John Foxx (born Dennis Leigh; 26 September 1948) is an English singer, musician, artist, photographer, graphic designer, writer, teacher and lecturer. He was the original lead singer of the new wave band
Ultravox, before leaving to embark on a solo career in 1980 with the album Metamatic. After several changes of name, including Fire of London, The Zips and The Damned, the band became Ultravox! in October 1976. The group's style fused punk, glam, electronic, reggae and new wave music.
At the same time, Leigh adopted his stage name of John Foxx. Once the band signed to Island Records, they released three albums during 1977–1978.
The debut Ultravox! single, "Dangerous Rhythm", backed with "My Sex", was released on 4 February
1977. Their first album (the self-titled Ultravox!) was released three weeks later on 25 February 1977, produced by Steve Lillywhite and the band, with assistance from Brian Eno. It was followed by their second album Ha! Ha! Ha! in October 1977, which included the single "ROckWrok", although both were commercial failures.
After signing to Virgin Records, Foxx achieved two top 40 entries on the UK Singles Chart with his first solo singles, "Underpass" (No. 31) and "No-One Driving" (No. 32). Its parent album Metamatic
was released on 17 January 1980, and peaked at No. 18 in the UK Albums Chart.Foxx played most of the synthesisers and "rhythm machines", as they were listed on the sleeve. One of the album's songs, "Metal Beat", takes its name from a CR-78 drum machine sound used on the record. Virgin released the album under the imprint name Metal Beat Records, which was used for Foxx releases throughout his contract with them.
Primarily associated with electronic synthesizer music, he has also pursued a parallel career in graphic design and education. Andy Kellman of AllMusic described Foxx as an influential cult figure whose
"detached, jolting vocal style inspired mainstream and underground artists across the decades". His icy synths and sophisticated song structures, as well as his surrealist lyrics and detached, jolting vocal style, have inspired mainstream and underground artists across the decades, from synth pop superstar Gary Numan to electro-techno duo ADULT. Initially known as the original lead singer of new wave pioneers Ultravox, he left the band in 1979 and released his fully electronic solo debut Metamatic at the beginning of 1980.
The groundbreaking album reached the top 20 of the U.K. album chart and contained two top 40 hits,
"Underpass" and "No-One Driving." His subsequent albums were more ambitious and incorporated a diverse array of electronic and acoustic instruments. In June 2014, it was announced that Foxx was to receive an honorary degree from Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, Lancashire. He was made an honorary Doctor of Philosophy during the ceremony at the university on 21 July 2014.
John Foxx and the Maths composed the soundtrack to the York Theatre Royal's production of E.M.
Forster's short story The Machine Stops. A digital-only EP drawn from a live performance based on the material, The Bunker Tapes, appeared in 2016, and full album The Machine was released in 2017. Foxx contributed to two songs on the Belbury Circle's 2017 album Outward Journeys. In 2019, the Maths returned to the studio, this time with former Ultravox guitarist Robin Simon, and the full-length Howl arrived in 2020.
JOHN FOXX - METAMATIC (DELUXE EDITION 2018)
One of the best albums of all time and revolutionary for electronic music. John Foxx deservers more
credit and attention for sure! One of the must have albums for early electronic music. Forget Midge Ure and the latter Ultravox, it is Foxx that is the true genius of that time, in this particular genre of electronic music.
Foxx's solo debut after leaving Ultravox!, Metamatic, achieves the same emotional transcendence as his
previous group's early highlight, Systems of Romance, despite a new reliance not just on synthesizers, but on a musical framework dependent on them. On Metamatic, Foxx cultivates a curious air of disinterest that never seems truly bored, but is much more extreme than even his unarguably distant vocal style for Ultravox!. It holds up as one of the peaks of the early-'80s fascination with emotionless, Kraftwerk-inspired synth pop.
John Foxx – Metamatic
Label: Metamatic – META63BX
Format: CD, Album, Reissue, Box Set, Deluxe Edition May 30, 2018
Country: UK & Europe
Released: 1980
Genre: Electronic
Style: New Wave, Electro, Synth-pop
CD1.
