thompson also recorded and toured with Ferry on his 2002 album Frantic.

Related Topics:
2001 - Brian Eno - 2002

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In March 2005 it was announced on Phil Manzanera's official site that the band, including Brian Eno, have decided to record an album of new material, their first since Avalon in 1983. The project marks the first time Brian Eno will work with Roxy Music since 1973's For Your Pleasure. As of Saturday 19 March, the Manazanera site was updated with more info, explaining that the band are in the studio working on new material, but Eno's involvement was not mentioned.

Related Topics:
2005 - Brian Eno - 19 March

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Roxy Music also returned to the stage (still without Eno) for a live performance at this year's Isle of Wight Festival on Saturday 11 June, 2005, their first UK concert since the 2001 world tour. On 02 July, 2005, Roxy Music played Jealous Guy and 'Love is the Drug' at the Berlin contribution to Live8.

Related Topics:
11 June - 2005 - Jealous Guy - Live8

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