When Jane met her 'singing idols' Roxy Music in Glasgow - memories of band ahead of 50th anniversary tour

The first time they played the city was in April 1973, at Green’s Playhouse.

Tickets cost from 85p.

It was a good year for fans of Bryan Ferry, Andy Mackay, Phil Manzanera and Paul Thompson, as they returned to the same venue in November – by this time, however, it was called the Apollo.

Were you there? Grant Watson, from Maryhill, was at the first gig. “I remember thinking I couldn’t believe I’d got tickets to see my heroes,” he says. “They were amazing.

“Green’s was falling down by that point – it was all a bit shabby. But the music – I’ll never forget it.”

Anyone who was at the Apollo the next time the band came back to the city might remember a dramatic turn of events.

As part of the Country Life album tour in 1974, which took the band around Europe, Australia and USA, Roxy Music played the Apollo, where Paul Thompson smashed up his drumkit so badly he had to play most of the gig using the drums of the support act.

When Roxy Music came back to Glasgow in September 1982, for one Glasgow woman, it was a night to remember.

Jane Colquhoun, of the west end, was our winner in a competition to meet the band.

“Rock on Jane,” said our headline the day after the gig at the Apollo in September 1982. “It was the kind of moment half the girls in Glasgow would give their right arms for…the moment when Evening Times reader Jane Colquhoun …met her singing idol, Bryan Ferry.”

Jane had won tickets to the concert, and had taken along her husband William, “who was also a fan”, which was lucky.

The group announced the Glasgow gig alongside performances in Manchester and London.

“Since their formation in 1972, multi-platinum Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, Roxy Music have left an indelible mark on the worlds of music, fashion, and art, merging the three with a singular and astonishing vision that brought them immediate, global success,” said a spokesperson.

“Today they are regarded as one of the most influential bands of all time, whose work has inspired generations of musicians.

“Intense, emotive, and clever, with iconic graphics, Roxy Music’s eight studio albums birthed the art-rock movement, blurring the lines between genres and infusing a new kind of glamour into rock music for the first time.”

It is half a century since the release of their debut album Roxy Music in 1972.

They will take to the stage at the OVO Hydro on October 10, 2022.

Roxy Music’s impressive five-decade career has spanned the hits Love is the Drug, Virginia Plain, Avalon and more.

Their UK shows follow a series of ten arena tours across the United States which will be the band’s first tour in 11 years.

It’s the first time the foursome have reunited since the For Your Pleasure tour in 2011.

In addition to the tour, Roxy Music will celebrate a huge year with a reissuing of their most famous works.

READ MORE: 'Just amazing' - Dylan fan shares memories of epic Glasgow gig

Each of their eight studio albums will be released throughout 2022 as special anniversary editions with new half-speed cuts.

Roxy Music and For Your Pleasure will be released this Friday, April 1.

Tickets for the Glasgow gig are on sale now.

Were you at the Roxy Music gigs in Glasgow in the 70s and 80s?

What is the best music venue in the city?

And which famous bands have you seen in town?

Share your memories and photos with Times Past by emailing ann.fotheringham@glasgowtimes.co.uk or write to Ann Fotheringham, Glasgow Times, 125 Fullarton Drive, Glasgow G32 8FG.