This list of songs is inspired by lists published by radio station KEXP-FM from Seattle in 2010, as well as the latest poll taken in 2021 by Rolling Stone Magazine. For the most part I will faithfully countdown from their lists, starting at Song #500 and going until I reach Song #1. When you see the song title listed as something like: Song #XXX (KEXP)….it means that I am working off of the official KEXP list. Song XXX (RS) means the song is coming from the Rolling Stone list. If I post the song title as being: Song #xxx (KTOM), it means I have gone rogue and am inserting a song choice from my own personal list of tunes I really like. In any case, you are going to get to hear a great song and learn the story behind it. Finally, just so everyone is aware, I am not a music critic nor a musician. I am a music fan and an armchair storyteller. Here is the story behind today’s song. Enjoy.
RS: The Top 500 Songs in Modern Music History.
Song #332: More Than This by Roxy Music.
Roxy Music formed in 1970. The band was fronted by Bryan Ferry, a former ceramics teacher from an all-girls school. There have been various lineups over the years but, for the most part, the following musicians have been part of the Roxy Music family: Brian Eno (keyboards), Graham Simpson (on bass), Phil Manzanera (on lead guitar), Andy MacKay (on saxaphone) and Paul Thompson (drums). Ferry is the lead singer and principal songwriter. Sometimes what he writes ends up as material for Roxy Music and at other times, it becomes material for his own solo albums. The end result is that there have been a collection of hits with Ferry at the helm, including, “Avalon”, “Love is the Drug”, “Slave to Love”, “Do the Strand”, “Pyjamarama” and today’s song, “More Than This”.
Like many bands, Roxy Music tended to have a trademark sound. In their case, that sound was lush and romantic, with Ferry often donning stylish tuxedos and coming off as super suave. Originally, the band formed with the same intentions as many Punk bands did as the 1970s wore on and that was to step away from what they perceived as the heaviness and pretentiousness of UK music at the time. But instead of approaching their music from an anarchistic point of view (like The Sex Pistols), Roxy Music affected change through Art. Image was always an important factor in everything that Roxy Music did so, it was not entirely surprising that Bryan Ferry would end up modelling himself after James Bond, more that stripping it all down and ripping things up, as most punks were doing then.
Neither Roxy Music nor Bryan Ferry (as a solo artist) were big stars in the US. But, they were big stars in Canada, the UK and the rest of Europe and the world. Over the course of Roxy Music’s career, the band sold many millions of albums worldwide. In 2019, they were inducted into The Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame. The song “More Than This” has been described as one of the most romantic songs of all time and is one of the most-requested First Dance songs at weddings since its release over forty years ago. Picture the scene: you are holding your love in your arms, dancing cheek to cheek, while a tuxedo-clad handsome man croons:
“More than this? You know there’s nothing.
More than this? Tell me one thing.
More than this.”
…you melt into each other’s arms and hearts and your moment is perfect. Thanks Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music. I m not sure if any of you had “More Than This” as your first dance? If you did, let me know in the comments section below. For the record, my wife and I had “Home for a Rest” by Spirit of the West as our first dance song…..which is a whole other story for another day. For now, here is “More Than This” by Roxy Music. Enjoy.
The link to the video for the song “More Than This” by Roxy Music can be found here. This clip was taken from the movie Lost in Translation. ***The lyrics version can be found here.
The link to the official website for Roxy Music can be found here.
Thanks to Rolling Stone Magazine for helping to inspire the writing of this post. The link to their official website can be found here.
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