Roxy Music Announce 50th Anniversary Edition Of ‘Love Is The Drug’
The new 12” release will arrive with remixes from Greg Wilson and Todd Terje.
Roxy Music have announced that their 1975 single “Love Is The Drug” will be arriving as a 12” vinyl EP in honor of the track’s 50th anniversary. Set to be released on December 12 via Virgin/UMR, the new release is available to pre-order now.
Now available on 12” vinyl for the first time, the “Love Is The Drug” 50th anniversary edition includes the original mix, Greg Wilson’s extended edit, Todd Terje’s “Disco Dub” version of the track, and the original b-side to the release, “Sultanesque.”
“Love Is The Drug” was the first single to be released from Siren, Roxy Music’s celebrated fifth studio album. The track was an immediate hit, landing at No.2 on the UK Singles Chart on its release. Additionally, it became the band’s highest charting single in North America.
Speaking about “Love Is The Drug,” Greg Wilson said: “It wasn’t until 1976 that the 12″ single appeared as a commercial format, so ‘Love Is The Drug’ was only ever issued as a 7″. In editing this track I imagined how an extended 12″ might have sounded had the record been released a little bit later down the line. It was a massive floorfiller, just as popular in the clubs, if not more so, than the out and out Disco hit ‘Angel Eyes,’ four years on. As well as the more mainstream venues, it was a staple of the numerous Roxy/Bowie nights that sprung up in the latter half of the ’70s, paving the way for the influential Futurist movement.”
The band had an idea that they were onto something powerful with “Love Is The Drug” when they initially recorded it. Founding member Andy Mackay told The Quietus, “Like most hit singles, ‘Love Is The Drug’ kind of selected itself and always sounded like something special,” he remembered. “The band collectively and Chris [Thomas] got the snappier feel. Johnny Gustafson came up with the bass pattern and Paul [Thompson] got that great tight snare sound. Bryan pulled one of his alchemical stunts and sang an almost complete vocal line with fantastic lyrics to general amazement and applause in [London’s] AIR Studio No. 1 late one night.”
Order the 50th anniversary edition of Roxy Music’s “Love Is The Drug” now.
