Post by The Curmudgeon on Apr 7, 2017 1:37:01 GMT 2
We're going way back in time this week to a band that were always just sort of in the background of my life growing up. I'm not sure who used to play their records when I was growing up, my Dad would have probably liked the more rock side of their material whereas my mum would doubtless have preferred their monster radio hits, so clean and perfect with pristine pop hooks that you couldn't help but be taken in by them.
I then loved this song all by myself after hearing it on the Velvet Goldmine soundtrack, but it was hearing them on Amazon Prime's coming of age 80's comedy Red Oaks that made me think "you know what? I'm buying an album of theirs today." Fits in with the "just the hits" discussion from earlier, because it was their Best Of I bought. Not sure if I'm going to delve further than their back catalogue than that, but dang, these dudes had some hit fucking songs, let me tell you. It's Roxy Music.
Arguably the band who made "art rock" a thing, I think I kind of dismissed Roxy Music as being too posh, too corporate sounding. And I think if I had been a fan when they were around I would have been kinda bummed by how they turned out. As perfect and shimmering as radio standards like "Avalon" and "More Than This" are, they're a world removed from the gloriously weird glam rock they were releasing at the start of their careers. Bryan Ferry's goofy mannerisms just don't fit with the polished crooner he became. It's almost like a different band.
Anyway, today's song choice, that rare beast of a glam rock pop song that made the top ten in the charts but doesn't actually have a chorus. It's "Virginia Plain" and it is ACE. Their greatest hits album is one great song after another, but this is the one I keep going back to.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FP4glGm5LwY
I then loved this song all by myself after hearing it on the Velvet Goldmine soundtrack, but it was hearing them on Amazon Prime's coming of age 80's comedy Red Oaks that made me think "you know what? I'm buying an album of theirs today." Fits in with the "just the hits" discussion from earlier, because it was their Best Of I bought. Not sure if I'm going to delve further than their back catalogue than that, but dang, these dudes had some hit fucking songs, let me tell you. It's Roxy Music.
Arguably the band who made "art rock" a thing, I think I kind of dismissed Roxy Music as being too posh, too corporate sounding. And I think if I had been a fan when they were around I would have been kinda bummed by how they turned out. As perfect and shimmering as radio standards like "Avalon" and "More Than This" are, they're a world removed from the gloriously weird glam rock they were releasing at the start of their careers. Bryan Ferry's goofy mannerisms just don't fit with the polished crooner he became. It's almost like a different band.
Anyway, today's song choice, that rare beast of a glam rock pop song that made the top ten in the charts but doesn't actually have a chorus. It's "Virginia Plain" and it is ACE. Their greatest hits album is one great song after another, but this is the one I keep going back to.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FP4glGm5LwY
