Ultravox / John Foxx
ULTRAVOX / John Foxx
Ultravox (with John Foxx)
DANGEROUS RHYTHM / MY SEX ISLAND
1977 2 TRKS with pic sleeve
HA HA HA ISLAND
1977 8 TRKS 2nd;
HA HA HA kami UNIVERSAL JPN UICY-93074 CD
1977 14 TRKS (6 x bonus tracks) ('06 issue) kami (pictured)
LIVE RETRO (EP) ISLAND
1978 4 TRK EP; with pic sleeve
PEEL SESSIONS, THE STRANGE FR
1987 3 TRK CD Single CD5 (70's recordings)
PREVIOUS MOTION (Live '77) pirate VOX FOXX 77 LP
1988? 13 TRKS Pirate, red vinyl
QUIET MEN ISLAND
1978 2 TRKS with pic sleeve, white vinyl
QUIET MEN ISLAND
1978 2 TRKS with pic sleeve
QUIET MEN (7" x 2) ISLAND
1980 4 TRK EP; with pic sleeve, re-issue, 7"x2
ROCKWROK /
1977 2 TRKS with pic sleeve
ROCKWROK /
1977 2 TRKS with pic sleeve
SLOW MOTION / DISLOCATION ISLAND
1978 2 TRKS with pic sleeve, clear vinyl
SLOW MOTION / DISLOCATION ISLAND
1978 2 TRKS with pic sleeve
SLOW MOTION SEVENTY-EIGHT pirate ELEMENT OF ELEMENTS 020 CD
1978 15 TRKS LIVE '78, pirate
SYSTEMS OF ROMANCE ISLAND
1978 10 TRKS 3rd
SYSTEMS OF ROMANCE ISLAND DE 26 453 XOT LP
1978 10 TRKS 3rd
THREE INTO ONE ISLAND
1980? 10 TRK Collection
ULTRAVOX ISLAND
1977 9 TRKS 1st; prod. by Brian Eno
ULTRAVOX
1977 9 TRKS 1st; insert
ULTRAVOX MINI LP
1981 6 TRK EP; with pic sleeve
YOUNG SAVAGE / SLIPAWAY (Live) ISLAND
1977 2 TRKS with pic sleeve
And the re-issue of the Tiger Lily 45:
MONKEY JIVE / AIN'T MISBEHAVIN' DEAD GO
1980 2 TRKS with pic sleeve, re-issue
John Foxx, solo artist
BURNING CAR VIRGIN JPN VIP-5903 12"
1980 6 TRK EP; picture labels, insert
BURNING CAR / 20TH CENTURY VIRGIN
1980 2 TRKS with pic sleeve
BURNING CAR / 20TH CENTURY pic disc VIRGIN UK VSY 360 7"
1980 2 TRKS no pic sleeve, pic disc
DANCING LIKE A GUN / SWIMMER I + II VIRGIN
1981 3 TRKS with pic sleeve
ENDLESSLY / A KIND OF WAVE VIRGIN
1983 2 TRKS with pic sleeve
ENDLESSLY / DANCE WITH ME VIRGIN JPN VIPX-1722 7"
1983 2 TRKS with pic sleeve
ENDLESSLY / YOUNG MAN VIRGIN
1982 2 TRKS with pic sleeve
ENDLESSLY / YOUNG MAN pic disc VIRGIN UK VSY 513 7"
1982 2 TRKS no pic sleeve, pic disc
1981 3 TRKS with pic sleeve
1981 2 TRKS with pic sleeve
1981 2 TRKS with pic sleeve
1981 2 TRKS with pic sleeve
GARDEN, THE VIRGIN
1981 16 TRKS 6 x bonus tracks
GARDEN, THE VIRGIN
1981 10 TRKS 2nd album, large booklet
GOLDEN SECTION, THE VIRGIN
1983 10 TRKS 3rd album
IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS VIRGIN
1985 10 TRKS 4th album
IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS VIRGIN
1985 10 TRKS 4th album
JOHN FOXX VIRGIN CAN
1981 10 TRK Collection
LIKE A MIRACLE VIRGIN
1983 2 TRKS with pic sleeve
LIKE A MIRACLE / WINGS AND A WIND VIRGIN
1983 2 TRKS with pic sleeve
METAMATIC VIRGIN
1980 16 TRKS 6 x bonus tracks
METAMATIC VIRGIN
1980 10 TRKS 1st album, Ultravox
MILES AWAY / A LONG TIME VIRGIN
1980 2 TRKS with pic sleeve
MY FACE (Flexidisc) SMASH HITS 198082 7"
1980 1 TRK flexi-disc
NO-ONE DRIVING (7" x 2) VIRGIN
1980 4 TRK EP; with pic sleeve, 7"x2
STARS ON FIRE (7" x 2) VIRGIN
1985 4 TRK EP; with pic sleeve, 7"x2
UNDERPASS / FILM 1 VIRGIN
1980 2 TRKS with pic sleeve
YOUR DRESS VIRGIN
1983 2 TRKS with pic sleeve
YOUR DRESS (7" x 2) VIRGIN
1983 4 TRK EP; with pic sleeve, 7"x2
I got to see Ultravox with John Foxx about six times – I just followed them wherever they played in
“Metamatic” is a wonderful “I want to be a machine”-type album – almost entirely synthesizers, Foxx’s ‘machine-sterile’ delivery suited the machine music perfectly. When I saw Ultravox, they were already playing “Touch & Go” – but had to wait a few years before the song surfaced on vinyl – on “Metamatic”. Interesting, there was a cancelled debut solo single (“Young Love”?) that did not surface until the debut CD issue of “Metamatic”, in the 90’s.
