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 Post subject: San Fransico Chronicle
PostPosted: Thu Sep 22, 2022 2:13 pm 
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Can any of our USA contributors here get access to the article in:

https://www.sfchronicle.com/

Search 'Roxy Music' on that site then it shows

"Roxy Music’s Phil Manzanera on how learning the old material is a ‘pain in the ass"

Could any of you who can access that in their region please copy/paste it into this thread.

Thanks
J.O'B.


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 Post subject: Re: San Fransico Chronicle
PostPosted: Thu Sep 22, 2022 4:09 pm 
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Roxy Music’s Phil Manzanera on how learning the old material is a ‘pain in the ass’

Aidin Vaziri September 22, 2022

Roxy Music appeared like the band who fell to earth when they released their first self-titled album on June 16, 1972 — the same day David Bowie’s “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” debuted — forever shifting the trajectory of rock music in a more glamorous, daring direction.

And the 2019 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees — made up of dapper frontman Bryan Ferry, guitarist Phil Manzanera, saxophonist Andy Mackay, drummer Paul Thompson and keyboard player Brian Eno — managed to keep it weird for the ensuing decade before splitting after 1982’s “Avalon.”

Now the core members of Roxy Music (minus Eno) are touring North America for the first time since 2001, with a stop scheduled at San Francisco’s Chase Center on Monday, Sept. 26.

The shows are a celebration of the band’s eclectic material, covering everything from the still-futuristic “Re-Make/Re-Model” to the disco-punk of “Love Is the Drug,” through the seductive “More Than This” — songs that have inspired legions of fans, including Duran Duran, Depeche Mode and tour opener St. Vincent.

Manzanera, who also tours with Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour and has a prolific solo career, talked to The Chronicle about the band’s latest reunion tour over Zoom from his home in the English countryside.

Q: This year marks the 50th anniversary of the first Roxy Music album and 20 years since the band last toured America. I understand these are facts you only learned once you started doing interviews for this tour.

A: I had to Google it because I thought, “Hang on, I’m sure we were in America more recently.” I’m just like triple-checking, cross-referencing, you know, because I’ve been on the David Gilmour tours in America, so I’ve been to America. But, yeah. We hadn’t done a Roxy tour in 10 years anywhere, and 20 years in America, so it’s ridiculous. I mean, what have we been doing?

Q: I’m sure all the band members are busy with their endeavors. Do you think that’s what makes Roxy Music special when you come back together — the sense of occasion?

A: Oh, yeah, definitely. We love to play together.

For the induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, we weren’t going to play that many songs, but we rehearsed for a week in Brooklyn and enjoyed it. It reminded us that we haven’t been playing these songs, and it was nice to come back to them. It was lovely to learn a lot of the songs and play them for the first time in many, many years.

It’s quite a challenge to go back and listen to the multitrack recordings of the first album and see, for instance, what I played as a guitarist when I was 21. I thought it was very straightforward, but trying to learn it now, it’s a real pain in the ass.

Q: You probably had no idea what you were doing back then.

A: Exactly. We used to say that we were inspired amateurs, and listening to it now, that’s true. Somehow there was a lot of energy and a lot of just sheer determination. That was the first album when we went to a studio to record. I can hear the energy.

Q: You set yourself up by making every Roxy Music album sound different from the last. How do you put together a cohesive set list?

A: We’re blending stuff to create a show that sounds cohesive and is going to entertain people and give them what they want. There are certain songs people want to hear, so you’ve got to make sure you have those. It’s almost like starting a new band.

Q: The real question is, are you going to wear what you wore in 1972?

A: I have those outfits, but I can’t even get them over my leg. I was so skinny then.

Q: Did you all show up to the first Roxy Music rehearsal looking like that?

A: Absolutely not. I was brought up in Cuba, Venezuela and Colombia, and then went to live in England when I was 9 or 10. I was very primitive, and these guys, when I met them, they’d been to university and they knew about image and all that. They had friends who were young, up-and-coming designers.

I turned up to the first photo shoot and Anthony Price, who is a famous fashion designer, took one look at me and said, “Oh, no, no, no, no, no! You just put these on.” So thank you, Anthony. Instant image.

Q: Despite all your success with Roxy Music and David Gilmour, is it true that the thing that you’re most well-paid for is a sample that Kanye West and Jay-Z used from one of your solo albums for “No Church in the Wild”?

A: Absolutely! It’s the only Grammy I’ve been associated with. The irony is it came from a solo album that I did in 1977 (“K-Scope”). I needed to record an instrumental, and the night before, I was watching the television and just mucking around with the guitar. I said, “Oh, that’ll do.” Out of all the stuff that I’ve done, that was the thing that they chose.

Roxy Music: 8 p.m. Monday, Sept. 26. Tickets start at $72.50. Chase Center, 1 Warriors Way, S.F. chasecenter.com

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