Hi, I know this is completely off topic; (sorry). I'm a major Roxy Music fan. And love the first 5 albums a lot.
On "Manifesto" there are some of the softer sounds already. But I could swear that the very first version of "Manifesto" I owned, contained a different, harder version of "Dance Away". But then very quickly it seemed like the song changed. I'd hear it on the radio, or on future versions of the album, and it was always a adult listening kind of version. Did I dream this? Or is there a second early version of that tune?

There were more dance oriented remixes of both Dance Away and Angel Eyes from Manifesto, both of which were released as 12" singles.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2010-02-09 01:24 by baxlap.

I wouldn't be surprised if there are 3 or 4 different versions floating around...I'll have a listen now...the box set besides many compilations all might have different mixes...got some good pix on my website if you're a fan... PeterStupar.com peter

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Palace Revolution 2000
Hi, I know this is completely off topic; (sorry). I'm a major Roxy Music fan. And love the first 5 albums a lot.
On "Manifesto" there are some of the softer sounds already. But I could swear that the very first version of "Manifesto" I owned, contained a different, harder version of "Dance Away". But then very quickly it seemed like the song changed. I'd hear it on the radio, or on future versions of the album, and it was always a adult listening kind of version. Did I dream this? Or is there a second early version of that tune?

No, you didn't dream this. On the very first vinyl pressing of Manifesto, the mixes of Dance Away and Angel Eyes were different (the songs were more rock-oriented, with Manzanera's guitar prominent in the mix). Both songs were also longer, by about a minute apiece.

After Dance Away became a big UK/European hit, the familiar single version (remixed to put more emphasis on the percussion, keyboards and synths, and less on the guitar) replaced the original version on subsequent pressings of Manifesto.

And then Angel Eyes was completely remixed, changing it from a rock song to a snappy dance number. This version became another huge hit and replaced the original on the album.

If you bought a copy of Manifesto in 1980 you could expect to hear the single versions of Angel Eyes and Dance Away instead of the original album versions. This did mess with the album's original concept - divided into East and West sides on vinyl. The East (first) side was more rock/guitar oriented and heavier, the West side more upbeat and commercial.

Original CD versions of Manifesto had the later versions of the songs in its running order.

Up until the release of the Thrill of it All box set in 1995, the only way to hear the original versions of Dance Away and Angel Eyes was to track down the original vinyl pressing - or the pic disc of Manifesto. The box carried not only the original album mixes, but also the rare 12" remixes of both songs - which are excellent.

I love Manifesto as an album. Dark, brooding, restless. It was Ferry's post-Jerry Hall break-up album, made after a particularly troubled time, which saw him develop a chronic coke habit. Said habit altered his voice - although for the better. The same thing happened to Bowie around 1974. Between Diamond Dogs and Young Americans, he dropped down a range.

By the way, the afore-mentioned Roxy box set is well worth getting. The fourth disc contains all the B sides and a few rarities, including an inferior re-recording of "Manifesto" (the song).

There's never been a Roxy outtakes collection, probably because they used most of what they recorded. They released their first five albums in a short space of time. In fact, Ferry out four albums in eighteen months between For Your Pleasure and Another Time Another Place.

Ferry intended to release a solo box set in the late 90s. This was to include the original versions of Dance Away (which he recorded twice prior to the Roxy version - for both In Your Mind and The Bride Stripped Bare), as well as other scrapped material. Like the 'new' Roxy Music album, it looks like it will never happen. Shame on both counts.

Thanks a bunch for the answers.
That is exactly what I thought Nikolai. "Angel Eyes" was always obvious. It showed up in NY as a 12 " too. But "Dance Away" was weird; because it was the favorite song in our house for a while. Then I lost the original album, got another one, and everyone was scratching their heads: what happened to the guitar? And back then no one quite trusted their memory, LOL
Ever since I have always wondered. I think I am going to have to check out the Box Set.
And also Pete Stupar site.

Sad but true, the "new" Roxy album will never happen.

There's a great bootleg with demos and BBC sessions for the first album with much rougher edges and really wild modulator oscillations from Eno. I'm sure you can find it if you Google for it.

