Re: (TV) Roxy Music / Eno Rant / Hell / Verlaine

[Keith Allison <keith@marquee.demon.co.uk>]

In message <B2D7C52AFC38D61181940004763B1B0A02146B03@vntmail03.volpe.dot
.gov>, Casey, Leo J <CaseyL@VOLPE.DOT.GOV> writes
>Keith, 
>
>OK, the first 2 albums and Ferry's cummerbund-ed, dissolute, 
>Weltschmertz-ian,  persona-----yeah I know I sound like I'm back on 
>that 'stuff'--were maybe more ground-breaking ("In Every Dreamhome 
>There Is A Heartache") than their later music. But Eno's god-awful Eno 
>keyboard/synthesizer/treatments noodling totally ruined several of 
>the songs--such as "Virginia Plain" and "(Another Fine) Edition of You" .

er... No! You see, you're a young man. You had to be there in 1972 to
appreciate the sheer raw, vital, breathtaking effect of that first album
bursting out at you from the morass of turgid blues rock, twiddly-diddly
jazz-prog garbage and proto-heavy metal that comprised the music 'scene'
at the time. I've played "Roxy Music" at least once or twice a month for
the last thirty years or so and each time I'm amazed that it wasn't
recorded yesterday. In fact it _couldn't_ have been recorded yesterday
because there's no longer room for something so wonderfully different to
be born. The whole point about Eno's keyboard/synthesizer/treatments is
that he wasn't a musician at all. This was the perfect foil for
Manzanera and Mackay's very 'respectable' musicianly playing and of
course the muscular drumming of The Great Paul Thompson. I cannot convey
to you the effect of the sight and sound of Eno, in full make-up,
frantically twiddling knobs on a primitive synthesiser the size of a
small car to turn the sound of Manzanera's guitar into something like
the soundtrack of a cheap horror movie. It was magic. It changed my
life. 

After he left, Roxy Music were a couple of albums away from AOR Disco-
Garbage. And they never got it back.

>
>Richard Hell and Eno actually have a fair amount in common:  
>both of their original bands became infinitely better musically after 
>they departed.

Television, yeah. But with Roxy, being "musical" wasn't the point. Any
decent players can be musical. All of Manzanera's interesting playing
after "Stranded" appeared on albums away from Roxy Music.
>
>I also believe that Eno is one of the most overrated characters of the 20th 
>century 

Here we're in complete agreement.

>(as a producer he's ok).  Moreover, he did not actually steal, but he 
>is given way, way too much credit for the "ambient sound" schtick he did 
>endlessly after Roxy.

Twenty years of yawn-inducing tedium. Music For Elevators - which Eno
would probably claim to be not only an interesting concept but a valid
musical art form. The twit.

"Here Come The Warm Jets" was fab, though.

Keith
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