Roxy Music

Roxy Music are a British rock band active since 1970. The group was founded by vocalist and frontman Bryan Ferry together with bassist Graham Simpson. They subsequently recruited Andy Mackay (sax, oboe) who convinced his friend Brian Eno to join the band initially as a technical adviser, but soon becoming part of the group as synthesizer and keyboard player. The sextet was completed with Roger Bunn on guitars and Dexter Lloyd on drums, although the latter soon left and was replaced by Paul Thompson. Bunn also left the band early on and was replaced by David O'List, former guitarist with the Nice and later Phil Manzanera. Roxy Music played their first live shows in December 1971.

The band's eponymous debut album, Roxy Music, was released in June 1972, gaining widespread critical approval and reached no.10 in the UK charts in September, fuelled also by the success of the single Virginia Plain, UK no.4 in the same month. The group had already appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test in June and had recorded two sessions for enthusiast John Peel, with a third recorded in July. It was however their performance 8with live vocal by Ferry) of Virginia Plain on Top of the Pops on 24 August 1972 (and again on 31 August) which gave them their greatest exposure and established them as spearheading the 'glam-rock' movement in pop music and British pop culture.

Follow-up album For Your Pleasure released in 1973 was their last to feature Brian Eno, while third album Stranded, released the same year, was the first with Andy Mackay and guitarist Phil Manzanera also making songwriting contributions, and reached no.1 in the UK. The group also enjoyed two more Top 10 singles with Pyjamarama and Street Life. Country Life (1974) and Siren (1975) both went top 5, while single Love is the Drug reached no.2 (held off the top by a re-release of Bowie's Space Oddity). Roxy Music disbanded after the promo tour for Siren, and a live album Viva! was released in August 1976, and a Greatest Hits collection in 1977. Since 1973, Bryan Ferry had also been pursuing a solo career, releasing albums in his own name and continued to do so until 1978.

Roxy Music reunited with anew line-up in 1978 to record and release a new album Manifesto, and a return to the singles charts with Dance Away and Angel Eyes. A further new album Flesh+Blood, released in 1980, saw them back at the top of the album charts and with still strong placings in the singles charts in the UK.

In 1981 the group achieved their first no.1 single with a cover version of John Lennon's Jealous Guy, a homage to the singer-songwriter and former Beatle, who had been killed in December 1980.

Success came again with Avalon (1982), a UK no.1 album, and associated singles. The band, now reduced to core members Ferry, Mackay and Manzanera, augmented by several suport players, toured extensively until May 1983 before dissolving again, with each member following their respective solo career.

A 30-year reunion, limited to live performances, ensued in 2003 and continued until 2005, and again in 2010 and into early 2011 to celebrate the band's 40th anniversary. A new studio album had also been in the works, but has never been released. Roxy Music reformed again in 2022 for a 50th anniversary tour of the UK and the US.

Discography
UK only - chart placings in brackets, where appropriate

Top of the Pops

 * 24 August 1972 - Virginia Plain (26)
 * 07 September 1972 - Virginia Plain (08)
 * 15 March 1973 - Pyjamarama (31)
 * 05 April 1973 - Pyjamarama (13)
 * 22 November 1973 - Street Life (21)
 * 06 December 1973 - Street Life (11)
 * 04 October 1974 - All I Want Is You (NEW)
 * 17 October 1974 - All I Want Is You (17)
 * 07 November 1974 - All I Want Is You (12)
 * 23 October 1975 - Love is the Drug (16)
 * 06 November 1975 - Love is the Drug (02)
 * 15 January 1976 - Both Ends Burning (28 - video)
 * 20 October 1977 / 10 November 1977 - Virginia Plain (re-release - both rpts. of 24/08/72)
 * 10 May 1979 - Dance Away (20) / 24 May 1979 - Dance Away (02) / 07 June 1979 - Dance Away (02) (all footage from Snowtime Special: Abba In Switzerland 16-04-79)
 * 23 August 1979 - Angel Eyes (12) (video)
 * 06 September 1979 - Angel Eyes (04) (video)
 * Christmas Day 1979 - Dance Away
 * 15 May 1980 - Over You (18) / 29 May 1980 - Over You (06)
 * 07 August 1980 - Oh Yeah (09) (first show after ten-week strike)
 * 06 November 1980 - Same Old Scene (29) (Legs & Co.)
 * 26 February 1981 - Jealous Guy (08) (video)
 * 12 March 1981 / 19 March 1981 - Jealous Guy (01) (both video)
 * 31 December 1981 - 'All the No.1s of 1981' - Jealous Guy (video)
 * 01 April 1982 - More Than This (18)
 * 15 April 1982 - More Than This (06) (video)
 * 17 June 1982 - Avalon (14)
 * 30 September 1982 - Take A Chance With Me (27) (danced to by Zoo)


 * 22 October 1992 - Virginia Plain (FLASHBACK - clip of 24/08/72)
 * 27 May 2001 - '1981 reunion' - Jealous Guy

Other TV

 * 20 June 1972 - The Old Grey Whistle Test (BBC Two)- Ladytron (rpt. 26 December 1972)
 * 25 November 1972 - Full House (BBC Two) - Reviving the music of the 1950s and contributing some of their own - vocal and electronic.
 * 03 April 1973 - The Old Grey Whistle Test - Do The Strand, In Every Dream Home A Heartache
 * 11 October 1975 - Supersonic (LWT) Love Is The Drug (female vocals added to the existing track) / Both Ends Burning
 * 25 October 1975 - Supersonic Love Is The Drug (possible rpt.)
 * 20 December 1975 - Supersonic Both Ends Burning (possible rpt.)
 * 19 March 1979 - The Kenny Everett Video Show (ITV) - Trash
 * 16 April 1979 - Snowtime Special: Abba In Switzerland (BBC One) - Dance Away
 * 12 May 1979 - On The Road (Granada) - live (video here)
 * 31 December 1979 - The 'Will Kenny Everett Make It To 1980?' Show (Thames, ITV) - Midnight Hour
 * 11 October 1980 - The Old Grey Whistle Test: The Story So Far (BBC Two, Rock Week) - song unknown
 * 24 January 1981 - The Old Grey Whistle Test (BBC Two) - Rockpop : part 1 featuring highlights from two concerts recorded in December for German television. This week Roxy Music and Mike Oldfield at the Westfallenhalle, Dortmund.
 * 26 February 1983 - Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music (BBC Two) - interview with Ferry and preview of concert shown on:
 * 28 February 1983 - Roxy Music (BBC Two) A concert recorded live in Fréjus, France, on 27 August 1982 before an audience of 15,000 (rpt. 07 August 1983)

Radio

 * 21 January 1972 - Friday Night Is Boogie Night (BBC Radio 1) - first John Peel session
 * 23 June 1972 - Friday Night Is Boogie Night - second John Peel session
 * 01 August 1972 - Top Gear (BBC Radio 1) - third John Peel session
 * 16 September 1972 - In Concert (BBC Radio 1) - rec. 03 August 1972 (rpt. 29 December 1977)
 * 09 November 1972 - Top Gear (BBC Radio 1) - fourth John Peel session
 * 05 March 1973 - Sounds of the 70s (BBC Radio 1) - fifth John Peel session
 * 15 July 1984 - Paul Gambaccini with an appreciation of Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music (BBC Radio 1)
 * 23 March 1986 - Classic Concert (BBC Radio 1) featuring Roxy Music recorded in 1979 (rpt. 27 August 1988)