The music follows his lead with yearning tones and anxious energy. The so-called good life has left him wanting and desperate for any kind of connection. By the time Roxy Music reconvened to record Manifesto, Ferry brought those elements of his musical personality with him, as well as a mood of exhaustion.
#SEQUIN BACKDROP SERIES#
Between the two, Ferry spun off on his own with a series of solo albums where he played the part of lounge lizard or jet setting rake. To get to that point, they had to get through Siren, another album of catty, neon-lit songs brimming with lustful intent and modern malaise, released first in 1975. The latest releases in the ongoing campaign to reissue the discography of Roxy Music lands at an inflection point for the band - the years when the group was slowly shedding the angular, glammy attack of their earliest work and incorporating a sleeker, more commercial sound that would result in chart hits like “Dance Away” and “Angel Eyes,” both songs from 1979’s Manifesto. Roxy Music: Siren / Manifesto (Virgin / UMC) Besides, for the folks who are just now coming to appreciate the brilliance of ABBA’s music, what better way to snap up nearly every note the quartet recorded during their illustrious career? And the pressings sound great, even with the abundance of paper scuffs on each copy. The final disc in the set is Tracks, a collection of fantastic non-album tracks, like the very recognizable singles “Gimme Gimme Gimme” and “Fernando” and the underrated “Happy Hawaii.” There’s era-appropriate reproduction inner sleeves for the band’s debut and 1974’s Waterloo. Why then consider dropping a healthy amount of coin on a hulking set containing new vinyl pressing of the Swedish pop titan’s discography up to and including their 2021 reunion album Voyage? Honestly, there’s plenty to tip the needle into the affirmative. You don’t sell an estimated 400 million copies of your albums without a few of them ending up in the used bins at record shops or at garage sales and thrift shops. Record collectors know how plentiful ABBA vinyl is on the secondary market. Leaning into material like “Before The Next Teardrop Falls” and “Color Him Father,” Martell brought in her gospel and R&B roots and gave the songs - and country music as a whole - some much needed life. What an absolute shame as her LP Color Me Country, recently reissued on orange wax for the RSD June Drop, has a swing and verve that fits right alongside the work of Glen Campbell, Bobbie Gentry and Loretta Lynn. She never really recovered and wound up retiring from performing. But as a more successful (and white) artist started to eclipse Martell, her label put her on the back burner.
In the case of this talented artist, Martell had a moment in the sun with some radio hits in the late ’60s that led to appearances on Hee-Haw and multiple performances for the Grand Ole Opry. The lone studio album by Black country singer Linda Martell has been reissued at the perfect time as Nashville continues to undergo a reckoning for its tendency to ignore minority voices and works to correct this glaring oversight. Linda Martell: Color Me Country (Sun / ORG Music) Also makes for a nice last minute Father’s Day gift for the record nerd in your life. Still, using it is inarguably more satisfying than a box cutter or guitar pick or whatever method you might otherwise lean on.
This is not a tool for the faint of heart as the sharp instrument requires a touch of precision to make sure you’re not also slicing up the outer or inner sleeve. Each one features an inlay made from a recycled VMP album and is packaged in a lovely leather sheath. It does the exact same job as my trusty guitar pick but with a lot more flair.
It may be time to retire this practice now that I have The Abbey, a fixed blade knife made by The James Brand for the good people at Vinyl Me, Please. I poke the business end of the pick into the plastic where the sleeve opens up and slice away. What is your go-to tool to help remove the shrinkwrap from a new record? For the past few years, I’ve been using a branded guitar pick thrown at me from the stage by Anthrax bassist Frank Bello. The James Brand X Vinyl Me, Please Knife: The Abbey
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