Originally posted by Birdsong:
Do people ask 'who???' like they did when I was seventeen and Burning Car was in the charts, or is Foxx more widely known among your peergroup now?
Just to add to this--in America, no one has ANY idea who John Foxx is, unless they were an Ultravox fan in the 1970s, or are very much into electronica, which is not as popular overall here. Numan doing "Cars"? Yes. Foxx doing anything? No. None of John's albums have been seen/heard here in mainstream media. I was a teenager in the 1980s, and watched MTV nonstop when it came out. Never once did I see a John Foxx video.
The only thing I saw was the "other" Ultravox, and I despised them. I thought Midge Ure was a whiny no-talent (still do), and never gave them a second thought until 2 years ago when my friend played "Saturday Night in the City of the Dead" for me, as well as a bunch of other Foxxvox tunes. I discovered his solo work on my own.I was absolutely amazed that no one ever made an effort to market his work in America (besides the 1979 tour, which I would not have heard about). And I have been skeptical of top-selling records here ever since. I think we lack taste. (Though the Brits put Gary Glitter at the top of the charts, so maybe we're even on some score).
So--it's not just the 25 and under audience--it's also the whole American audience. He had quite a good turnout in Hudson--one guy even flew in from Los Angeles 3,000 miles away--but most of them were old Ultravox fans. He's never been "Top 40" here. On the plus side--there still seem to be a lot more fans than I would have expected, given the lack of exposure. So, he still has a reason to play here. I'm betting he could build an audience...I know I'd be spreading the word.
Love it - I aged in seconds!!
Andreas