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John Foxx on Round Table Thurs 07/10/08

• Message 1. 

  Posted by tolhurst (U6377463) on Wednesday, 8th October 2008

  Just heard that the man who allegedly inspired Gary Numan* and brought electronic music to the mainstream is on Round Table on Thursday.
  
  Thought this might be of interest to Gideon's fans as Lammo doesn't have his own board!
  
  *Some people might hold this against him... though IMHO Ultravox and John Foxx music still sounds fresh and innovative- after all these years!
  
  

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• Message 2

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by Mozo (U10059077) on Wednesday, 8th October 2008

  Brilliant bloke! I remember that a lot of early 80’s Numan fans thought it was the other way around and that Foxx had plagiarised Numan. Foxx was always a lot more experimental and creative, less poppy in my opinion.
  
  Ultravox were also a brilliant band when he was with them. I could never understand how they ended up with the bland bloke from The Rich Kids taking them over. Midge Ure seemed to hop from band to band in those days trying to find fame with anyone who would have him. Shame he ended up with one of the most innovative bands of the late 70's and turned them into one of the biggest parodies of the 1980's.
  
  In my muso days I was rehearsing in the studio next door to John Foxx and my claim to fame was that I totally ignored him standing next to me on the phone one day in the office, even though I was a great fan. My fellow band members couldn’t believe it, but I had to admit eventually that It was due more to myopia than indifference.
  
  Saw him gig a few days later and it was one of the best I'd ever been to. Shame there were only about 25 people in the audience and one of them was a drunk little t**ser!
  
  Hope to see him again this time around. Nice to see he's having a well deserved come back.

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  Posted by tolhurst (U6377463) on Wednesday, 8th October 2008

  "I remember that a lot of early 80’s Numan fans thought it was the other way around and that Foxx had plagiarised Numan. Foxx was always a lot more experimental and creative, less poppy in my opinion..."
  
  Foxx tunes in punky, new wavey, electronicky and dreamy stylees have remained unequalled and by no means sound old today - Lammo played "No-One Driving" this afternoon and, compared to what IMHO could be called the "same old same old" modern hip hop increasingly played on 6 Music, it sounds brand new and different.
  
  The image from Ultravox! of John bound to a Sony TV and video trolley (approx.) probably counts as "iconic" nowadays without being either 1) religious in nature or 2) painted on wood...
  
  And tracks like "The Wild, The Beautiful and the Damned" or "I want to be a Machine"...how all punk should have ended up?
  
  And is there any other track like "My Sex" or, indeed, one which contains the words "sex", "overpass" and "overspill"? (Note to mods - the expression is from town, not family, planning and 100% board safe).
  
  IIRC it was "Slow Motion" from "Systems of Romance" that caught young Gary's attention. On a plane at take-off, I sing "Maximum Acceleration" to myself (though not out loud - let's face it, the person next to me has got landed with the nutter anyway(!))
  
  I think "Maximum Acceleration" would be the ideal theme tune for Formula One at the Â鶹ԼÅÄ...

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  Posted by Mozo (U10059077) on Wednesday, 8th October 2008

  You just pretty well summed up all my favourite tracks. 'Slow motion' is probably the tops in terms of Ultravox. I didn't know that it was that which inspired old Gaz.
  
  I learned to play Mysex (I seem to remember they used to track list it as one word) on my sisters toy reed organ when I was about 13 and it probably set me on a course for other things. A mate and I would also spend many a happy teenage hour singing ‘The Wild the Beautiful and the Damned’, believing the words had some peculiar significance for us - "break my legs politely, I’ll spit my gold teeth out at you" etc.
  
  I was also at college with a guy that came from the same town as Billy Currie and he said he thought he was never happy with UV MKII. A brilliant musician in his own right though.
  
  I have a couple of Foxx songs on my running iPod and one of them is coincidentally 'No one Driving'. 'Dancing like a gun' is the other one which I remember he did particularly well live, making use of a laser and a mirror ball as the best hi-tech stage effects you could get in them days. Another good one is ‘Europe after the rain’, the list goes on.
  
  His newer stuff is pretty good as well 'Shifting city' is one of my faves.

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• Message 5

  , in reply to message 4.

  Posted by tolhurst (U6377463) on Thursday, 9th October 2008

  "The Wild, the Beautiful and the Damned" sounds excellent when sung echoing round a Victorian staircase.
  
  Umm probably.
  
  You used to play Mysex on your organ when you were 13? Story of our lives.
  
  "New Kind of Man" looks back to being 19. For me, it was then looking forward. That's another future that's behind me now.
  
  John went on tour in 1983. I looked into going to his Chelmsford gig but it would have involved eight trains and two ferries, so I was overjoyed to find I could see him at Shepherd's Bush with Louis Gordon. "An ocean we can breathe" is great!

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• Message 6

  , in reply to message 5.

  Posted by Mozo (U10059077) on Tuesday, 14th October 2008

  Nice to see this thread alive again..Why was it locked? Bizarre!
  
  Yes I actually played it on my sister's organ. I thought of so many ways of putting that and eventually came up with the wording in my previous post, in the hope that its wouldn't receive the reaction it ultimatly did.
  
  Asking for it I suppose
  
  Foxx lives though! Although not quite enough for me to trave' to 'that there London' and pay £22 to see him again. Bit steep John, come and play the Carling in Oxford for eleven quid like any self respecting musical genius would!

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