"Love Is The Drug" (1975): the story of one song ...
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The British band Roxy Music can be justifiably called one of the most interesting and unique in the history of 20th century music... In the early 70s these guys released an album of the same name, which was full of bright and bold ideas. The debut single "Virginia Plain" - a kind of crazy cocktail both in terms of lyrics and music - caused an unprecedented surge of interest among the listeners to Roxy Music! It is worth noting that the record was produced by Peter John Sinfield, one of the ideologists of King Crimson.
But... everything comes to an end, and the success of Roxy Music met its sunset... Today we will talk about the period when the band was in a very precarious position. This period can be called a turning point. And its phenomenon is very simple: despite the fact that some members left the band, Roxy Music continued to enjoy its worldwide popularity...
About the Roxy Music Group ...
The band Roxy Music was founded in 1970 by vocalist-keyboardist Brian Ferry and bass guitarist Graham Simpson. Later the line-up was completed by sound experimenter Brian Eno, as well as virtuoso - guitarist Phil Manzanera and saxophonist Andy Mackay.
Already in the first stages of recording the debut record it became clear that Bryan Ferry took the position of the leader. This led to an unstable situation within the band... With the release of the album of the same name, one of its founders, Graham Simpson, left the band. And at the end of work on the third record Stranded Brian Eno leaves the band... It would seem that the success of the band should rapidly decline... But it was not so! In commercial terms Roxy Music becomes even stronger and more popular band!
"Love Is The Drug" (1975).
In 1975, the band reached its peak of popularity, largely thanks to the single "Love Is The Drug". By the way: the track reached number 2 in the national charts. The Siren album itself, which was so exquisitely complemented by this song, went gold.
When recording the record they managed to retain Phil Manzanera and Andy Mackay, who together with Bryan Ferry formed the backbone of the band for many years. Bassist John Gustafson also worked on the album. The drummer was Paul Thompson. Siren was recorded with multi-instrumentalist Eddie Jobson, who in addition to Roxy Music has worked with King Crimson, Curved Air, Yes and many other bands....
The record itself, and in particular the mentioned "Love Is The Drug", was saturated with openly danceable rhythms. Perhaps this very feature contributed to its commercial success, who knows... Speaking about Siren it is worth highlighting the efforts of Bryan Ferry, who became the author of the hit song. He didn't just compose the lyrics for a long time, he came to the rehearsal with a new version every time!
After his success with "Love Is The Drug," Brian began to enlist other band members to co-write.
Conclusion...
In conclusion, I would like to add: it would be frankly unfair to classify the whole Siren album as a dance record because of just one composition... In general - it is rich in interesting consonances, gorgeous motifs and extremely beautiful instrumental parts... However, - you can appreciate it yourself!
