I recently bought this from a market stall and in these days of home stay I'm poring over the sleeve and thinking about how the tracks were selected. Yes, I understand its 'Great hits' , but take a look at the listing for Roxy Music Greatest Hits, 1977. - Editions of You, Out of the Blue, A Song for Europe, Mother of Pearl , and The Thrill of it All are on there.

Back to '86 :-

Virginia Plain is on there, of course. Nothing from "Roxy Music" ( I wonder what a separate title to that album might have been - or is it sacrilege to ask? )

Pyjamarama and Do the Strand (obviously) are included.
( Pyjamarama was not produced by Chris Thomas, I note. It was John Anthony . Who he?)

Street Life. Yes.

But wait.. Nothing is included from Country Life.
What? All I want is You is absent.
Say again? All I want is You got to number 12 in the UK

.. A big omission in my view considering that four songs are included from Flesh and Blood, including In the Midnight Hour ,not actually a 'hit' , as it wasn't a single release.

So, conclusion: different decade, different market.

Interesting post. I too thought the track selection at the time was strange. Nevertheless it was a huge seller. Spent 5 weeks at #1 in the UK. According to Alan Jones, (writing in Record Mirror) it sold 200,000 copies in first 3 weeks alone. Also was #1 in New Zealand and charted in some other countries. Welcome royalties for the band - well mostly Bryan.

Re: John Anthony producing 'Pyjamarama', he also produced side two of 'For Your Pleasure'. You can see the credit on the label of the LP, but not on the sleeve notes IIRC. I have a feeling side two and the single were recorded first. I know that at least 4 tracks from side one were only written shortly before recording. Maybe Chris Thomas was on holiday or working producing someone else during the early recording sessions?

( Pyjamarama was not produced by Chris Thomas, I note. It was John Anthony . Who he?)

Interesting; I'd never noticed either, despite Pyjamarama being the first Roxy vinyl that I bought.

Anyway, here's the man's Wikipedia biog:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Anth ... d_producer)

I suspect the production credit for Roxy's Greatest Hits refers only to the remix of Pyjamarama (I'd forgotten that this remix appeared on the double A-side 45 with VP, which was used to promote/support the Greatest Hits LP, as well as on the Street Life compilation which prompted this thread).

-A little off topic, but experiencing RM live in the 80s must have been a mixed pleasure. They were still carrying with them all the 70s stuff. A lot of new fans came aboard after the success of Flesh + Blood. What they got concertwise can be heard on "The High Road" EP, I`m thinking of the rough sound. -Quite a contrast to Avalon, eh? You sure didn`t get more of the same.

The original 1973 7" single of Pyjamarama has "produced by John Anthony & Roxy Music for EG Records" printed on the label, both sides.

According to Discogs the credits on FYP are - Producer – Chris Thomas (tracks: A1 to A5), John Anthony (tracks: B1 to B3).

Stranded was my first Roxy Music album and I went backwards to the first two. Until this weekend I hadn’t twigged that John Anthony had produced both side 2 of For Your Pleasure and Pyjamarama. Now I
I note he is ‘thanked’ on the inner sleeve of FYP , and as someone pointed out , actually credited as producer on the disc label , Side 2.
It almost feels like he had been air-brushed from the canon. But he hasn’t.
I’m clearly not a Roxologist, as others are.
Thank you , guys, I’m enlightened.

Cher Le Freak,
Comme toujours, the catalogue blended seamlessly.
W2 saw the Avalon tour in Frejus and there was zero fracture between the old and the new. The whole thing came across as one pitch perfect musical journey.
That said, Windswept doesn’t think they played anything from F&B but maybe he is misremembering ?
Salutations,
W2

My Only Love

Cher avalon_eyes,

Quel Roxologist - you are, of course correct !

W2 is off to the memory clinic.

Stay well all you fellow Ferryistas and use this lock-down to brush up on your dancing.

Salutations a tous,

Windswept

Was your lasting impression of Frejus positive, W2? I've been re-reading the Uncut Roxy edition again and, largely based on Allan Jones' review in the Melody Maker at the time, Frejus got short shrift. Although he seems mainly to grumble that the promised perks for him as member of the press failed to materialise at the venue and that he had to rough it with the great unwashed. It seemed to be the ultimate in corporate AOR and that the drumming of TGPT was much missed, especially on Both Ends Burning. Of course his brief Live Aid appearance apart it would be 6 years before we would see Ferry perform live again.