Profile of Andy Mackay on Famous Like Me

Andy Mackay (July 23, 1946—) is a British musician, best known as the saxophonist for the group Roxy Music.

Mackay was born in Lostwithiel, Cornwall, England, and grew up in central London. He attended Reading University, where he played with a group called the Nova Express and struck up a friendship with fellow student Brian Eno. He joined Roxy Music in 1971, after answering an advertisement placed by singer Bryan Ferry, and soon brought Eno into the group as well. He also taught full-time as a music teacher at Holland Park Comprehensive in this period.

Mackay played keyboards, oboe and saxophone in Roxy Music, and soon became known for his "duckwalk" antics while playing saxophone solos. With his quiff and sideburns, Mackay's early appearance suggested an ironic throwback to 1950s rock and roll performers. His songwriting credits include "A Song For Europe", "Three and Nine", "Love Is The Drug" and "Tara".

He released two solo albums in the 1970s, and composed the music for the album Rock Follies, which reached number one on the British chants in 1976. Mackay also worked with Mott The Hoople, John Cale, Pavlov's Dog and Eddie And The Hot Rods. In 1981, he published Electronic Music: The Instruments, The Music & The Musicians.

After Roxy Music's dissolution in 1983, Mackay joined with Roxy guitarist Phil Manzanera to form The Explorers, featuring Bryan Ferry soundalike James Wraith on lead vocals. The group released a self-titled album in 1985, and resurfaced in 1988 as Manzanera and Mackay. Under this name, they released a further two albums which combined new material with reissued tracks from the Explorers album.

From 1988 to 1991, Mackay largely abandoned music to take a three year Bachelor of Divinity program at King's College London. He recorded a Christmas album in 1989 with The Players, a group of English folk musicians.

He took part in the Roxy Music reunion concerts of 2001 and 2003, and has written music for British television.

Discography

Solo albums

• In Search of Eddie Riff (1974)
• Resolving Contradictions (1978)

Rock Follies

• Rock Follies (1976)
• Rock Follies of '77 (1977)

Explorers/Manzanera and Mackay

• The Explorers (1985)
• Crack The Whip (1988)
• Up In Smoke (1988)
• The Explorers Live at the Palace (1997)
• The Complete Explorers (2001)

Players

• Christmas (1989)

This content from Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Andy Mackay