Tuesday 4 August 2015

Glam - Eno and the Winkies

When Eno left Roxy Music in the summer of 1973, it seemed like the end of a beautiful rivalry. The artistic tension in the group between him and Bryan Ferry had made for two extraordinary albums, and it wasn't clear that either would survive creatively without the other.

In the event, both immediately went on to better things. Roxy's third album, Stranded, was their best ever (and their first no. 1), while Eno's solo debut, Here Come the Warm Jets (1973), is a thing of beauty forever. It appeared that glam rock had gained a new star.

To promote the record, Eno recruited the group the Winkies to be his backing  band and went out on a British tour. It lasted just five dates before he suffered a collapsed lung and abandoned live dates for ever. Lying in hospital, he concluded: 'I decided that I didn't want to be a star - the kind of figure Bryan became.'

During their brief time together Eno and the Winkies recorded a radio session for John Peel in February 1974, and this is their version of 'Baby's On Fire' from Warm Jets. It's very good.

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