Street Life (Greatest Hits) - Roxy Music/Bryan Ferry

This was the first of the Greatest Hits compilations which Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music produced. When originally released it contained 20 tracks as a double album but although each side of the LP had 5 tracks the running time was as little as 16-17 minutes for a couple of sides. The later version of their greatest hits (the CD ‘More Than This’ released in 1995) had a longer total running time on a single CD. Plus ca change.

...good Roxy Music and, ergo, good Bryan Ferry. Don’t get me wrong I like Bryan Ferry as a solo artist but for innovation and inventiveness he was at his best when with the musical influences of Phil Manzanera and Andy Mackay. It was the first 12 months of Roxy which was so new and fresh. There were one of a number of bands who grew from close associations at universities, other examples being Queen and Genesis at the time and the music was more ... more

This was the first of the Greatest Hits compilations which Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music produced. When originally released it contained 20 tracks as a double album but although each side of the LP had 5 tracks the running time was as little as 16-17 minutes for a couple of sides. The later version of their greatest hits (the CD ‘More Than This’ released in 1995) had a longer total running time on a single CD. Plus ca change.

For me this album better defines the essence of good Roxy Music and, ergo, good Bryan Ferry. Don’t get me wrong I like Bryan Ferry as a solo artist but for innovation and inventiveness he was at his best when with the musical influences of Phil Manzanera and Andy Mackay. It was the first 12 months of Roxy which was so new and fresh. There were one of a number of bands who grew from close associations at universities, other examples being Queen and Genesis at the time and the music was more thoughtful and progressive than the other pop product of the time. Masterpieces such as Virginia Plain (1972) and Pyjamarama were produced whilst Brian Eno was still with the band. Anyone who saw the bands groundbreaking appearances on ‘The Old Grey Whistle Test’ will recall the extraordinary avant garde style the band had at this time.

When Eno left the band the sound if anything got more solid and funky without losing the sharpness of the influences of Mackays unique saxophone playing style or Manzanera’s guitar virtuosity. If anything they ceased to be drowned by excessive electronic trickery. Do The Strand, my personal Roxy favourite ‘Street Life’ and dancing at weddings standard ‘Love Is The Drug’ exemplify the power of Roxy.

Even during these early stages Ferry dropped in alternate albums with the band and from these tracks like Dylans’ Hard Rains Are Gonna Fall’, lounge lizard favourite ‘These Foolish Things’ and InkSpots classic ‘Smoke Gets In Your Eyes’ were successful solo singles.

A few years lack of apparent success and a substantial change in line-up saw the band re-emerge with a different more polished sound. Original drummer PaulThompson was replaced by Andy Newmark and the bands sound evolved into smoother slower tempo of tracks like ‘Oh Yeah’ ‘Dance Away’ and Over You’. Now under the mixing/production of Bob Clearmountain the band then had slipped further into solo Ferry territory by 1982 on tracks like ‘More Than This’ , ‘Avalon’ and ‘Slave To Love’. I will add one note of criticism when I think the version of ‘Jealous Guy’ released at the time of John Lennon’s death was opportunistic and worse still a little drab.

In just over 10 years the band had had a succession of hits in two bursts of creative energy. It was not to last and the band split around 1985.

They are reforming for a world tour next month and it will be interesting to see how they sound and what they look like nearly 30 years on, one more time Bryan
‘That’s Where I’ll make my stand –but wait,
Can’t you see that Holzer mane,
What’s her name? Virginia Plain’

 

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