I did my best to keep up with Mr. Foxx’s solo career – but it got away from me. I always thought he should’ve done a whole album in the style of “Miles Away” (and it’s B-Side “A Long While”) – with that band.
I did see the post-Foxx Ultravox at The Whisky – with two bass players on stage. The show is a good memory, but I really never went for any of the Chrysalis-era releases. I got about as far as “All Stood Still”…in the Midge Ure version of the band.
Strangely, I now listen to Midge Ure’s pre-Ultravox group, Slik. It’s that
I believe there was a long break after about ’85 or so in Foxx’s solo career. When he began issuing music again – I had moved on. Anybody know if any of his post-80’s material is any good? Or is it all David Sylvian-style ‘sleepy bye music’?
posted by Ron Kane @ 7:07 AM
4 Comments:
Re: Foxx
Finally a posting where I have an even larger collection of that artist than you!
Well, if "Slow Motion" wouldn't make you a fan, then game over dude! Nothing to see here. Move along!
As an Orlando philistine, I only ever heard Ultravox during their Chrysalis phase when I chanced to see the [phenomenal for its time] "Passing Strangers" video. Nevertheless, I hunted down the "Vienna" album and it quickly became my fav-o-rama. Even thought the lyrics are a pale parody of Foxxs' work woth the band [they didn't have many thoughts in their pretty little heads] they still had *-ing hot chops! "Vienna" was electronik ROCK and I was ready for it - and how. Fortunately, one of my next Ultravox purchases was the Island cash-in "Slow Motion" 2x7" and then I got to hear "Slow Motion" albeit 3 years after it was originally released. I quickly moved on "Ultravox!" and "Ha! Ha! Ha!" and got the awesome "Systems Of Romance" 4th. It became one of my favorite albums of all time. As a callow youngster, I still liked the current Midge Ure-led Ultravox lineup but by the time it was all over [basically, 1985 when Midge put out a solo album] I thought a lot less of them.
Ron - he DID do 2 abums with the "Miles Away" band, Shake Shake [a.k.a. Duncan Bridgeman & Jo Dworniak]. They were the backing band on "The Garden" [1981] and "The Golden Section" [1983]. "The Garden" revisits the rock of "Systems Of Romance" and "The Golden Section" is his stab at Beatles-influenced electro-psychedelia, lushly produced by Birth Control's Zeus B. Held. Admittedly, the thinner sound of the "Miles Away" single is not in evidence on these albums. But I agree "Miles Away" is a superb single! Every time I hear it I am gladdened.
His post '97 comeback career is split into active and ambient. His recordings with Louis Gordon are all in your face elektrorok. His material under his own name is ambient stuff. The 3 volumes of Cathedral Oceans are abstract choral arrangements over heavily echoed ambient beds. Cathedral Oceans III is like excellent film music - not as "ecclesiastic" as the earlier Cath Oceans stuff. Here's a rundown:
with Louis Gordon:
Shifting City - The most welcome album of the 90s for me. It ended over a decade of no new John Foxx recordings in a spectacular way. He was back to his electronic roots with an occasional side trip into psychedelia. This one largely explores the vocabulary of "Metamatic" with techno drones employed to elaborate his usual themes. "Shifting City" is his nod to the Beatles and psychedelia, as exemplified by "Revolver." "Concrete, Bulletproof, Invisible" is a relentless techno mantra of those 3 words. "Crash" returns to J.G. Ballard with a delightful music bed that builds in complexity over the course of the long tune. Quirky and intense with a hint of fun. Welcome back!
Golden Section Tour / The Omnidelic Exotour - 2xCD live set with disc one covering his only solo tour in 1983. Hits some calssic Ultravox material in addition to more muscular renditions of tracks from "The Garden" and "The Golden Section." No "Metamatic" cuts are played.
Disc 2 is a long live at rehersal studio set [no audience] from 1998 of he and Louis Gordon performing tracks from "Shifting City" along with some excellent new arrangements of "Metamatic" cuts and a trio of "Systems Of Romance" cuts and "Hiroshima Mon Amour." The long live version of "Shifting City" has a very impressive extended coda that will make you hate the album version.
