This is Week 39 of Glyn’s Mixed Music Bag and we are being asked to choose a song by a group or solo artist whose name begins with the letters Q or R. This is my choice.
Roxy Music became a successful act in Europe and Australia during the 1970s with the success of their 1972 self-titled debut studio album. The band was formed in England in 1970 by Bryan Ferry … who became the lead vocalist and principal songwriter … and bassist Graham Simpson. The other longtime members are Phil Manzanera (guitar), Andy Mackay (saxophone and oboe), and Paul Thompson (drums and percussion). Other members included Brian Eno (synthesizer and “treatments“) and Eddie Jobson (synthesizer and violin).
In 2011, Roxy Music played a series of 40th-anniversary shows and in 2019, was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. In 2022, the group re-formed for a tour to mark the 50th anniversary of their debut studio album.
My featured song today is “Avalon” from their final studio album of the same name; it was certified Platinum in the United States on December 2, 1992 … exactly ten years after its release in 1982.
On the cover photo of the album Avalon, we see the back of a knight’s helmet; resting on his hand is a falcon. They look out over clouds and what seems like the rising sun to a strip of land in the distance – a goal so prized it might as well be Avalon, the paradise where the knight could find rest. And comfort. Even, perhaps, love.
Bryan Ferry was always a ladies man, that is, a man who lived for love. The dark suit, the white shirt, the hair cut just so across the forehead. It’s all atmosphere, all sensuality. The ethereal saxophone. The rhythm that redefined “sultry”.
This is “Avalon” by Roxy Music.
Lyrics
Now the party’s over, I’m so tired Then I see you coming, out of nowhere Much communication, in a motion Without conversation, or a notion
Avalon
When the samba takes you, out of nowhere With the background fading, out of focus Yes the picture’s changing, every moment And your destination, you don’t know it
Avalon
When you bossa nova, there’s no holding But you have me dancing, out of nowhere
Today’s theme at Song Lyric Sunday is all about songs that feature the saxophone
Hall & Oates saxophone player, Charles DeChant
There’s only one musical duo who can say they are the number one selling duoin music history. That twosome is Daryl Hall and John Oates.
Beginning as two devoted disciples of earlier soul greats, Hall & Oates are today soul survivors in their own right. They have become such a musical influence on future generations of popular artists that they are the most sampled performers today and their impact can be heard everywhere from boy band harmonies to rap-rock fusion.
Signed to Atlantic in the early 1970s, Hall & Oates had a noteworthy start to their career. Their 1973 album, Abandoned Luncheonette yielded the Top 10 single, “She’s Gone,” which also went to #1 on the R&B charts. The duo recorded one more album with Atlantic, War Babies (produced by Todd Rundgren) before they signed to RCA. Their tenure at RCA would catapult Daryl and John to international superstardom.
From the mid-’70s to the mid-’80s, they would score six #1 singles from six multi-platinum albums. The era would also produce an additional 8 Top 10 singles. By 1984, the Recording Industry Association of America (R.I.A.A.) recognized Daryl Hall and John Oates as the number one selling duo of all time, a record they still hold today.
In 1985 singer Paul Young covered the Daryl-written Voices album track “Every Time You Go Away,” scoring a #1 hit and helping to establish the song as a modern standard. That same year, Daryl and John participated in the historic “We Are the World” session, reopened the legendary Apollo Theatre in the company of their heroes David Ruffin & Eddie Kendricks of the Temptations, and closed the globally broadcast Live Aid show in Philadelphia.
Across the succeeding decades, Daryl and John have continued to record and tour both individually and together, while their self-composed songs have evolved from current hits to timeless classics. In 2003, Daryl Hall and John Oates were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, followed by their 2014 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Demonstrating the duo’s massive popularity across decades, generations and listening formats, in 2020 Daryl and John celebrated a milestone 1 billion streams of “You Make My Dreams (Come True).” Ubiquitous in films, commercials and playlists, the song encapsulates the essential and enduring appeal of Daryl Hall & John Oates.