Why no new record

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Duane in Houston
Why no new record

Good question. Songs were written and recorded after the reunion tour - some featuring Eno - but, according to Ferry and Manzanera, they weren't happy with them. Or they didn't have enough good ones to make up a decent album. I think they made a collective decision not to sully their almost impeccable legacy. Roxy never made a bad album (ok, Flesh & Blood is their weakest - but it still has some great stuff on it) and reinvented themselves three times (the Eno era/the Ferry era/the Avalon era).

Ferry is set to release a solo album sometime this year.

I think - barring a major cash offer for another reunion - we've seen the last of Roxy Music as an active band. I saw their last concert in London in 2006. It was great .... even if it did take place in a car park.

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Silver Dagger
There's a great bootleg with demos and BBC sessions for the first album with much rougher edges and really wild modulator oscillations from Eno. I'm sure you can find it if you Google for it.

Those are well worth checking out. I think there are two. These were slated for official release last year. I think they may be released this year.

Nikolai wrote: "Ferry is set to release a solo album sometime this year."

This year? This year? This year? Last time it was this summer. This year could mean the 31. of Dec.

"It was great .... even if it did take place in a car park."

You sure it was great? Did it get beneath your skin? Isn`t there much of "cleverness going through the motions"? Did Andy and Phil look happy? Could they move the masses?

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Nikolai

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Duane in Houston
Why no new record

Good question. Songs were written and recorded after the reunion tour - some featuring Eno - but, according to Ferry and Manzanera, they weren't happy with them. Or they didn't have enough good ones to make up a decent album. I think they made a collective decision not to sully their almost impeccable legacy. Roxy never made a bad album (ok, Flesh & Blood is their weakest - but it still has some great stuff on it) and reinvented themselves three times (the Eno era/the Ferry era/the Avalon era).

Ferry is set to release a solo album sometime this year.

I think - barring a major cash offer for another reunion - we've seen the last of Roxy Music as an active band. I saw their last concert in London in 2006. It was great .... even if it did take place in a car park.

Roxy Music was such an enigmatic and exotically glamorous band for us Young Americans back in the day. All their albums were mini-masterpieces and yes...even Flesh and Blood...an album that seemed an anachronism already when it was released had some fantastic material...Over You, Oh Yeah (On the Radio), Same Old Scene...and the stilted cover versions of The Byrds' "Eight Miles High" and Wilson Pickett's "In the Midnight Hour". Glorious stuff...

If there is one band that could return intact and create fantastic music now - even in their 60's - it is Roxy Music.

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noughties
Nikolai wrote: "Ferry is set to release a solo album sometime this year."

This year? This year? This year? Last time it was this summer. This year could mean the 31. of Dec.

"It was great .... even if it did take place in a car park."

You sure it was great? Did it get beneath your skin? Isn`t there much of "cleverness going through the motions"? Did Andy and Phil look happy? Could they move the masses?

The point of what you've just written being ....?

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Nikolai

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noughties
Nikolai wrote: "Ferry is set to release a solo album sometime this year."

This year? This year? This year? Last time it was this summer. This year could mean the 31. of Dec.

"It was great .... even if it did take place in a car park."

You sure it was great? Did it get beneath your skin? Isn`t there much of "cleverness going through the motions"? Did Andy and Phil look happy? Could they move the masses?

The point of what you've just written being ....?

Haha..wtf?
Hey Nikolai, do you know a title maybe for those Roxy outtake boots?
I looked all over Roxyrama and could not find it; but saw a bunch of good looking other boots.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-02-11 13:18 by Palace Revolution 2000.

Palace Revolution, I like a lot Roxy Music !



Are "Dance Away "& "Angel Eyes" the original versions that appeared on the early pressings of the original vinyl issues in "The Thrill of It All "4CD Box set in 95 ?



I am a Frenchie ,as Mick affectionately called them in the Old Grey Whistle Test in 1977 .

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Palace Revolution 2000

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Nikolai

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noughties
Nikolai wrote: "Ferry is set to release a solo album sometime this year."

This year? This year? This year? Last time it was this summer. This year could mean the 31. of Dec.

"It was great .... even if it did take place in a car park."

