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The group was completed with the arrival of drummer Paul Thompson from ‘Influence’ (where he played with John Miles – “Music is my first love and it will be my last..........”) and guitarist Paul Manzanera from ‘Quiet Sun’.
The band’s first LP was released in 1972 and delivered a devastating musical mix of Ferry 50s style vocals with 60s rhythms and 70s electronics. The variety of styles that shouldn’t have worked together were the elements that gave Roxy Music their distinctive, unique sound as the artistic tensions between Ferry and Eno played out across the music. An early casualty of the group was Simpson who left after the album was recorded; the group never brought in another fulltime bassist relying instead on temporary relationships and session musicians.
Their first single ‘Virginia Plain’ saw them hit number 4 in the charts in August 1972. With their follow up ‘Pyjamarama’ making number 10 in March of the following year it was plain that the group were here to stay.
Their second album ‘For Your Pleasure’ was released in 1973 and contained the classic, if unfathomable ‘Do The Strand’ (“Tired of the tango? Fed up with fandango? Bored of the beguine? The samba wasn't your scene? Wary of the waltz? And mashed potato schmaltz?" – excellent lyrics and an excellent song that for some reason was released in Europe, the US and Japan but not in the UK?). This album was also the last with Eno. The differences between him and Ferry, coupled with his boredom of the rock star lifestyle and touring, led to him leaving the band. While Eno went on to become a legend of electronic and ambient music Ferry took on the role of band leader.
With Eno being replaced by Curved Air’s Eddie Jobson the band moved away from the experimental art rock of their first two albums and developed a more traditional rock approach. Jobson’s experience brought them a greater depth of rock knowledge and helped lead to the group recording two classic LPs ‘Stranded’ in 1973 and ‘Country Life’ in 1974. ‘Stranded’ also gave them their third top ten hit with ‘Street Life’.
Alongside Roxy Music’s success Ferry started a solo career in 1973. Away from the group his recordings allowed his style to develop into a modern day crooner as he concentrated on primarily covering songs in his own style. Ferry made the charts in his own right in September ’73 with his version of Dylan’s ‘A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall”.
With releases alternating between group and individual, Roxy Music started to be seen as more of a vehicle for Ferry than as a unit in its own right. The hits however kept coming, their fifth album ‘Siren’ gave the group a number 2 in the UK charts with ‘Love is the Drug’ (it was also their sole US hit, its success no doubt helped by its disco vibe) while Ferry hit the top 5 with his cover ‘Let’s Stick Together’. Despite the hits the dynamics within the group were under pressure and Roxy Music temporarily disbanded in 1976 after touring in support of ‘Siren’.
The group returned in 1978 with ‘Manifesto’ but the Roxy Music of old was gone. There was now a smooth, laid back approach totally at odds with the Roxy Music who had brought difficult lyrics, time signatures and images to the fore in their early releases. While they would go on to record some of their biggest commercial hits with this style the elements that had linked the group to Glam were severed.
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