Unfortunately, Hall and Oates are in the middle of a legal battle. Daryl Hall has filed a lawsuit stemming from Oates’ attempt to sell off his share of their joint venture, Whole Oats Enterprises LLP, which would violate the terms of a business agreement the duo had forged. The move quickly prompted a judge to temporarily block the sale while legal proceedings and a previously initiated arbitration continue.
One thing cannot be denied, despite their legal troubles: their music makes people feel good …. always has, always will.
The song I have chosen today which features a saxophone prominently throughout is their 1982 mega-hit, “Maneater”, a song about a very seductive woman who uses men to satisfy her expensive tastes. Much like the line “Her mind is Tiffany twisted” in the Eagles song “Hotel California”, the lyrics to “Maneater” use a luxury brand to develop the character as she is described as “a she-cat tamed by the purr of a Jaguar”, referring to the car.
The song was a showcase for Hall & Oates’ sax player Charles “Mr. Casual” DeChant who appears in the video during his solo. The song spent four weeks at #1 in the US, making it the biggest US hit of the 80s to feature a sax solo.
This is one of several Hall & Oates songs that Daryl Hall’s long-time girlfriend Sara Allen had a hand in writing. According to Hall, his original lyric had some additional words in the chorus after “she’s a maneater”. Allen convinced him to end the line there, which Hall says made the song come together.
“Maneater” was used on the soundtrack to the Julia Roberts/Richard Gere movie “Runaway Bride”, the story of a woman with the reputation for jilting her fiancés at the altar.
“Maneater” is featured on Hall & Oates’ 11th studio album “H2O”. It reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on December 18, 1982. It remained in the top spot for four weeks, longer than any of the duo’s five other number-one hits.
This is “Maneater” by Daryl Hall and John Oates, featuring Charles DeChant on saxophone.
Lyrics
She’ll only come out at night The lean and hungry type Nothing is new I’ve seen her here before Watching and waiting Ooh, she’s sitting with you But her eyes are on the door
So many have paid to see What you think you’re getting for free The woman is wild A she-cat tamed by the purr of a Jaguar Money’s the matter If you’re in it for love You ain’t gonna get too far
Oh-oh, here she comes Watch out, boy, she’ll chew you up Oh-oh, here she comes She’s a man-eater Oh-oh, here she comes Watch out, boy, she’ll chew you up Oh-oh, here she comes She’s a man-eater, oh-oh
I wouldn’t if I were you I know what she can do She’s deadly, man And she could really rip your world apart Mind over matter Ooh, the beauty is there But a beast is in the heart
Oh-oh, here she comes Watch out, boy, she’ll chew you up Oh-oh, here she comes She’s a man-eater Oh-oh, here she comes Watch out, boy, she’ll chew you up Oh-oh, here she comes She’s a man-eater, oh-oh
Hey!
Ooh!
Oh-oh, here she comes (here she comes) Watch out, boy, she’ll chew you up Oh-oh, here she comes (watch out) She’s a man-eater Oh-oh, here she comes (she’s a man-eater) Ooh, she’ll chew you up Oh-oh, here she comes (here she comes) She’s a man-eater
Oh-oh, here she comes (watch out) She’ll only come out at night, ooh Oh-oh, here she comes (here she comes) She’s a man-eater, oh-oh Oh-oh, here she comes (she’s a man-eater) The woman is wild, ooh Oh-oh, here she comes (here she comes) Watch out, boy, watch out, boy
Oh-oh, here she comes Oh, watch out, watch out, watch out, watch out Oh-oh, here she comes (watch out) Yeah-yeah, she’s a man-eater Oh-oh, here she comes (she’s a man-eater) She’s watching and waiting, ooh Oh-oh, here she comes Oh, she’s a man-eater
Welcome to Birthday Thursdays! Each week I will feature someone from the world of music whose birthday falls on that day. There won’t be any chit chat from me, no facts and figures – just some great tunes (and an occasional surprise). Check it out right here every Thursday and enjoy the music.
Happy Birthday, Clarence Clemons Born January 11, 1942 Norfolk, Virginia
“You’re a Friend of Mine”~ Clarence Clemons & Friends
“Jungleland”
“Unchain My Heart” ~ Joe Cocker & Clarence Clemons
The Elephant's Trunk 