A feast of Roxy Music

Here’s a reminder to (fellow) fans of English art rock: tomorrow sees a feast of Roxy Music, with three different programmes on BBC Four:

2100 The Roxy Music Story – a new documentary
2155 Roxy Music: Frejus (live) – interview and gig from the 1970s
0125 Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music – presumably clips from BBC shows like Old Grey Whistle Test.

They should be viewable online for a week via:

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer

Rumours of a new Roxy album that abound don’t interest this Roxy/Ferry fan. The true legacy is the quartet of early 1970s masterpieces: Roxy Music, For Your Pleasure, Stranded and Country Life. The Best Of Roxy Music (2001) is a fabulous compilation, widely available at about £5.

Roxy Music bridged the gap between pop and high culture. That’s why their art lives on, true music for grown-ups, while the work of most of their poprock contemporaries is best avoided.



Gerry Smith