1977 may have been the year the world turned dayglo - but 1978 was the year the world went Disco - Rod stewart, the Rolling Stones and Blondie all got caught with a dose of the Disco fever. Bowie, as always had been years ahead of his peers and got the funk out of his system with Young Americans.
Uncharacteristically when Roxy Music released Manifesto in 1979 they seem to have been caught on the back foot rather than the good foot with the let's go Disco phonomenon and gave the movement a complete swerve on their album of the moment. The version of Angel Eyes on the early pressings Of Manifesto is an almost textbook Roxy rocker that maintains a cool cocktail gloss while giving a nod to the New Wave movement. All Sax, drums and Rock n Roll it's a world apart from the commercially successful and commonly available Angel Eyes rework which is all high hats and handclaps, and seems to highlight that Disco had almost as much punch as Punk.
Roxy Music - Angel Eyes(original version)
As bonus I'm also including a rare remix of Virginia Plain - the Headman EDT remix made for a rewired and remixed Roxy project which never materialised and has never been commercially released
Roxy Music - Virgina Plain (Headman Remix)
If you're in the mood for even more Roxy why not have a peep at my review of the Roxy Music debut album here
2 comments:
Nice one there Mondo. Am I alone in liking both versions of 'Angel Eyes' equally? And isn't there a third - a single mix of the 'disco' one? This is the one I have known and loved since I shoved it on a C90 of a mate's singles in 1979 itself, but it doesn't seem to appear on all of the compilations.
Or have I dreamt all of this?
And should I get out more do you think?
Definitely not Davey I'm all for both, and don't think anyone (apart from Bowie) could do the double and get away with it like this. I knew the Disco version first, but came across the 'Rock' version years later. All the stats and facts about the (4)various versions are here http://moo.vivaroxymusic.com/roxy/song_list?who=RM
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