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Roxy Music

MUSIC: ROXY MUSIC

My first encounter with Roxy Music was on a weekend after a night out. I was watching a late night rock music show. Back then we had limited options for music on TV so when Midnight Special or Don Kirshner's Rock Concert came on we watched. Rock was big for us. We were always listening, telling stories, and debating, and anything new became a hot topic. So there in my room, on my small portable B&W TV, was Roxy Music. Wow! James Bond in a tuxedo? A vampire playing oboe? Is this legal in rock and roll? I had no idea what i was watching but had to have more.

I grabbed the first album i could find, Viva! Roxy Music, but eventually found my way to their self-titled first album. I had been immediately attracted to the look and style, but this debut was crazy unique and unclassifiable.


Roxy Music - Roxy Music

ROXY MUSIC


Viva! -Roxy Music

VIVA!


Country Life - Roxy Music

COUNTRY LIFE


Listening today, Roxy Music is an unlikely mixture of elements for sure. Hopelessly romantic lyrics, futuristic synth and tape loops, squawking woodwinds, and angry guitar runs over a Bonhamesque back beat. Elton John-like ballads morph into prog-rock jams. Appalachian country meets 1001 Arabian Nights. 30s torch to 50s doo-wop to 70s glam. Casablanca to 2001 A Space Odyssey. It was rebellious, cool, weird, and corny (castanets in Ladytron?).

Initially it was pegged as glam/prog rock, but Roxy Music created it's own genre. It peaked at #10 in Britain with not much fanfare (initially) in the states, but the influence it had on 70s and 80s music, style, and rebellious experimental spirit is pretty obvious now. It remains fresh to me and the style seems less unusual today, which is another testament to it's impact. And it takes me to a great place so, "here's looking at you kid."

Dennis McCarthy

ROXY MUSIC - MOTHER OF PEARL


ROXY MUSIC - OUT OF THE BLUE

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