Roxy Music

I have NO IDEA how I got into Roxy Music. It's kind of bizarre given my memory for how I first heard a band. I think it was jr high though. Seems like a band my friend Chasz would have liked. Oh! I know! I think we got into Roxy Music from our interest in Concrete Blonde. Now that I have that sorted... I will say that seeing Bryan Ferry in concert was the only time I have ever teared up because of a vocal performance. His cover of Jealous Guy (the John Lennon classic) had me covertly wiping tears.

So, Roxy Music. Between 1972 and 1975 they released five records. They released three after that but I don't think that they are very good. The gold is in those first five. My all time favorite Roxy Music song comes from their third record, Stranded. That song is Mother of Pearl, a six and a half minute long masterpiece. Generally I am not a fan of long songs. This song has no filler and doesn't get boring which are my usual complaints for long songs. It starts off with lead guitar, rock drums, and Ferry whooping it up on vocals. Then it totally segues into a slower piano part before the drums and vocals come back in. This makes more sense when you're taking in the lyrics as well. Lyrically it's masterful storytelling which is not easy to sustain in a song this long. Ferry wasn't afraid to use real language to convey what he wanted. Really though, there is no way to describe this song - you just have to hear it. Preferably on vinyl with headphones on. So if you enjoy this mp3 please do go out and find a vinyl copy.