Some thoughts on 'Do the Strand'. At the time Roxy didn't release singles from their albums - in the UK anyway. I remember Eno stating that 'Pyamarama' was a rushed release, pressured by the record company and they should have spent more time on its recording. He also said 'Do the Strand' was the better choice as a single. but wasn't recorded yet.

We know that DTS was eventually released in the UK in 1978 as promotion for the greatest hits album, after Virginia Plain/Pyjamarama re-issue, but unsurprisingly it failed to chart. After all most Roxy fans owned FYP, & if not bought 'Greatest Hits'. The b-side wasn't a rarity either, being 'Editions of You'. I seem to recall 'DTS' was nearly released as a single in 1976 - possibly Island trying to cash in before Roxy moved labels to Polydor? It was even given a catalog number - WIP6308.

Anyway, I always wondered if it would have charted in the UK if released at time of FYP & if so, how high, especially as DTS did make the chart in some European countries, e.g. #23 Holland, #41 Germany & #73 in France.

The numbers speak for themselves! A brilliant track, love it, but not a single (bit like Both Ends Burning!)

Too long, too obscure, no recognisable verse/chorus pattern so beloved of the pop charts and an overlong middle 16 twelve bar in G?

No record company was going to gamble on that back in the day!

From an American perspective it seems strange to NOT include a likely single on an album, the point being that the single offers a way to promote the whole album.

I guess that in Britain there was more of a sense of being either a "singles band" (like say 60s era Move with their string of Roy Wood hits) or an "album band" (like maybe Led Zep). That wasn't so much the case in the US as far as I can tell...

The do the strand single which was to be released in '76 was the live version from Viva! Roxy Music but would have been released at roughly the same time as Mr. Ferry's EP release so was probably pulled for that reason.

I have mentioned before that if Do the Strand had been released as a single in early '73 it would have been welcomed by the masses. I can picture Mud style Tiger Feet dancing.....oh Jesus!!!!

Thank God it wasn't. It meant we could keep them to ourselves, a bit under the radar.

The first 2 singles didn't have choruses, which made them so different, so special, it would have been an epic hit, but musically possibly handcuffs too.

Mud Style Tiger Feet Dancing...

Ummmmmm..
Can't get it Out of My Head....

DCJ...
My Fellow American...

It seems like here in America in that Music Era
Concept albums were the Order of the Day as opposed to single releases, some really great albums were being released then.
Think Led Zepplin -Houses of the Holy,
Elton John, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,
The Who, Tommy
The Beatles, Sgt. Pepper
ELO- Eldorado ;
Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon..
And of course Bowie's Ziggy Stardust...

All Styles Served Here..


Do The Strandsky

Lolita and Guernica
Did the Strand....

Interesting point. I always thought it was never confirmed for definite that it was the live version from Viva that was going to be released - just speculated later. The would be catalogue number WIP 6308, was literally the next one after 'Let's Stick Together', (WIP 6307). It does make sense though if it was pulled to avoid being out at the same time as Bryan's solo stuff.

'These Follish Things' was another album track that was allocated a catalog number but had its release pulled for whatever reason.

I bought DTS/EOY as a single record in 1973 (at the age of 14) because this song and sound was so much different from almost anything else in the pop scene at that time. Soon FYP followed as one of my first LP records ever (after Uriah Heep, Dr. Hook and The Strawbs ). And DTS is still my favourite Roxy song, 'the' Roxy song. Nice topic, Alan. BTW: At that time I wasn't aware of the fact that they hadn't released it in their home country ...