Roxy Music - "All I Want is You" b/w "Your Application's Failed" 45 rpm Single, UK, 1974 (Island)

"All I Want is You" is the A-side, but of course what I'm interested in is the B-side of this single, the instrumental song "Your Application's Failed."   The beauty of the 45 rpm single are the b-sides that are not on an album.  Mostly they are a mere after-thought if anything else.  For whatever reason, Roxy Music usually put out interesting 'throw-a-way' songs on the b-sides, and "Your Application's Failed" is a small classic Roxy Music piece. 

It's a song by Roxy drummer Paul Thompson, and a great vehicle in exposing the band's talent and most important, a sense of play is on hand.  Most of the songs that end up on a Roxy Music album, or on their A-side singles, it's a very tight structure and there is a sense of seriousness on it all.  They're making commercial art.  Yet, the b-side songs are sometimes experiments or to see what happens, even if they allow their drummer to compose the song.  "Your Application's Failed" is fun.  The fact that Roxy Music or Bryan Ferry can show a lighter side of their record making is wonderful. One wishes that there were more pieces like "Your Application's Failed."  The classic Roxy is always great, but it's the B-sides that add the flavor or spice to Roxy Music. 

Roxy Music - "Country Life" Vinyl, LP, Album, 2009/1974 (Virgin)

The fourth Roxy Music album.  The band always has that sound, but each record is quite different from the other.   Perhaps due to the change of producer, but also I suspect that Phil Manzanera and Andy Mackay probably added new textures to the overall sound of Roxy Music.   John Punter co-produced "Country Life"  as well as it's engineer.  It's interesting that a few years later he worked with Japan, a band who I think was profoundly influenced by Roxy Music.  

The sound of "Country Life" is thicker and at times, mono sounding record-wise.  If Phil Spector was half sane, and still at full-power, I can imagine this being his production.  Compared to the previous Roxy Music songs, those on the album are very straightforward, and Bryan Ferry to my ears (and head) is losing his abstraction or New York school of poetry to focus on communicating on romance, and the world surrounding that emotional high.  In theory a more commercial approach, but perhaps the after effects of Ferry's various solo recordings at the time  - specifically his first two solo albums which are covers.   I sense Ferry chose those songs, not only because he loved them, but interested in its structure and what makes a song a song. 

"Country Life" is a great album.  It's not a masterpiece compared to "For Your Pleasure" or "Stranded" (and never compare their brilliance on that first album!), but still a remarkable set of songs.   The Jimi Hendrix inspired "Out of the Blue" is simply a magnificent guitar set-piece from Manzanera.   "The Thrill of it All," the opening cut and the end "Prarie Rose" are bookends that resemble a wild storm, but somehow controlled by Ferry and company.  It's a sandwich of sorts, with different tastes and textures between the opening and closing songs.  

Roxy Music - "Manifesto" Vinyl, LP, Album, 1979 (ATCO)

I think of Roxy Music in two stages.   Their first five albums are to me, the complete circle of that band.  After those five albums, the band kind of broke-up to focus on solo music.  Ferry at that time was still doing albums that were half original and the other half covers.  "In Your Mind" was the only Ferry album at that time where it was all original songs, written by Bryan.   Still, the truth is even the covers he did was a personal or even original statement by Ferry.   A cover is a cover unless it was done by Bryan Ferry and then it means something else.  "Manifesto" was the first Roxy Music album after they split up.  There's a four-year wait between "Siren" and "Manifesto."  There was a lot of activity in those four years by Ferry and company away from the Roxy Music world. What's interesting about this 'good' album is that it has nothing more to say. 

"Manifesto" is more about the craft of good songwriting and recording than inspiration. Emotionally, the songs sound post-depression has taken place.  It's interesting that this once radical band puts out an album in 1979, where there was a great landscape for the post-punk music world.  The title song "Manifesto" touches on that era music-wise but lyrically is rather dry.  