You sure it was great? Did it get beneath your skin? Isn`t there much of "cleverness going through the motions"? Did Andy and Phil look happy? Could they move the masses?

The point of what you've just written being ....?

Haha..wtf?
Hey Nikolai, do you know a title maybe for those Roxy outtake boots?
I looked all over Roxyrama and could not find it; but saw a bunch of good looking other boots.

The definitive BBC bootleg is First Kiss. It's a 2 Cd compilation of all the available BBC sessions.

I don't know of any outtake discs. As I said before, Roxy were so prolific between 1972 and 1976 - Ferry releasing eight albums with the band and solo, then Manzanera working with Eno, John Cale and others, plus his offshoot projects, I very much doubt they had anything in the proverbial can.

Ferry solo is a different matter. There said to be a significant number of outtakes from In Your Mind and The Bride Stripped Bare (the latter originally planned as a double album), two unreleased albums (Horoscope - which later morphed into Mamouna, and Alphaville - which evolved into Frantic), and numerous unfinished songs.

Of the unreleased Ferry album - Horoscope is an unpolished Mamouna. Unreleased songs from that include a re-recording of Mother of Pearl (a waste of time that), and three very good songs - Midnight Train, Blinded by the Life I'm Living and Your Love Has Died. Alphaville is ok, but more interesting than revelatory. In both cases, the official albums are better.

You should be able to find Horoscope and Alphaville on the internet.

Not sure what will happen with the new Roxy songs. They could possibly appear on Ferry's new album.

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SwayStones
Palace Revolution, I like a lot Roxy Music !



Are "Dance Away "& "Angel Eyes" the original versions that appeared on the early pressings of the original vinyl issues in "The Thrill of It All "4CD Box set in 95 ?

Yes they are. The box set also contains the (then) rare 12" versions too.

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Nikolai

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SwayStones
Palace Revolution, I like a lot Roxy Music !



Are "Dance Away "& "Angel Eyes" the original versions that appeared on the early pressings of the original vinyl issues in "The Thrill of It All "4CD Box set in 95 ?

Yes they are. The box set also contains the (then) rare 12" versions too.

Thanks.
I don't get this box set but I've been told it is real good !



I am a Frenchie ,as Mick affectionately called them in the Old Grey Whistle Test in 1977 .

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SwayStones

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Nikolai

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SwayStones
Palace Revolution, I like a lot Roxy Music !



Are "Dance Away "& "Angel Eyes" the original versions that appeared on the early pressings of the original vinyl issues in "The Thrill of It All "4CD Box set in 95 ?

Yes they are. The box set also contains the (then) rare 12" versions too.

Thanks.
I don't get this box set but I've been told it is real good !

It is very good. It has the bulk of the studio albums on the first three discs - 80/90% of the first five albums, and then about 60% of the last three. It also has the non-album singles and B sides (Virginia Plain, Pyjamarama and Jealous Guy (the full length version)) the B sides and rare 12" mixes on the fourth - which was the reason I bought it. All tastefully presented, with a good essay on the group and outtakes from the cover photograph sessions. Very very good if you wanted a detailed overview.

Of course, the first six Roxy albums are best heard in their entirety, because they do have a very particular flow, in which case I'd highly recommend the remastered versions (the box doesn't have the remasters - which came out in 1999).

Oh, if you become so smitten you become a completist (like me), you'll want to get Street Life - the third Roxy Music compilation, but the first to include Ferry's solo singles along with Roxy Hits. The compilation had a unique mix of Pyjamarama - which isn't as harsh/raw as the original single mix, and is slightly shorter. (The original is better, of course - deeper, louder, sleazier, slinkier). It also has the 'hit' mixes of Angel Eyes and Dance Away.

Street Life was the last compilation Ferry sanctioned with his old record company EG/Polydor. He left EG for Virgin in 1986, and EG started releasing what seemed like a compilation every couple of years. Of course now, there are almost as many Roxy/Ferry compilations as there are original albums.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2010-02-11 19:25 by Nikolai.

