Andy Mackay

Andy Mackay (saxophone, oboe) is the forgotten member of <a href="spotify:artist:3fhOTtm0LBJ3Ojn4hIljLo">Roxy Music</a>. Although he helped compose a number of the group's songs -- including "Love Is the Drug," one of their biggest hits -- Mackay's contributions to <a href="spotify:artist:3fhOTtm0LBJ3Ojn4hIljLo">Roxy Music</a> are usually neglected, overshadowed by the dominating presence of vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:5RNFFojXkPRmlJZIwXeKQC">Bryan Ferry</a> and guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:48NRGRV9MmSBScnKTLztSt">Phil Manzanera</a>. Born in Lostwithiel, Cornwall, England, on July 23, 1946, Mackay traded his beloved childhood telescope for an alto sax and then joined a college band called Nova Express. He met <a href="spotify:artist:7MSUfLeTdDEoZiJPDSBXgi">Brian Eno</a> at Reading University and considered forming a band with him. However, Mackay flew to Rome, Italy, to teach English, and the two were separated for a short while. When he returned he learned that <a href="spotify:artist:5RNFFojXkPRmlJZIwXeKQC">Ferry</a> was searching for a keyboard player. Mackay explained to <a href="spotify:artist:5RNFFojXkPRmlJZIwXeKQC">Ferry</a> that he could assist in shaping his group's sound with oboe and saxophone; <a href="spotify:artist:5RNFFojXkPRmlJZIwXeKQC">Ferry</a> agreed, and the pieces that would form <a href="spotify:artist:3fhOTtm0LBJ3Ojn4hIljLo">Roxy Music</a> were beginning to be filled. After a chance reunion with Mackay on a bus, <a href="spotify:artist:7MSUfLeTdDEoZiJPDSBXgi">Eno</a> was eventually added to the band. Mackay worked as a teacher during the day and performed with <a href="spotify:artist:3fhOTtm0LBJ3Ojn4hIljLo">Roxy Music</a> at night. He managed to find time to record a solo album of instrumentals, In Search of Eddie Riff, in 1974; he also married his girlfriend, Jane, that year. In the mid-'70s, Mackay wrote and produced the music for Rock Follies, a British TV series about a fictional female rock group. There were two Rock Follies LPs, the first debuting on the U.K. charts at number one. Mackay continued to work with <a href="spotify:artist:3fhOTtm0LBJ3Ojn4hIljLo">Roxy Music</a> while releasing his own projects, such as another solo record, Resolving Contradictions, in 1978 and even a book, 1981's Electronic Music: The Instruments, the Music & the Musicians. <a href="spotify:artist:3fhOTtm0LBJ3Ojn4hIljLo">Roxy Music</a> broke up in 1983, and Mackay left for Ireland with his family. A year later he collaborated with <a href="spotify:artist:48NRGRV9MmSBScnKTLztSt">Manzanera</a> and singer James Wraith as the Explorers. The Explorers didn't even come close to matching <a href="spotify:artist:3fhOTtm0LBJ3Ojn4hIljLo">Roxy Music</a>'s commercial and critical success; by 1986 the band was no longer together. Mackay went on to record as a solo act. ~ Michael Sutton, Rovi