"Manifesto" is a very good album, but compared to the high standards of the first five Roxy albums, it's not that important of a work.  Still, commercially it did wonders for them through songs "Dance Away" and "Angel Eyes."  Those two are perfectly written pop, but sounds empty compared to something like "Virginia Plain."   For one, Ferry is now at this point writing very literal lyrics expressing sadness, romance, and so forth.   The surreal brutality of "Every Dream Home a Heartache" has been replaced by lyrics like :  

"Yesterday, when it seemed so cool

When I walked you home, kissed goodnight

I said, "It's love", you said, "Alright"

It's funny how, I could never cry

Until tonight, when you pass by

Hand in hand with another guy

You're dressed to kill and guess who's dying"

("Dance Away" Bryan Ferry)

Compared to something like: 

"Throw me a line I'm sinking fast

Clutching at straws can't make it

Havana sound we're trying 

hard edge the hipster jiving

Last picture shows down the drive-in

You're so sheer you're so chic

Teenage rebel of the week

Flavours of the mountain steamline

Midnight blue casino floors

Dance the cha-cha through till sunrise

Open up exclusive doors oh wow!

Just like flamingos look the same

So me and you, just we two got to search for something new"

(Virginia Plain" Bryan Ferry)

This is not bad Ferry writing, but a difference has taken place.  One can look at it as a maturity, but to me, I see it more of a convention or normalizing his world of writing.   The music also loses its innovative edge.  The arrangements are straightforward and to the point.  Still, the album is a delight on its own terms.  This is the first Roxy Music album that was self-produced by the band.  Manzanera is still a guitar demon on the album, and Mackay's Oboe and sax playing is textural and adds a lot to the mix.  The disappointment, especially if one is a long-term fan of Roxy Music that this could have been a better album.  At the same time, there is a seduction of Ferry's voice, which he can sing the alphabet if he wanted to,  and it can bring significant meaning to those letters.  That aspect of Ferry and company never fails.  Perhaps they looked at "Manifesto" as an experimentation to make a commercial album?   The technique is there, but not the spirit. 

Roxy Music - "Pyjamarama b/w "The Pride And The Pain" 45 rpm vinyl, 1973 (Island)

The b-side to "Pyjamarama" the great song by Roxy Music, is"The Pride And The Pain" which sounds like if Bryan Ferry left the band and was replaced by Ennio Morricone.  It took me awhile to find this recording because once I heard it, I loved it.  There is a CD version that is on one of their Roxy Music box sets put out some years ago, but finally, I have the single.  

"The Pride and The Pain" is written by Andy Mackay.  It features his distinctive oboe playing but mixed in with the minimal piano, Phil Manzanera's Italian sounding electric guitar, Eno's (I presume) sound of the wind and off-mike vocals or talking, and like the title, it does bring Morricone's great spaghetti western soundtracks from the 1960s.  This recording is too great to be lost in the heaps of b-sides that never made it onto albums. 

"Pyjamarama" is essential early Roxy.  The great guitar cords in the beginning, but before the melody and Ferry's voice kicks in - it's a natural music high at this point.  One wonders why this song is not on the "For Your Pleasure" album, but at the same time, it does exist quite well as a stand-alone single.  It's a classic Roxy piece, but again, the b-side "The Pride And The Pain" is really amazing.

The Explorers - "Explorers" Vinyl, LP, Album, 1985

What would Roxy Music sound like without Bryan Ferry?  The Explorers are the answer to that question.  It's a band that made only one album, and it included Phil Manzanera and Andy Mackay from  Roxy Music. James Wraith is the vocalist for this band, and if I'm not mistaken the other musicians on this album also played in the Roxy Music format.  When Bryan Ferry got himself in the recording of "Boys and Girls" after their iconic nod to the smooth pop world of "Avalon," Phil and Andy made their move with The Explorers.  

Listening to the album, I can imagine some of these songs being Roxy Music material.  One can easily imagine Ferry taking over the vocals of Wraith.  In fact, Wraith, here and there, sounds like a Ferry imitator.  Or perhaps he was instructed by Manzanera and Mackay to do so.  In that sense, the songs here sound like demos for a future Roxy Music album.  "Explorers" is not the worse album in the world, but it's a weak record.  On the other hand, it's interesting to hear the Roxy textures that are on these recordings.  As I have stated before, Manzanera and Mackay are very much the sound of Roxy Music, and it's not all Bryan Ferry.  

