Roxy Music

I had Monday off work and, amazingly, the highlight of my day was doing the ironing. Normally this mundane task is performed on a Sunday afternoon with the TV switched to the Rugby League, perforated by a few "c'mons" and "the ref needs glasses" and a bunch of beers. Being slightly drunk always helps ironing. But Sunday was full of friends and cooking and keeping warm so it had to take up some part of my day off.

I wanted some heart pumping accompaniement to a boring job. And so, ofcourse, I reached for the Glam.

This is truely the music of my youth, the music I remember with most vividness above all others, the music that always makes me more exciteable no matter how I'm feeling. It's the style that initially enticed me to love music and to go on and explore other artists. And it still makes me shiver, every so often.

I've made a very, very good compilation charting the whole scene (see below for the tracklist) that I often use to rev me up when I do the vacuuming (much to Annette's annoyance - only because I've played it so much) but, for some reason, I wanted to listen to something a bit less pop... more arty and experimental. So Roxy Music's 1st 2 albums were the only option, really.

I set up the horrid ironing board, cranked up the volume until I could hardly hear myself sing along and went at it. It was certainly a perfect adjunct to the flattening of creases and made the time fly. Most amazingly, the volume was so loud that I noticed things in the mix which I'd missed all these years: especially the various synth sounds whirling around in the back of the spectrum and at the edges of songs and Paul Thompson's fantastic drumming (at lower volumes the production holds it back a bit).

I know intellectually that these records are of their time. There is a pretentious quality in many of the songs that I know would make younger people cringe and Ferry's voice is still an acquired taste. But I still can't understand (in my heart of hearts) why their songs aren't listened to / talked about more.

I suppose their lack of current relevance has more to do with the filtering of influences more than anything else. There are lots of 50's and early 60's music references thoughout these 1st 2 albums and they are the only places where I feel particularly comfortable listening to them. I can't listen to actual 50's Doo Wop without becoming bored but I can listen to "Bitter's End" again and again. The band obviously love that kind of music (it's the music of their youth after all) but twist it vigorously to make it sound just enough off centre for me to love.

Do people still feel this way about music made just before their generation started? Is this the only way that people can get these influences? I don't know. Just let me listen to "Virginia Plain" just one more time.

A last small point:

Favourable comparisons can be made between Roxy Music and Radiohead. The sonic palette is very similar, they're both fronted by whiny piano playing fools and the guitars are heavily treated (in Roxy's day this had to be done by 2 people - Manzanera and Eno - whilst nowadays Greenwood can do it all himself).

The tracklist for The Best Ever GLAM CD

01. David Bowie - Suffragette City (03:23)
02. Roxy Music - Virginia Plain (02:56)
03. T-Rex - 20TH Century Boy (03:38)
04. Sweet - Blockbuster (03:10)
05. Gary Glitter - Rock 'n' Roll Part 2 (02:58)
06. Suzie Quatro - Devil Gate Drive (03:45)
07. Slade - Gudbuy T'Jane (03:30)
08. Mott The Hoople - All The Way From Memphis (03:18)
09. Lou Reed - Hangin' 'Round (03:28)
10. New York Dolls - Jet Boy (04:38)
11. Brian Eno - Needles in the Camel's Eye (03:04)
12. Cockney Rebel - Mr Soft (03:18)
13. Sparks - Amateur Hour (03:13)
14. 10cc - Rubber Bullets (04:45)
15. David Bowie - Hang Onto Yourself (02:34)
16. Roxy Music - Editions Of You (03:45)
17. Brian Eno - The Paw Paw Negro Blowtorch (03:04)
18. Lou Reed - Vicious (02:53)
19. T-Rex - Jeepster (04:10)
20. Gary Glitter - Hello Hello I'm Back Again (03:18)
21. Sweet - Ballroom Blitze (03:59)
22. David Bowie - John, I'm Only Dancing (02:40)
23. Mott The Hoople - All The Young Dudes (03:30)