The Pleasures Of Electricity - Foxx's most Kraftwerk Influenced recording. "Camera" is Kraftwerk performing a madrigal! Unbelievable electropop! "Night Life" is a tracks that kraftwerk apparently forgot to issue on "Man Machine" - you could easily slot this in the mix there with no one batting an eyelash. "Automobile" and "The Falling Room" are entries into darker techno that Kraftwerk hinted at [at least thematically] in "Hall Of Mirrors"
Drive EP - Four tracks from "Crash & Burn" [2 songs in LP/edit form] along with 3 non-LP cuts of unbelievable quality! "Underwater Dreamsex," "Making Movies" and "Your Shadow" are so phenomenal you really have to wonder why they were left out of the running order of the "Crash & Burn" album. I would venture the long running times of the cuts [7-10 minutes each] made them the odd men out but thankfully, they flesh out this fantastic EP.
"Crash & Burn" - Foxx gets really in your face on this one! "Drive" is Foxx in his "Tubeway Army" phase! The music is direct and bracing. The lyrics are somewhat confrontational but with his usual poeticism underpinning things. The music is fat with hooks that really harken back to the earliest Ultravox! period - albeit completely electronic in nature. "Ultraviolet/Infrared" and especially "Ray 1/Ray2" show a playful side of Foxx that is new. The latter could have been a radical electroclash take on an obscure late 50s rockabilly number for all we knew! The intense title cut examines someone with a bad drug habit.
Live From A Room/Big As A City - Another "live" disc from the 2003 tour. Sequencing places 60% of "Metamatic" fat in the middle - this time in arrangements close to the originals. I'd prefer to hear more from the current "Crash & Burn" album, but the closing, magnificent "My Sex" is enough to justify the purchase of this disc alone! It is magnificence to blow your *-ing mind!!!!
From Trash - "Your Kisses Burn" also turned up on the Nation 12 album but the arrangement here is far less beat-oriented. "A Million Cars" is a gloriously upbeat number. "One Who Walks Through You" certainly sounds familiar, eh? Looking at the equation from a different angle.
Sideways - Junk culture/sci-fi themed tracks from the "From Trash" sessions. I don't have this yet. Foxx has released 7 discs in the last 9 months and it's hard to keep up.
Without Luis Gordon:
Modern Art - A great "best of' which supercedes the OOP "Assembly" from the 90s. Lots of rare cuts never before on CD like the single mix of "He's A Liquid" which we'd previously heard only on the video. And the origiinal 1982 version of "Endlessly."
Cathedral Oceans - Foxx' first ambient album recorded in the early 80s with heavy exploration of echospace that is clearly unnatural combined with abstract choral singing. Foxx aims for the feel of church music without the troubling "content."
Cathedral Oceans II - I still don't have this one.
Translucence/Drift Music - 2xCD with Harold Budd. Definite ambience but not the awkward piano/electrofest one would anticipate. Foxx recorded Budds piano playing and manipulated it electronically. There is no overt synth playing on the albums. More of a Budd thang - but I'm okay with that!
Cathedral Oceans III - A big departure from the first volume with material presumably recorded in a more contemporary setting. The music is vastly different from volume 1. This is more cinematic sounding material that is for active listening. Indeed, much of it sounds like a good soundtrack.
Nation 12: Electrofear - This was a collaboration with Tim Simenon and Kurt & Simon Rogers. This was recorded during the late 80s with an attempted house electro vibe blended with Foxxs' own electro-psychedelia. Two singles [the excellent "Remember" and the lame "Electrofear"] were reelased back in the day but the album tapes were assumed lost until a fan brought forth a lo-gen dub of the album for release. Some fascinating avenues are explored in territory that would be very trendy by the early 90s. Some cuts later appeared in new forms on subsequent Foxx releases. The version of "Concrete/Bulletproof/Invisible" here is as radically diffecent as a song with only three words can be! Several tracks feature full Foxx vocals making this an obscure but intriguing side track. Apparently, not many cpoies of this exist.
Tiny Colour Movies - Foxx's "new" solo album of instrumentals to accompany "found films" of eccentric hypothetical super 8 collectors. This was said to be in the vein of the "Metamatic" instrumental b-sides but I find the material a bit too close to the Cathedral Oceans sound for effective branding on its own.
That's a lot of releases, especially when you consider that 50% of them came out since 2005!
Re: Foxx
I forgot there is another obscure 2xCD that came out in the last 6 months:
The Hidden Man - 2 discs full of interviews, readings from Foxx of his unpubliahed nove; "The Quiet Man" that served as the artistic manifesto he's based almost all of his lyrics from 1978 onward on, as well as unreleased music material. A weird one and definitely limited edition. No, I don't have it yet!
Jim-san,
Congratulations on having the longest comments in the history of my blog(s). feel like making me a “Best of” post-’85 Foxx CDr?
- Ron
Jim said far more than I could have said and (as usual) more eloquently.
Basically Foxx has had his elektrorok cake and ambient-eaten it too!
I wish he and Bowie would work together -- Bowie needs Foxx's discipline and elektro-beats, Foxx needs Bowie's marketing smarts and ability to draw attention to obscure angles.
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