01. Plaza 3:56
02. He's A Liquid 3:02
03. Underpass 3:57
04. Metal Beat 3:01
05. No-One Driving 3:50
06. A New Kind Of Man 3:41
07. Blurred Girl 4:19
08. 030 3:18
09. Tidal Wave 4:17
10. Touch And Go 5:44
01. Film One 4:03
02. This City 3:10
03. To Be With You 4:23
04. Cinemascope 3:27
05. Burning Car 3:16
06. Glimmer 3:39
07. Mr. No 3:19
08. Young Love 3:10
09. 20th Century 3:08
10. My Face 3:21
11. Underpass (Radio Edit) 2:49
12. No-One Driving (Single Version) 3:47
13. Like A Miracle (Alternative Version) 3:56
14. A New Kind Of Man (Alternative Version) 4:32
15. He's A Liquid (Alternative Version) 3:00
16. Plaza (Extended Version) 4:48
17. Underpass (Extended Version) 4:24
18. Blurred Girl (Longer Fade Version) 4:42
01. A Frozen Moment 1:28
02. He's A Liquid (Instrumental Dub) 2:06
03. Mr. No (Alternative Version) 3:23
04. The Uranium Committee 2:17
05. A Man Alone 2:59
06. Over Tokyo 2:10
07. Terminal Zone 2:33
08. Urban Code 0:40
09. A Version Of You 1:30
10. Glimmer (Alternative Version) 3:42
11. Fragmentary City 2:31
12. Metamorphosis 2:22
13. Approaching The Monument 3:50
14. Critical Mass 4:36
15. Alamogordo Logic 1:04
16. Touch And Go (Early Version) 5:34
17. Miss Machinery 3:28
18. No-One Driving (Early Version) 3:57
19. Burning Car (Early Version) 2:45
20. Like A Miracle (Early Version) 4:00
21. No-One Driving (Alternative Version) 3:59
Flac Size: 300 MB
LINE - UP
John Foxx – vocals, rhythm machines (mainly Roland CR-78), synthesizers and keyboards
John Wesley Barker – additional synthesizers and keyboards
Jake Durant – bass guitar
Gareth Jones – engineer
Keyboards used on the album include the Minimoog, ARP Odyssey, clavinet, Elka Rhapsody 610, piano, Farfisa string synth, and Hammond organ.
JOHN FOXX - THE GARDEN 1981 (1993)
John Foxx is somewhat of an underdog in both the Post-Punk and Synth-Pop scenes. After dropping
from his duties in Ultravox, Foxx felt completely comfortable to indulge himself in the emerging Electronic scene that was sweeping England. Metamatic was closer to what Gary Numan and Cabaret Voltaire were doing, than more Pop oriented groups. But after the robotic futurism of Metamatic, Foxx took his talents and created an album that was just as much as a dystopia as his solo debut, but enveloped New Romantic and Neo-Classical influences.
John Foxx – The Garden
Label: Virgin – 07777 87778 23, Virgin – CDV 2194, Virgin – 263 368
Format: CD, Album, Reissue Apr 19, 1993
Country: Europe
Released: 1981
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: Synth-pop
TRAXS
01. Europe After The Rain 4:02
02. Systems Of Romance 4:06
03. When I Was A Man And You Were A Woman 3:39
04. Dancing Like A Gun 4:12
05. Pater Noster 2:35
06. Night Suit 4:26
07. You Were There 3:53
08. Fusion / Fission 3:50
09. Walk Away 3:57
10. The Garden 7:11
BONUS TRAXS
11. Young Man 2:55
12. Dance With Me 3:33
13. A Woman On A Stairway 4:30
14. The Lifting Sky 4:46
15. Annexe 3:07
16. Wings And A Wind 5:19
LINE - UP
Duncan Bridgeman – synthesizer, bass, percussion, bongos, cymbals, tom-toms, sequencer, brass, piano, the Human Host
Jake Durant – bass
Jo Dworniak – bass
John Foxx – synthesizer, piano, guitar, vocals, drum programming, tom-toms, the Human Host
Gareth Jones – percussion
Philip Roberts – drums
Robin Simon – guitar
NOTES
Producer – Gareth Jones (tracks: 11 & 12), John Foxx (tracks: 1 to 11, 13 to 16), Zeus B. Held (tracks: 12, 13 to 15)
Written-By – John Foxx
Tracks 11 to 16 are bonus tracks (although the rear artwork states tracks 12 to 16) and differ from the 2001 remastered edition The Garden.
