On the Roxy board there's been a lot of chat about "All I want is you" as a lost gem, which I agree with heartily. It's always been my favourite RM single.

Does anyone agree that "Your Painted Smile" is a lost gem from the solo catalogue? I find it a hauntingly beautiful tune, with a wonderful texture and words, delightfully sung.

Good shout, this is to me classic Ferry that gets over looked because it is on Mamouna. Every nuance of this track is quintessentially Ferry.

Every Ferry/Roxy album has a gem on it enough to make it worth owning.

J.O'B.

There's one or two songs I don't particulraly like on Mamouna. My least favourite is Wildcat Days which was touted by Ferry at the time as the closest we could get to a Roxy reunion ! The rest I like.

I tend to leave Mamouna lying on the shelf more than I should in favour of other BF offerings. However, I was doing a lot of driving on business last week, so stuck it in the CD player and just played it over and over again in a loop. With each play I enjoyed it more and more - a bit like getting to know an album for the first time I suppose. I won't be letting it gather dust so much going forward, that's for sure......and, yes, "Your Painted Smile "is the stand out track for me. As John says, it is "quintessentially Ferry" and it deserves more recognition than it gets.

I think Mamouna's one of those albums where it's best to listen to it all in one go, rather than just the occasional track. I think all the tracks are as good as each other, so for me Your Painted Smile doesn't particulalry stand out, as all the tracks around it are equally good! The video to the song is a bit weird.

Mamouna has always been one of my favourite solo albums. I do remember though when I first bought it, I thought 'What's he done I hate this!' But having listened to it over and over again (as I tend to with the new releases) I grew to love it.

I agree the standout track is 'Your Painted Smile', followed by 'Mamouna'. But I do think you have to listen to it all in one go.

One thing that I have observed quite often over the years is that people who like the Mamouna album tend not to rate In Your Mind so highly and vice versa. Do others agree?

Could be, I certainly rate In Your Mind much more highly than Mamouna.
And I agree with the rest of you about "Your Painted Smile"- the best track on the album by a mile in my view- not that I listen to Mamouna very often- maybe I need to give it some repeated spins and see if I warm to it any more, but at the moment it's down near the bottom of my Ferry chart, just above As Time Goes By.....

Apart from the weak "Wildcat days," I love the Mamouna album, I play it at least once a week, usually while driving, and I love the videos he did around that time; very colourful, and he looked exotically seedy.

I'm glad everyone regards "YPS" so highly, but for me the standout track is "Chain Reaction;" it creates such an aching, haunting, erotic mood.

I know everyone is entitled to an opinion, and we all love the guy, but it looks like I am miles apart from most people when it comes to ranking BF albums, my least favourite is "Bete Noire," and, currently, "As Time Goes By" vies for top spot alongside "Olympia."

oh yes! your painted smile...reminds of my time in scotland 3 years ago. creates such an....intimate mood.
does anyone know if live recordings from the momouna tour exist?
would be great to have a listen to them...
st

I have been searching for a long time for any live recordings from the Mamouma tour but had no joy .

Has anyone got anything ?- I'd be happy to swap for other material.