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Turd On The Run

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Nikolai

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Duane in Houston
Why no new record

Good question. Songs were written and recorded after the reunion tour - some featuring Eno - but, according to Ferry and Manzanera, they weren't happy with them. Or they didn't have enough good ones to make up a decent album. I think they made a collective decision not to sully their almost impeccable legacy. Roxy never made a bad album (ok, Flesh & Blood is their weakest - but it still has some great stuff on it) and reinvented themselves three times (the Eno era/the Ferry era/the Avalon era).

Ferry is set to release a solo album sometime this year.

I think - barring a major cash offer for another reunion - we've seen the last of Roxy Music as an active band. I saw their last concert in London in 2006. It was great .... even if it did take place in a car park.

Roxy Music was such an enigmatic and exotically glamorous band for us Young Americans back in the day. All their albums were mini-masterpieces and yes...even Flesh and Blood...an album that seemed an anachronism already when it was released had some fantastic material...Over You, Oh Yeah (On the Radio), Same Old Scene...and the stilted cover versions of The Byrds' "Eight Miles High" and Wilson Pickett's "In the Midnight Hour". Glorious stuff...

If there is one band that could return intact and create fantastic music now - even in their 60's - it is Roxy Music.

Roxy never took off in the US did they? So full marks to you for your impeccable taste in discovering them. They did have a breakthrough of sorts with Avalon and could, I suppose have had a hit with their next album - had they made one. But they decided to split after their 1983 US tour. Manzanera says they never sat down and said they were breaking up. He met Ferry in the hotel lift the day after their last gig and said "Nice working with you". Ferry said "You too", and that was it.

Flesh & Blood isn't a bad album, but the (frankly dreadful - Midnight Hour in particular) covers suggested a slight creative drought, despite the originals you mentioned, and the title track. It sounds like a dry run for Avalon and some of the aimless atmospheric filler Ferry would slap on his next two solo albums. The only lowpoint of the 'car park concert' I mentioned a few posts up was when they did "My Only Love". Went on forever, got nowhere and stayed there.

Yeah Nikolai, when I looked at the tracklisting for "Thrill" I actually started posting the original albums next to it, because I could tell that just about all the tracks from the early albums are present; in different sequence.
I much prefer the first 5 because I don't like the whole White Tuxedo -bit that ferry got into. The music became too soft. When he did "2 HB" it was wonderful, and the whole "These Foolish Things" is GREAT. But it got old.
This is why I saw "Manifesto" as - yes, a return to the real form, but there are little pop-ups like "Spin me Round" which I just hate. And except for "True to Life" I don't like "Avalon" at all. I have most of Ferry's solo albums, but did not know the whole history, ins and outs like you. very interesting.

Hey Nikolai, as a true Roxy fan, you must see the film "Flashbacks of a Fool". It is with Daniel Craig in an uncharacteristic role. Actually someone else plays him for most of the film. But the key scene of the film, of the guy's life, is just a 1-2 minute scene - but it is such a great piece of cinema that it makes the whole film worth while. The song "If there is something", and the words took on a whole new meaning to me.

Are Mick and Brian Ferry getting together for drinks???

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Palace Revolution 2000
Yeah Nikolai, when I looked at the tracklisting for "Thrill" I actually started posting the original albums next to it, because I could tell that just about all the tracks from the early albums are present; in different sequence.
I much prefer the first 5 because I don't like the whole White Tuxedo -bit that ferry got into. The music became too soft. When he did "2 HB" it was wonderful, and the whole "These Foolish Things" is GREAT. But it got old.
This is why I saw "Manifesto" as - yes, a return to the real form, but there are little pop-ups like "Spin me Round" which I just hate. And except for "True to Life" I don't like "Avalon" at all. I have most of Ferry's solo albums, but did not know the whole history, ins and outs like you. very interesting.

Hey Nikolai, as a true Roxy fan, you must see the film "Flashbacks of a Fool". It is with Daniel Craig in an uncharacteristic role. Actually someone else plays him for most of the film. But the key scene of the film, of the guy's life, is just a 1-2 minute scene - but it is such a great piece of cinema that it makes the whole film worth while. The song "If there is something", and the words took on a whole new meaning to me.

Interesting take, Palace. Now, I HATE to be pedantic and picky, but Ferry donned the white tux in 1973/74 for the cover of Another Time, Another Place. He wore it on the Country Life tour too, before mothballing it for the GI look for the Siren tour.

