As Time Goes By

Interviewer Unknown

EMP Live Interview November 1999

Bryan Ferry isn't usually mentioned in the same breath as, say, David Bowie, but during the seventies, Ferry's Roxy Music was almost as influential as the Thin White Duke in bringing style and glamour to the world of rock music.

Beginning with 1972's self-titled debut, and peaking first with 1975's magnificent Siren, then with 1982's lush and luminous swan song, Avalon, Roxy Music created a lasting body of work that combined Ferry's crooning vocals with rich instrumentation, seductive grooves, and well-crafted hooks.

More than anything, and sometimes even to the detriment of the band's often brilliant catalogue, Roxy Music is remembered for the suave and debonair cool they projected. It's very possible that without Roxy Music, the UK's New Romantic movement of the early eighties (which included Duran Duran, ABC and others) might never have happened. Members of those later groups all grew up during the height of Roxy Music's popularity, and the influence in their own music is pronounced.

After Roxy Music broke up in the early eighties, Ferry immersed himself in a solo career that he originally began while still fronting his famous band. He has enjoyed varying degrees of success, most notably with the alluring single, "Slave to Love," and has remained an artist of integrity. On his most recent project, As Time Goes By, Ferry has turned his attention toward the past. The album is named after the classic song from Casablanca, and features Ferry's interpretations of old standards by the likes of Cole Porter and Kurt Weill. In addition, the entire Roxy catalog has been remastered and repackaged, making the band's music accessible to a new generation of fans.

In person, Ferry conveys the same values and sophistication that his music reflects. At the New York City offices of his label, Virgin Records, Ferry mused about his current and past work, as well as some of his earliest musical memories.

One of the great things about a project like this is the educational value. A lot of your fans may appreciate this music, but may never have been exposed to it.

I should get an educational grant from the White House. I like the idea of keeping the songs alive. I guess Frank Sinatra was the last major singer who used to do some of this material, and he's gone. There's not that many people doing it, except like Holiday Inn elevator muzak.

I think a lot of the audience out there is longing for songs with melody and heartfelt lyrics. As much as I like Missy Elliot and Timbaland and certain elements of hip hop — which does fill the airwaves right now — it's really beat-based and rhythm-based, and there are no real songs of this nature. When you do get a big ballad in the charts, it's usually from some huge movie and it's very saccharine.

When you were selecting the songs, was it important to make sure that there was a coherence between them?

I wanted to show some of the variety of the period, therefore you'll see "September Song," by Kurt Weill, and "Falling in Love Again." That suggests that it wasn't only the Cotton Club in New York, as fabulous as that was.

It's a wonderful kind of image that's created in my imagination. I think of Duke Ellington, all these Creole girls dancing, costumes, prohibition and gaiety. In 1930s Berlin, it was dark, sinister, decadent intrigue, but also exotic from the perspective of now. You had Paris with the Tops Club, high society mixing with bohemian artists, Americans in Paris. It was a fabulous period. Then the war came. It took a long time before something exciting happened, then rock 'n' roll in the fifties. I think the forties were a bit of a non-period. It's really interesting to see the way history reflects the music of the time. It seems like it took music a long time to recover from the horrors of the war.

It's a brick wall that stops at the thirties, like somebody saying the club is closed, which doesn't usually happen in a decade. With the sixties, seventies, eighties, there is overlap. In the thirties, it was just chopped off.

Do you remember the first concert you saw?

The very first concert was an English band called Chris Farmer. There was a craze called skiffle. They would do like "Freight Train" or these kinds of folk songs with a washboard and acoustic guitar. It was terrific. I was amazed. My Uncle Bryan took me.

Were you named for him?

Yeah. He now works for me as a handyman. I just sat there mesmerized. This music was incredible.

The second concert, I was 11. I won two front row seats from Radio Luxembourg. In those days BBC Radio played wonderful educational programs like jazz, blues, classical music programs, no formatting. It was like a DJ who was a specialist. Radio Luxembourg came from Luxembourg. It was the first real rock 'n' roll station. It had a signal that you could listen to in your bedclothes at night. There was a petition and I won a prize. I was amazed. It was Bill Haley and the Comets. It was the first rock 'n' roll tour of Europe. They had plaid jackets and they played the bass upside down.

What kind of contest was it?

You had to write in and say which of the six hits of Bill Haley does Bill Haley like himself. I remember I said "See Ya' Later Alligator" was obviously his favorite. The second was "Rock Around the Clock." And they said the winner is.... Everyone down the street came running up to me, banging on the door because everyone listened to this station.

Talking about today's music, is it really noticeable to you when you hear bands that Roxy Music has influenced? Because there are obviously quite a few.

Years ago I would've minded it, while I was doing that same kind of sound. It's horrible being stolen. You soon find that after a few years you get used to that. People occasionally say, "Oh, I heard you have a new record out." No I haven't. There would be something else that sounds a little bit familiar.

It's quite a compliment to the legacy Roxy Music created.

Well, I think that if you are around long enough and try not to do any dodgy thing like put out bad work, it eventually becomes accepted. I'm very proud of the work I've done.

Last Updated: 9 April 2008