Released in January 1980, Robert Fripp’s God Save The Queen/Under Heavy Manners not only showcased his Frippertronics tour from the previous year but also unveiled Discotronics to the world. With bassist Busta Cherry Jones, whom Fripp had worked with on David Byrne and Brian Eno’s My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts, and drummer Paul Duskin laying down a righteous four-to-the-floor, the Frippertronics flowed across the grooves and a vocal from David Byrne, who popped into Basing Street Studios when was in London with Talking Heads at the time.
Although Byrne and the bells from Wimborne Minster are absent from this brand new mix, it comes with two previously unheard guitar solos. Recorded in two separate takes, Fripp can be heard letting his recently acquired Roland Guitar Synth off the leash for a run about the place. With DGM's Alex Mundy running both passes together, the fleet-fingered runs and grinding depth-charge drones that saturate the track evoke Fripp's work on Bowie's Fashion and the voicings he would explore later in the year with King Crimson.
28 July 2025
No reviews yet.
