How did Roxy Music get their name?
The sound of Roxy Music helped define a decade. Heralding in a new era of art where Bryan Ferry, David Bowie and Marc Bolan ruled, the soundtrack of the 1970s was led by their new wave approach. Roxy Music is a name that has graced the history books, but where did it come from?
Formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry and bassist Graham Simpson, the pair started the band in northeast England, in County Durham. Later, saxophonist Andy MacKay joined the fold, bringing with him his friend, Brian Eno, after the pair bonded over an interest in the emergence of electronic music. By 1972, the original lineup of the group, including Ferry, Simpson, Mackay and Eno, along with Paul Thompson and Phil Manzanera, recorded their debut self-titled album.
Reaching number ten in the album charts, there was no stopping the Roxy Music from then on. Despite several lineup changes, a split in 1976 before a reformation in 1978 and then an eventual second split in 1983, the band managed to become one of the most iconic outfits around.
Amidst the band drama and in-fighting, Roxy Music penned hits like ‘Love Is The Drug’, ‘Avalon’ and ‘More Than This’. Pioneering a form of glam and art rock that merged more with electronic detailing, their sound was ahead of their time.
Aesthetics were always crucial to the band, caring deeply about the look and feel of the group. In fact, it was merely the look of their debut album that got them signed after Island Records’ A&R staffer Chris Blackwell walked past a poster of it and said, “Looks great! Have we got them signed yet?”
The band’s high glam, art rock look connects perfectly to their initial discussion about how to name the band. In a conversation at BIMM, Ferry revealed that the name came from his deep love of cinema. “We liked the idea of it being like a cinema name because a lot of those names like Roxy, Gourmand, Odeon, Star, Plaza – they were names of picture palaces where you’d go to take yourself out of it and see these wonderful films and colour and music, stories and life,” he said.
“So we wanted a name of a cinema, and Roxy seemed to be the one that fitted best,” he added. Originally, the band was going to be called simply Roxy, but after learning about an American band with the same name, they extended it to Roxy Music.
In a previous interview, Ferry went deeper into the decision. He said they picked Roxy because of its “resonance” and “faded glamour”, perfectly fitting the air they wanted the band to have. But in the end, he insists that it “didn’t really mean anything”.