There are three excellent songs here, that would fit perfectly in a Roxy project.  They are "Lorelei," "Breath of Life," and "Venus De Milo" (and no, it's not the Television song).  These songs are right in the middle of side one, which thinks gives hope for side two.  Alas, that's not the case.  The other disturbing aspect of this album is that Phil and Andy don't leap over the fence like they did with respect to their first solo albums.   One of the things I loved about Mackay's first solo album that it was a crazed mixture of Joe Meek sounds, with a degree of camp thrown in - and Manzanera's "Diamond Head" is a great mix of Latin/pop/prog/avant-garde touches.  "Explorers" unlike that very name, is a band playing it safe in the mid-80s.  It's a shame that they went for a commercial sound than something experimental and wild.  In fact, it's shocking that those two didn't forge ahead in making sounds that maybe similar to Eno or even David Sylvian of that time.   If you're a Roxy Music completest and must fill that missing hole in their history, then, by all means, do get the album.  As mentioned there are some highlights, but it's like a human being looking for water in Death Valley.  

Roxy Music - "Roxy Music" Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Limited Edition, 1972/2008 (Virgin)

There are only a handful of albums that had such a powerful effect on me on the first listening of such a record.  I can still remember when I played "Roxy Music" for the first time.  It was in the evening at our home in Topanga, and on the first cut "Re-make, Re-model," I thought to myself that this is the sound of 1972.  By the time of the second song "Ladytron," it was like if someone brought a brand new language into my life.  I never heard anything like Roxy Music. 

"Roxy Music" is a combination of camp, serious noise in the avant-garde world, futuristic sounds, and a glance to the past.  Years later I can pick up on the influences of the album - vintage Hollywood cinema, Joe Meek recordings, 1950s kitsch aesthetics, a touch of prog-rock,  and an appreciation of artists like Marcel Duchamp.   It's a heady brew of images and sound, that to this day still gives me the kick that never tires.     The first thing one notices is Bryan Ferry's voice - a croon that seemed manufactured but with incredible lyrics that painted a picture in one's head.   Borderline outrageous, but with a firm footing on a foundation that is art, cinema and music history.  One can hear the traces of David Bowie's presence, but it's like Roxy Music was hearing Bowie, not at the present time (1972) but in a sometime way in the future.   

There is not a bad cut on this album.  One of the great strengths that are Roxy Music is that it is truly a band.  Bryan Ferry wrote all the songs/lyrics, but it takes someone like Andy Mackay, Phil Manzanera, Paul Thompson, Graham Simpson (one of many bass players in this band), and of course, Eno.  The electronics are all over "Roxy Music."  Through the sound of vintage synths, to the layered electronic sounds of treated guitars, vocals, and god knows what else on this album.   I can't say that this album changed my life, but for sure made me appreciate the layers of textures that make a sound, and that is what I heard on "Roxy Music."  

The Viscounts' "Harlem Nocturne" (Amy Records, recorded in 1960, released in 1965)

The Viscounts, from New Jersey, where they started in 1958, made this album "Harlem Nocturne" in 1960, and somehow it sounds like the father of the first Lounge Lizards' album and the first solo Andy Mackay (from Roxy Music).   The basic sound is a great beautiful melodic saxophone, echo electric guitar, electric organ, and of course drums.  They have two sounds on this album.  Upbeat rock n' roll, and then dreamy.  The slow and dramatic ballads like "Harlem Nocturne, "I Cover the Waterfront," "September Song," and the great theme song to the French gangster flick Le Grisbi" are soaked in blue mood, that reeks of stale smoke and strong whiskey.   

I mentioned the early Lounge Lizards, because there is something sophisticated about how they approach their material, as well as The Viscounts.  The creepy organ sneaks between the guitarist and sax player, and it sits there in a very solid fashion.   The John Lurie melodic sense is also here.  With respect to Andy Mackay, the sax player's method is very similar to the Roxy Music member.  The glistering guitar is consistently in dialogue with the sax, and it's an orchestration that serves the song.   "Harlem Nocturne" is an exciting discovery for me.  God knows what one will find at their local record store - in this case, Mono Records on Glendale Blvd. 

