Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).
Virginia Plain (1972)
I was too young to be cognizant of them at the time, but man, Roxy Music must have blown people's minds when they first hit the scene. Early on, they definitely were one of the weirder looking bands going as they embraced the glam look that was just emerging; it was all space costumes, animal prints and bright colors at first.
Musically, the band were on the avant garde side. Frontman Bryan Ferry had auditioned for the lead singer spot in King Crimson and while he didn't get the gig, Crimson's Robert Fripp and Peter Sinfield helped Roxy Music get their first recording deal. Ferry soon recruited a full band, including Brian Eno on synths, Andy Mackay on sax, oboe and keyboards, Phil Manzanera on guitar and Paul Thompson on drums.
Their self-titled debut was released in June 1972 (on the same day as Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars) and it didn't sound like anything that came before it, combining glam with art rock in a stylish way that reflected its suave leader. Ferry soon moved from glam gear to three-piece suits, creating an interesting visual contrast with his garishly dressed bandmates. The album featured a lot of callbacks of Hollywood films, including an homage to Humphrey Bogart in "2HB." Meanwhile, "Re-Make/Re-Model" features solos from each member of the band as Ferry sings about a woman he's afraid to approach.
No singles were released from the original pressing of the album, but the band recorded two more songs after signing with Island Records in July 1972. One of them was "Virginia Plain," which was released as the first Roxy Music single and went to #4 on the UK Singles Chart, pushing the album to #10 on the album chart. When the band released its debut in the U.S. in late '72, "Virginia Plain" was included.
The song tells the band's story while also drawing in obscure references from multiple sources: Robert E. Lee (a British music industry lawyer, not the Civil War general), model Jane Holzer and a painting Ferry made in college of a giant cigarette pack with a pinup girl on it. Turns out Virginia Plain is also a type of cigarette tobacco.
"Make me a deal and make it straight/All signed and sealed, I'll take it/To Robert E. Lee, I'll show it/I hope and pray he don't blow it 'cause/We've been around a long time/Just trying to, trying to make the big time."
The crazy thing about the song is it managed to be a top 10 hit without a chorus and with a sudden ending where Ferry finally mentions the title name.
"Far beyond the pale horizon/Some place near the desert strand/Where my Studebaker takes me/That's where I'll make my stand, but wait/Can't you see that Holzer mane?/What's her name? Virginia Plain."
Performing on the BBC's Top of the Pops, Roxy Music's out-there glam stagewear no doubt inspired a generation of bands. They made another album before Eno left (releasing solo albums before becoming an in-demand producer) and had a revolving door of bassists while becoming a big concert draw. There were seven more RM albums before the band finally split up and Ferry went on to a successful solo career. Several reunions have taken place over the years, most recently in 2022 for a 50th anniversary tour.
Roxy Music has been hugely influential on a wide variety of genres, including punk, disco, electronic music, new wave and the New Romantic bands of the early '80s. And of course, the cinematic-sounding group has had many songs placed in movies, most famously in Lost in Translation when Bill Murray's character does a karaoke version of "More Than This." The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019.
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