On Friday, Roxy Music will be taking over the Another Man website – ahead of this, we premiere a new collage-esque music video from the band
- TextTom Connick
The glam-rock pomp of Roxy Music’s debut single Virginia Plain has always lent itself to vibrant scenes of excess. Storming through images of rollercoasters, airplane rides and whistle-stop holidays of scorching locales like Rio and Acapulco, the escapism that Virginia Plain painted such a vivid picture of would go on to become band leader Bryan Ferry’s lyrical calling card.
Now, more than 40 years on from its original release, that iconic debut single is finally being set free. A new video for the track – commissioned by Ferry himself from artist, illustrator and longtime visual collaborator Ferry Gouw – flows through day-glo images of casinos, holiday destinations and early gigs from Roxy music themselves in full-on, glammed up garb. Created using archive footage from the band’s earliest days and newly-commissioned illustrations, it’s the bright, brash accompaniment that Virginia Plain has always deserved.
Coming off the back of a career working for artists as diverse as Major Lazer, Sean Paul, Bob Marley and James Blake’s nightclub-focussed 1800-Dinosaur collective, as well as non-musical endeavours with Stüssy, Levi's, Bacardi and more, 36-year-old Gouw knew exactly what to bring to Virginia Plain’s table. “I wanted it to feel like a kaleidoscopic holiday in glamorous, but surreal locations, that only exist in vintage posters and your imagination,” he explains. “The song is so dense – the imagery comes thick and fast, so they all have to pop up in a stream of consciousness. So I researched vintage holiday posters, Americana pin-up icons, art deco jazz posters, and re-drew all the elements to make up the video.”
Stitching them together under the watchful eye of Bryan Ferry (who commissioned the piece after being impressed with Gouw’s work on his solo album Olympia), the result is a creative rebirth for an iconic track in British musical lore. With a new lease of life, the glamorous escapism and dream-like quality of Virginia Plain is once again primed for fresh audiences, and another 40-plus years of exerting its free-spirited influence on the world.
Roxy Music will be taking over the Another Man website on Friday, February 2 2018. Stay tuned...
Roxy Music: The Debut Album 45th Anniversary Four Disc Super Delux Box Set will be released by UMC on February 2nd, 2018. Pre-order a copy here.
