The TOTP performance is so wired into the memories of people born in the late 50s and early 60s that in 25 years later the sketch show Big Train decided to do this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNBOknvbPL8
Pretty funny vid...thanks, Mitchell! We statesiders (well, me, anyway!) had no idea what Big Train was/is, and would never have been exposed to this parody!
I ended up watching a late night documentary on Roxy last week, and it made an argument that early RM (with both Ferry and Eno) was a 'stepping stone' between Glam and Punk.
Not sure I entirely buy that; but it did prompt me to listen again to their first three albums, and they all have some fantastic songs.
Spot on about that doc claim! If there "needs" to be a designated "stepping stone" between glam and punk, I see no reason to not take the Iggy/Bowie duo thru that decade as an apt transition, with each one contributing heavily to both genres.
Both traversed in and out of the two lanes (and image trappings) easily and often, even before each of the two genres were fully-formed (or even identified and named)!🎶
Such a great song! I'm glad to have the U.S. version not only because it includes Virginia Plain, but also because Rik Kenton is better looking than Graham Simpson, LOL.
Thanks, Kevin! Great memories! While on them from day one (I was in high school in '72), I had no idea how they began! Did you know that, in early '70, Ferry auditioned to be lead singer in King Crimson (to replace departing Greg Lake)?
Robert Fripp and Pete Sinfield both declined, but did help them arrange management and a record deal for Ferry's just-starting RM. Sinfield hung around long enough, too, to produce the RM debut album (and "Virginia Plain"). And, did you know Phil Manzanera was the band's roadie before becoming their guitar player?!😱
On a less-Wiki-driven, and more personal note, I received a rare promo item, from Warner Bros. Records, with the debut album: A tiny, miniature plastic billboard....a little gray, rectangular frame (with stand)---the whole thing was about 3" tall and 6" or 7" wide....able to be slipped inside (to complete the tiny billboard function), was a photo of the album jacket artwork, as if the album was opened at the gatefold to reveal the full-bodied model!
As with all my other promo items and albums, it made its way, somewhere on the planet, to a winning eBay bidder at the turn of the century!
My pleasure, Kevin! Needless to say, I wish I still had it all (as well as a smart phone instead of a flip)📱, 'cause I'd love to have been able to take pix of it all, and have them accompany all my articles, as appropriate! Alas, my vocabulary will have to suffice!📖
As good of reason as any for a pet name! My Gizmo's girlfriend (a neighbor dog) is also a Roxy. If you so much as whisper the name, he sits bolt upright looking for her. lol.
Maybe they broke some of the rules, but "have a catchy hook, a nice chorus, and maybe a really cool bridge"? This song has those in spades. Actually, a bridge AND a breakdown, the latter of which would soon become standard in hard rock and metal. Love the song, in any case, hadn't heard it in a LONG time!
The TOTP performance is so wired into the memories of people born in the late 50s and early 60s that in 25 years later the sketch show Big Train decided to do this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNBOknvbPL8
Pretty funny vid...thanks, Mitchell! We statesiders (well, me, anyway!) had no idea what Big Train was/is, and would never have been exposed to this parody!
Chairman Mao as Bryan Ferry was not something I had on my bingo card!
I ended up watching a late night documentary on Roxy last week, and it made an argument that early RM (with both Ferry and Eno) was a 'stepping stone' between Glam and Punk.
Not sure I entirely buy that; but it did prompt me to listen again to their first three albums, and they all have some fantastic songs.
Spot on about that doc claim! If there "needs" to be a designated "stepping stone" between glam and punk, I see no reason to not take the Iggy/Bowie duo thru that decade as an apt transition, with each one contributing heavily to both genres.
Both traversed in and out of the two lanes (and image trappings) easily and often, even before each of the two genres were fully-formed (or even identified and named)!🎶
Got a really fine used copy of this last year!!!
Nice! You're on a great run of good finds these days.
Such a great song! I'm glad to have the U.S. version not only because it includes Virginia Plain, but also because Rik Kenton is better looking than Graham Simpson, LOL.
Thanks, Kevin! Great memories! While on them from day one (I was in high school in '72), I had no idea how they began! Did you know that, in early '70, Ferry auditioned to be lead singer in King Crimson (to replace departing Greg Lake)?
Robert Fripp and Pete Sinfield both declined, but did help them arrange management and a record deal for Ferry's just-starting RM. Sinfield hung around long enough, too, to produce the RM debut album (and "Virginia Plain"). And, did you know Phil Manzanera was the band's roadie before becoming their guitar player?!😱
On a less-Wiki-driven, and more personal note, I received a rare promo item, from Warner Bros. Records, with the debut album: A tiny, miniature plastic billboard....a little gray, rectangular frame (with stand)---the whole thing was about 3" tall and 6" or 7" wide....able to be slipped inside (to complete the tiny billboard function), was a photo of the album jacket artwork, as if the album was opened at the gatefold to reveal the full-bodied model!
As with all my other promo items and albums, it made its way, somewhere on the planet, to a winning eBay bidder at the turn of the century!
I didn't know any of that, so thanks for sharing! Hopefully, the promo item has pride of place in it's new home.
My pleasure, Kevin! Needless to say, I wish I still had it all (as well as a smart phone instead of a flip)📱, 'cause I'd love to have been able to take pix of it all, and have them accompany all my articles, as appropriate! Alas, my vocabulary will have to suffice!📖
Renamed Rocker to Roxy, she was an SPCA rescue we lost a few years ago, because of the band!
As good of reason as any for a pet name! My Gizmo's girlfriend (a neighbor dog) is also a Roxy. If you so much as whisper the name, he sits bolt upright looking for her. lol.
Maybe they broke some of the rules, but "have a catchy hook, a nice chorus, and maybe a really cool bridge"? This song has those in spades. Actually, a bridge AND a breakdown, the latter of which would soon become standard in hard rock and metal. Love the song, in any case, hadn't heard it in a LONG time!