While I love the first six Roxy albums (Manifesto was the first one I bought - shortly after it came out, so it has a special place in my heart, like Some Girls - it's a great album, especially the title track), I think Avalon is every bit as groundbreaking as the earlier stuff. Can you think of anything that sounded like it before? Ferry stopped writing lyrics and got into a kind of literate scat singing, using the words that complimented the music rather than accompanying them.

The sad thing is that he was pretty much stuck in that rut creatively after Roxy split for the next twelve years. Everything sounded like Avalon, Everything sounded like he was playing to the gallery. Boys & Girls (a very good album, but it took a cast of thousands to recreate the Roxy sound), Bete Noire (B & G 2 - inferior in the way of all sequels) and Taxi (more covers, some definitive), Mamouna (an underrated album that, but no different sonically to the last two). He only got out of it when he recorded As Time Goes By - 20s and 30s standards done in their original style (mostly - a brave, uncommercial move, but little more than elegant water treading) - and Frantic, which (finally) broke new ground (for Ferry at least). And then there was the Roxy reunion ... and Dylanesque (which was great, when he didn't do Dylan standards - Positively 4th Street rendered as a bitter, weary ballad, and Make You Feel My Love as a slightly creepy, stalker's lament) - but it fell flat on its face with All Along The Watchtower and Knocking on Heaven's Door). Ferry has - finally - branched out though, recording with Groove Armada and DJ Hell. About time.

Haven't seen Memories of a Fool. I will watch it though. If you're into Daniel Craig films, my favourite of his is Enduring Love, where he plays the object of a stalker's affections. The stalker is played by Rhys Iffans - completely against type.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2010-02-12 13:01 by Nikolai.

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slew
Are Mick and Brian Ferry getting together for drinks???

Urm ... Ferry has never forgiven either Jagger or Jerry for what happened. Jerry's been a lot more generous and circumspect. She recently said that Ferry is one of the 'classic crooners', and that he's aged wonderfully, and that she regrets breaking up with him. The middle comment is obviously a dig at her wrinkled, Inca mummy looking ex.

By "White Tux" bit I did not mean so much the Tux itself, but the music. Very much what you said about no new ground, and watertreading. I also felt like that after F&B, and especially "Avalon" everything sounded the same. It didn't matter if it was solo or Roxy. This is why I kept getting every new solo album; just hoping for something new and hard. By hard I don't mean "hard rock", I just mean challenging in some way.
And yes - you have to see "Flashbacks"; it is not a film about Craig, IMO it is way more about the lyrics of the song "If there is something".

By the time of Boys and Girls, the first solo album after Avalon, Bryan had become a style thing only. Roxy could give him substance, (Flesh + Blood, Avalon). Without Phil and Andy, although sometimes barely audible, he became a person you could just lounge to. Lean casually at the bar, nip to your glass, give your next of kin a nod so that he can feel stylish too, and from the ceiling comes the thundering beats of "Slave to Love"...

(Well, we all know what "thundering beats" we are talking of here. We are definitely not talking of hard rock)

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Palace Revolution 2000
By "White Tux" bit I did not mean so much the Tux itself, but the music. Very much what you said about no new ground, and watertreading. I also felt like that after F&B, and especially "Avalon" everything sounded the same. It didn't matter if it was solo or Roxy. This is why I kept getting every new solo album; just hoping for something new and hard. By hard I don't mean "hard rock", I just mean challenging in some way.
And yes - you have to see "Flashbacks"; it is not a film about Craig, IMO it is way more about the lyrics of the song "If there is something".

I hear you vis a vis the "Tux" era. Ferry dragged that one out of his wardrobe in the Same Old Scene video (ironically, then, considering the song's title); but it lost those trappings in the Avalon video and became a strait jacket. Shame, really. Ferry was always a canny, clever operator who, I think, became trapped in his own cliches.

I will check out Flashbacks. And soon.

