Metamatic Forums John Foxx John Foxx Your first encounter with John ?

Much as I'd love to say I was hanging out at the Tiger Lily gigs , for me it was feb/March 77 , when a mate of mine brought Ha ! Ha ! Ha !(Vinyl) into school So the first thing I heard was "RoCk Wrok " (sic) Had I put the record on the other way round , it would have been "The Man who dies everyday " Anyway , love at first hear and the rest is history
What about you(s) How did you get into the great man radio , telly (Old Grey whistle test) music press or personal recommendation . More importantly which song was it ?

My first encounter was via the radio and Underpass in 1980.

Then a friend did me a tape with Three into One & Systems of Romance on it in 1982.

That's where I started.Then there was nothing for many years.I did buy all of the early Ultravox on CD though.

Then I discovered Modern Art in a bargain bin in Virgin Birmingham in 2003.Never looked back since then.

We've talked about this before somewhere, Ivan,but its always a pleasure to re-visit.
You have more of a history than me.

I discovered John Foxx among a host of artists I was fiddling around with in 1980 - Numan really put me onto Underpass, but I was listening to Human League, Cabaret Voltaire and TG at the time as well. I was really into the bleak electronica thing (still am) so when The Garden was released I was so amazed that I was hooked.
Shamefully, I didn't miss JF when he fell off the world in 1985 as I had too much else to listen too, and he was then just someone else that had left a good impression but been and gone. I've had a few relationships like that... I didn't listen to Ultravox because I (cough) never liked them particularly, until I heard My Sex on a punk compilation around 81, then made the obvious but rather delayed connection.

Rediscovered in 2001, when TPOE was released. A friend of mine commented when I played metamatic (I think?) one day that John Foxx had a NEW ALBUM out. I was fascinated, went to my local HMV at lunchtime and bought Shifting City and Cathedral Oceans - yes, from the shop!!!

1995 - a friend and I were exchanging a lot of music. He'd just introduced me to Kraftwerk, and he leant me the slipcase set of the first 3 Ultravox! albums. Up until that point, I'd never heard of John, and had assumed Midge had always fronted the band, so it was fascinating to hear.

I didn't like the first 2 albums, but SOR blew me away. Being heavily into Numan at the time, I could hear its influence. I just loved Slow Motion.

However it wasn't until 2001 when a friend of mine who used too know John in the pre-vox days, said "You should check out 'Underpass' by John Foxx".... I knew the name straight away fro those CDs I had borrowed from my friend. So I got home, googled him and ended up here - to the news that Modern Art was soon to be released.

And it went on from there!

Must have been Underpass and Metamatic in 1980; despite listening to Human League and Numan before then, Ultravox! didn't really come into it. Remember seeing the Underpass picture sleeve in some local record shop then Metamatic sleeve in the NME - a Virgin records ad together with The Mekons and a few others stating this is the new music for the new decade and all that. (Virgin were always 'cutting edge' then weren't they?). Had Metamatic on a tape off a girlfriend's brother for years, although rushed out to buy No One Driving double 7" which got played and played and.... Used to take it to parties together with Holiday 80 and We Are Glass. Didn't hear any pre-Ure Uvox until the Slow Motion single was re-released.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, I did not like The Garden which was huge disappointment for me, and only picked up ensuing singles in bargain bins...
Was surprised to find the Virgin best of CD in the early 90s, bought it and realised the restof the 80s stuff wasn't so bad after all!
Picked up again when a friend got me Crash & Burn from a Human League gig.
Finally met the man last year, but I shan't bore you all with that again.

Ok, whose round is it?

I can thank old Gazza Numan for introducing me to John, though not personally of course! Being really into Numan around 1979 I used to read every interview he gave in the music press and he kept mentioning Ultravox. So I caught a train into Glasgow and went to either Listen Records or Joe Bloggs, can't remember which, and bought all three Ultravox albums (this was prior to Vienna). I was hooked and bought Metamatic as soon as it hit the shops.

My first and only actual encounter with John was at King Tut's in Glasgow on July 22nd 2006 when he signed my copy of The Pleasures Of Electricity and stole my marker pen (it's OK, John, you can keep it)!

Ô¿Ô

My first encounter with John and I know I've wrote about this before, was way back in 1979. It was suggested by a frind that I must listen to SOR. Blown away or wot. Dislocation, Quiet Men, Just For a Moment in fact the whole album. I back tracked and got all the old vinyl and Ultravox! and HA HA HA. Love at first sight LOL

After his dissaprreance in 83 I still looked in the "F" section on my rare visits to Virgin in London even though I was never too keen on IMW. Imagine finding Metamatic and the Garden had been released on CD WITH bonus tracks. That made me very happy at the time. I still continued to listen to his music I thought to myself I must be the only sad soul still interested in John.

For me, came the internet, Modern Art and seeing John live for the first time in 2001. That just refuelled my obsession. The rest is history.

I have met so many new JF freinds along the way.

That's it in a nutshell

Peter

Quite right Peter that the internet was a massive catalyst in reviving interest.
Do I remember right that the Metamatic forum was closed down around 1998/99 due to some guy not behaving himself properly? ..might just be my memory circuits playing up..

Yes, I would probably have never found out about the release of Modern Art (at least at the time) had it not been for the net!

I'm still waiting for my first encounter with John...