#

News overview

Story behind the record cover - For Your Pleasure (1973) - ROXY MUSIC

"There is a new sensation. A fabulous creation." It could have been about top model Amanda Lear. In the 1970s she settled in London. She is portrayed provocatively on this Roxy Music cover. However unfortunate for Amanda. Singer Bryan Ferry referred to a new dance with the opening line of the LP "For Your Pleasure": the Strand. A 'danceable solution' that you can even do on tables. But it could have just as easily been a reference to Amanda Lear. She shocked London men's world with her voluptuous appearance and dark sultry voice. Bryan Ferry was fond of beautiful women and managed to get Lear to pose for the cover of "For Your Pleasure", with a real, albeit heavily sedated, panther. Ferry himself liked to be photographed as a docile driver with a big smile (back cover). It suggests that he is driving Amanda Lear around the city, portrayed in the background, in a large limousine. But Ferry probably had other plans. A few years later, Amanda Lear became a disco sensation herself with songs like 'Give a little mmh to me, then I give a little mmh to you'. Because of her dark voice, there were constant speculations that she was a transsexual. She herself always denied this, both verbally and physically (she posed naked in Playboy). She called herself a superwoman and a sex addict. Men, she said, are disposable items to me. Whether she also disposed of Bryan Ferry, has never become clear. In any case, Ferry has had affairs with other top models, whose services he secured for later Roxy Music record covers. Take Playboy's model Marilyn Cole on the cover of "Stranded" or supermodel Jerry Hall on "Siren". I also knew an Amanda in my previous job. I'm guessing Ferry wouldn't ask her for an album cover. She was a nice colleague, I got on well with her. We had the same taste in music. I remember a conversation at a farewell reception of a joint colleague. We were talking about Roxy Music. We absolutely agreed that "For Your Pleasure" was a masterpiece. Featuring groundbreaking sounds from keyboardist Brian Eno, guitarist Phil Manzanera and saxophonist Andrew Mackay. Bryan Ferry's lyrics were legendary with phrases like "I blew up your body, but you blew my mind" in the song 'In Every Dream Home a Heartache'. Roxy Music's other albums also have plenty of quality, but they don't come close to "For Your Pleasure". I promised Amanda I would take her to a Roxy Music show one day. Somehow this never happened. I changed jobs and lost track of her. Recently an ex-colleague told me that she is married and grandmother to three grandchildren. That sounds very much like a stable life. Very different from the Amanda from the album cover. Lear became the muse of artist Salvador Dali. Although he was married to Gala, he could still use another woman. Lear didn't mind: "The pleasure was entirely mine".   By Gerrit-Jan Vrielink Translation: Alex Driessen

STAY INFORMED

SIGN UP FOR THE NEWSLETTER AND GET INSPIRATION, NEWS, AND THE AGENDA DIRECTLY IN YOUR MAILBOX.

Subscribe