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noughties
By the time of Boys and Girls, the first solo album after Avalon, Bryan had become a style thing only. Roxy could give him substance, (Flesh + Blood, Avalon). Without Phil and Andy, although sometimes barely audible, he became a person you could just lounge to. Lean casually at the bar, nip to your glass, give your next of kin a nod so that he can feel stylish too, and from the ceiling comes the thundering beats of "Slave to Love"...

(Well, we all know what "thundering beats" we are talking of here. We are definitely not talking of hard rock)

Solid points you've made, but it's all about perception. Did Ferry become wine bar music by design or association? Did he become willingly accessorized as blunt background muzak, or was he co-opted?

I very much doubt Ferry spent the time and money he did on Boys & Girls, Bete Noire, Taxi and Mamouna (lush soundscapes each, but you have to delve deeper - the albums are informed by loss (of his parents, in the case of the first two)), with the ambition to end up as background music to elegant fumblings in a classy drink spot.

You can draw an analogy with Moby. A cult figure prior to Play. Beloved by clubbers, unknown to the masses. Then every track on Play soundtracks an advert, and Moby gets associated with corporate product.

The difference between the two is that Ferry has carried on ploughing his furrow regardless, whereas Moby has very self-consciously tried to distance himself from what made him popular.

Nile Rodgers of CHIC & other family members of RM describe the genesis of these tunes in the excellent DVD "The Story of Roxy Music"...the remixing of these tunes proved to be a good move regarding airplay in the clubs..so much so that they replaced the original versions on later pressings...strange move I think...imagine the RS replacing the 12" of Miss You on Some Girls...don't get the MOBY analogy but maybe it's true...Bryan Ferry said in a recent interview that 'Boys & Girls' was supposed to be a Roxy Music lp..he also mentioned that 6 good trax are in the can but 5 more are needed to complete any future RM release...BF hired me to photograph his Berkeley stop on the 'Boys & Girls' tour..some images are up on my website @ peterstupar.com ...the DVD I mentioned is a must for fans along with the box set & recent 'Best of BF' which includes a 2nd disk of his early videos...all great stuff.....peter

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peter
Nile Rodgers of CHIC & other family members of RM describe the genesis of these tunes in the excellent DVD "The Story of Roxy Music"...the remixing of these tunes proved to be a good move regarding airplay in the clubs..so much so that they replaced the original versions on later pressings...strange move I think...imagine the RS replacing the 12" of Miss You on Some Girls...don't get the MOBY analogy but maybe it's true...Bryan Ferry said in a recent interview that 'Boys & Girls' was supposed to be a Roxy Music lp..he also mentioned that 6 good trax are in the can but 5 more are needed to complete any future RM release...BF hired me to photograph his Berkeley stop on the 'Boys & Girls' tour..some images are up on my website @ peterstupar.com ...the DVD I mentioned is a must for fans along with the box set & recent 'Best of BF' which includes a 2nd disk of his early videos...all great stuff.....peter

They replaced the original mixes with the hit ones to sell more albums. Makes commercial if not aesthetic/artistic sense. Ferry reformed Roxy in 1978 because his solo career had tanked in the wake of punk. The Bride Stripped Bare had been a huge flop and he'd had to cancel his UK tour because of poor ticket sales.

Roxy broke up in 1983 because a). they were all quietly sick of each other and b). the band's management told Ferry he'd be better off - financially - going solo.

I've been hearing the "six great songs in the can" line for the last - what? - seven years. I could be completely wrong, but I think it's bollocks. They don't have anything worthy of the Roxy name to put out and they know it. The magic's long gone. Hence Ferry recording a new solo album. Roxy are done now. A great shame.

The Moby analogy is just that - an analogy, not a comparison. It's about unwitting association. Prior to Play he was a hip (i.e: a cult figure). Post-Play (whose every track his publisher licensed to ad companies) he became associated with corporate 'product'. The same happened to Talking Heads after "This Must Be The Place" was featured in "Wall Street". They got tagged "yuppie music". Ferry's later stuff became 'background music' for dinner parties. I hardly think all three aspired to those tags when they wrote and recorded said albums or songs.

You take great pictures Peter. That was the "Bete Noire" tour though. He didn't tour "Boys & Girls". You still working? If so, do you miss analogue?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-02-15 13:48 by Nikolai.