James Ostryniec /Contemporary Oboe Three Aspects: Gunther Schuller "Sonata Oboe & Piano, Faye-Ellen Silverman "Oboe-Sthenics" Solo Oboe & Vladiir Ussachevsky "Pentagram" Oboe & Tape (Finnadar Records, 1982)

It is consistently an adventure when one wanders in the 20th century classical music section of a record store.  For the past three or four months, I have been fascinated with early electronic music, and this is the third album I have purchased with regards to Vladmir Ussachevsky.   The co-founder, and for twenty years or so, the director of the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center.  I think of him as sort of the pre-Eno - the fact that he works with real instruments, but alters their sound and pitch by using a tape machine.   The other two composers here are a total mystery to me, but it's nice to see that a female composer here is represented, Faye-Ellen Silverman, who was a student of Ussachevsky.   The oldest piece of music here is Sonata for Oboe & Piano by Gunther Schuller.

The principal subject matter for this specific album is the Oboe, played by James Ostryniec.  To me, the only oboe player I know is Andy MacKay from Roxy Music - but alas, there are others out there - and they seem to be interested in 20th century composition.  This is a gorgeous album, and the oboe sound is one that is very lonely sounding.  Like one who craves the sound of surf guitar, I imagine that there are those out there who obsessed over the sound of the oboe.   Also I want to credit Rüstem Batum for the cool image of an oboe attached to magnetic/recording tape on the front cover.  The 20th century seemed so promising in the early 1980s.

Brian Eno - "Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) Vinyl LP

Brian Eno - Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)

Vinyl LP, Album, Gatefold, U.S., 1974

Island Records

The beauty of a classic Eno album are its textures.  Here Come The Warm Jets has great sonic touches that one can listen to it again and again, and still discover new things to hear in it.   Taking Tiger Mountain has the same quality, but it is very much a different type of album than the first Eno release.  In an odd way this album is sort of like a travel journal, where lyrically it hits areas (Asia?) of the world, but it is very much done in an abstract way, where you are not really that sure where this album is placed in the world.  Theme wise it reminds me of David Bowie’s Lodger of a foreigner going to a new land, mostly to escape from one’s own culture.  There are ambient sounds here, but instead of being in the background, it is way out front and it is like a strong beat.  I think of crickets used as a percussion instrument in “The Great Pretender.” 

I remember my friend Gary Friedlander buying this album at the same time I bought it when it was first released.  We rushed to his house to listen to it, and I think we must have played it at least four times. Right away it stuck me as a classic album.  The graphics are great, and the guitar work from Phil Manzanera is simply fantastic.  There should be a death sentence for those who don’t think Manzanera is one of the greats on that instrument.   His mixture of prog sensibilities with surf aesthetic is a unique one in the world of music.  There is not a bad or weak cut on this album.  The band Japan in their masterful Tin Drum record has taken a lot from this album and used the material in a more straight ahead fashion.  Also the Feelies first album has traces of Taking Tiger Mountain as well.  A true classic. 

Andy Mackay - "In Search of Eddie Riff" Vinyl Album, 1974

Andy Mackay – In Search of Eddie Riff

Vinyl album, 1974

Island Records

Of all the Roxy Music side-projects this is the most eccentric, due that it sounds like the step-brother of the first Roxy album . Like that album its roots are pre-rock, exotica, and a touch of Joe Meek. It is one of my favorite albums due to its strangeness. Mackay is one of the architects of the Roxy sound, and this album is the proof in the cooking.

A mixture of camp is thrown in into this mix, but it is also very heartfelt. As I mentioned that are a lot of Meek touches through out the album. Specifically “Walking The Whippet” which sounds like a Meek b-side. It is simply lovely.

So In Search of Eddie Riff is very much a throw-back to the rock instrumental album – and doing so, it is also exposing the roots of Roxy Music, and why at that time it was the most modern sound out there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDn5Tb1X2kg&feature=share&list=PL0FFE062739CA680F