Aztec Camera
Aztec Camera were a Scottish pop/new wave band founded by Roddy Frame, the group's singer, songwriter and only consistent member.[1] Established in 1980,[2] Aztec Camera released a total of six studio albums: High Land, Hard Rain (1983), Knife (1984), Love (1987), Stray (1990), Dreamland (1993) and Frestonia (1995).[3] The band garnered popular success for the songs "Oblivious", "Somewhere in My Heart" and "Good Morning Britain" (a duet with former Clash guitarist Mick Jones).
Aztec Camera
History[edit]
Early years (1980–1983)[edit]
Aztec Camera were formed in East Kilbride in 1980 by Roddy Frame and drummer David Mulholland after they had left the punk-inspired band Neutral Blue.[4] Aztec Camera first appeared on a Glasgow cassette-only compilation of local unsigned bands on the Pungent Records label, affiliated with the Fumes fanzine run by Danny Easson and John Gilhooly. The band's first United Kingdom (UK) single release was sold in a 7" format by Postcard Records—a Glasgow-based independent record label cofounded by Edwyn Collins and Alan Horne—in 1981. The single featured the song "Just Like Gold" and a B-side entitled "We Could Send Letters"; an acoustic version of the latter song appeared on a compilation album, entitled C81, that was released on cassette in 1981 through a partnership between NME magazine and Rough Trade Records. Frame, aged 16 years, met Collins for the first time during the Postcard period when the latter was 21 years old.[5]
A second single, also released in 1981, featured the songs "Mattress of Wire" and "Lost Outside the Tunnel". Following the two 7" releases with Postcard, the group signed with Rough Trade Records in the UK and Sire Records in the United States (US) for their debut album.[6] At this point, the band were officially a quartet: Roddy Frame (vocals, guitar, harmonica), Bernie Clark (piano, organ), Campbell Owens (bass) and Dave Ruffy (drums, percussion).
High Land, Hard Rain and breakthrough (1983–1984)[edit]
Aztec Camera's debut album, High Land, Hard Rain was produced by John Brand and Bernie Clarke for the Rough Trade record label. The album was released in April 1983 and was distributed in different formats on Domino Recording Co. Ltd. in the US (in addition to Sire); WEA and Celluloid in France; Nuevos Medios in Spain; Powderworks in Australia; MVM Records in Portugal; and WEA for a general European release.[3] The album was successful, garnering significant critical acclaim, and peaked at number 129 on the Billboard 200.[7] Frame later revealed that the song "Oblivious" was consciously written as a Top of the Pops-type pop song and received a corresponding degree of popularity.[8]
During the recording process for the album, Frame used a different guitar for every song. For the song "Orchid Girl", Frame explained in 2013—during the 30th anniversary tour—that he was attempting to merge the influences of his favorite guitarist at the time, Wes Montgomery, and punk rock icon Joe Strummer.[9] In a late 1990s television interview, Frame explained that a "boy" image was associated with him during this era, and that he was annoyed by it at the time. He was taking his music very seriously—"you don't want to be called 'boy'; especially when you're listening to Joy Division"—but he eventually stopped caring about it.[10]
WEA Records and Knife (1984–1987)[edit]
After High Land Hard Rain, Bernie Clarke left the band, and was replaced by Malcolm Ross on second guitar and backing vocals. Aztec Camera changed record labels once again for the release of their second album, Knife, which was released through WEA (Warner Music Group). Frame revealed in a May 2014 BBC radio interview that he was not informed of the ownership arrangements of the record deal, stating that he was unaware as an 18-year-old that the record company would own the rights to all of his corresponding recordings.[5] After High Land, Hard Rain, Frame spent a significant amount of time living in New Orleans, United States (US), listening to Bob Dylan's album Infidels. Upon reading that Dire Straits' guitarist and singer Mark Knopfler produced the album, Frame began writing songs based on a sound that he thought Knopfler could work with.[11]
Frame signed the band to the WEA record label—at the time his manager was Rob Johnson[12]—and secured Knopfler as the producer for Aztec Camera's second album, Knife, which was released in 1984;[11] Frame explained in 1988 that Knopfler was "professional" and efficient during the recording process.[8] Frame's experimental mindset in relation to music emerged on Knife, as the duration of the titular song is nearly nine minutes and synthesizers appear throughout the album. Prior to the album's release, the band previewed a selection of songs as part of a performance for the BBC television show Rock Around the Clock[13] and the song "All I Need is Everything" received radio airplay subsequent to release.[14] In a 2007 interview alongside Collins, Frame explained further:
Artistry[edit]
Musical style and influences[edit]
Aztec Camera were primarily a pop group centred on Frame's acoustic guitar work. Their folk- and jazz-inflected style of pop became more polished on their second album, Knife, with the introduction of electronic synthesizers and R&B elements.[3] R&B grew more prominent on the third album, Love,[36] a dance-pop outing that proved less popular, but this development was throttled back for 1990's Stray, seen as a return to the group's folk, soul and jazz-flavoured pop origins.[37] Over the group's career, their music has been described as new wave,[38] sophisti-pop,[39][40] jangle pop,[41][42] indie pop,[43][44] and post-punk.[45][46]
Frame cited guitarist John McGeoch as influential. "He chose very simple lines over anything bombastic [...] the song came first and he tried to complement that".[47]
Causes[edit]
On 21 January 1985, alongside Orange Juice, the Woodentops and Everything But the Girl, Aztec Camera raised an estimated £18,000 for the striking miners of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) through a fundraising event at the Brixton Academy—the year-long strike concluded six weeks later.[48]
Following the release of the Love album, the band were invited to perform at a benefit concert for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) organisation in the late 1980s. Frame explained in a television interview prior to the concert that he was merely the entertainment and would not deliver any speeches.[10]
In 1990, Aztec Camera contributed the song "Do I Love You?" to the Cole Porter tribute album Red Hot + Blue that was produced by the Red Hot Organization. The proceeds from the album benefited HIV/AIDS research.[49]
Awards and accolades[edit]
The band's album Love was among the nominations for "Best British Album" at the 1989 BRIT Awards.[50] "Somewhere in My Heart", the second single from Love, was the band's biggest hit, reaching No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart. Following the release of the Stray album, "Good Morning Britain" was considered to be a comeback for Frame, as the preceding single "The Crying Scene" had only reached No. 70 in the UK.[50]