The 801 Press Pack
To hear tracks from the new complete 801 Live album click here To buy the new complete 801 Live album click here	On Thursday September 3rd 1976 a group called THE 801 played their third and last gig at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall to a packed house. One warm-up gig at in Norfolk and a Saturday evening appearance at the Reading Festival completed the band's performing pedigree - and although some of the material they played on those three occasions may have sounded familiar to fans of the Roxy fringe, to most it was totally new. THE 801, a project master-minded by Roxy's PHIL MANZANERA to fill the vacation that group is currently taking, began rehearsing at Island Studios, Hammersmith, about three weeks before their first gig. The musicians included ENO (on keyboards, synthesise, guitar, and vocals), LLOYD WATSON (slide-guitar and vocals), FRANCIS MONKMAN (Fender Rhodes and clavinet), BILL MacCORMICK (bass and vocals), and SIMON PHILLIPS (drums and rhythm generator). The music consisted of more or less mutated selections from albums by Manzanera, Eno, and Phil's pre-Roxy group QUIET SUN, plus a full-scale rearrangement of Lennon-McCartney's "Tomorrow Never Knows" and an off-the-wall excursion into The Kinks' 1964 hit "You Really Got Me". At the Reading Festival the band's atmospheric spaciousness and power surprised and impressed many of the press who, reasonably enough, had been expecting something more informal and self-indulgent. A mobile recording studio was present at the Queen Elizabeth Hall concert to capture THE 801's resounding confirmation of their promise - not to mention the audience's enthusiastic response. '801 LIVE' is the record of that appearance. THE MUSICIANS PHIL MANZANERA . . aside from his regular work in Roxy Music, Phil has recorded one solo-album 'Diamond Head' (1975) and a group-album with QUIET SUN, his pre-Roxy outfit, called 'Mainstream' (1975). Recently he appeared at the Albert Hall with Steve Winwood and Mike Shrieve for the world premiere of Stomu Yamashta's 'Go' and this summer, produced the debut album of Split Enz, a new group from New Zealand. He is currently completing work on an as-yet-untitled studio album. BRIAN ENO . . since leaving Roxy in 1973, Eno has recorded three solo-albums - 'Here Come The Warm Jets' (1974), 'Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)' (1975), and 'Another Green World' (1976). In addition he has collaborated with ex-King Crimson guitarist ROBERT FRIPP on two experimental albums -'No Pussyfooting' (1974) and 'Evening Star' (1976) - and founded the Obscure Records label, an outlet for what the music business would hold to be uncommercial sounds and through which he has also released his own 'Discreet Music' (1976). Appearing also on Diamond Head', 'Mainstream', and 'June 1st 1974' (with John Cale, Kevin Ayers, and Nico), he spends the rest of his time writing and lecturing on Fine Arts and Systems Theory, composing music for stage and cinema, and collaborating on such special projects as the 'Oblique Strategies' system (1975) with artist Peter Schmidt. Currently working with David Bowie, he will go into the studio to begin his fourth solo-album in November. LLOYD WATSON . . . winner of the 1972 Melody Maker newcomer's award, Lloyd toured with Roxy in 1973 and has appeared on Andy Mackay's 'in Search of Eddie Riff' (1974) and Eno's 'Here Come The Warm Jets'. Currently he plays informally in a band with Back Door's Colin Hodgkinson in his home town of Peterborough. FRANCIS MONKMAN . . . studied at the Royal Academy of Music between 1967 and 1970, thereafter recording three albums as co-leader of Curved Air, before leaving that band in 1972 to concentrate on session-work and classical harpsichord. He is also an expert in kendo and tai ch'i. BILL MacCORMICK . . . played with Phil Manzanera in Quiet Sun 1970-71, recorded two albums as a member of Robert Wyatt's Matching Mole in 1972, and briefly joined Gong in 1973. He has appeared on Wyatt's 'Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard', Eno's 'Here Come The Warm Jets', and Manzanera's 'Diamond Head' - together with Phil, drummer Charles Hayward, and keyboard-player Dave Jarrett, recording Quiet Sun's 'Mainstream' last year. A writer on American politics, he has just returned from the United States where he covered the Presidential primaries, and is currently working with Phil on the follow-up to 'Diamond Head' and with Gary Windo and Hugh Hopper on yet another album. SIMON PHILLIPS . . . is a session-drummer of growing repute, having so far contributed to albums by Roger Glover, Greenslade, Veronique Sanson, and Albert Hammond. He is currently working with Jack Bruce. He will be among those featured on Phil Manzanera's next studio recording. THE MUSIC Unless previously indicated otherwise, the material featured on '801 LIVE' is drawn from the following albums:- PHIL MANZANERA/'Diamond Head' . . . Lagrima, East Of Asteroid, Miss Shapiro, Diamond Head. QUIET SUN/'Mainstream' . . . Lagrima, East Of Asteroid, Rongwrong. ENO/'Here Come The Warm Jets' . . . Baby's On Fire. ENO/'Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)' . . . Third Uncle. ENO/'Another Green World' . . . Sombre Reptiles.
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