🔘 More Than This – Single: Mar 1982

Released: March 26, 1982

Catalogue Number: ROXY 3 (UK)

Sub‑Heading

Roxy Music’s final great pop elegy, drifting in on synth‑washed melancholy at the dawn of Avalon.

Overview

Released as the lead single from *Avalon*, “More Than This” arrived in late March 1982, marking the beginning of Roxy Music’s final studio era. Written by Bryan Ferry during sessions shaped by the Atlantic isolation of western Ireland, the track blends soft‑rock, synth‑pop, and sophisti‑pop textures. Its unusual structure — with Ferry’s vocals ending nearly two minutes before the fade — gives the song its dreamlike, suspended quality. The single became Roxy Music’s last UK Top 10 hit and remains one of their most enduring recordings.

🔘 Track List

Side One

More Than This — Bryan Ferry

Side Two

India — Bryan Ferry

Produced by: Rhett Davies, Roxy Music

Engineers: (Album engineers; not individually credited on single)

🔘 Variants

(Discogs‑verified only — no speculative formats)

🇬🇧 United Kingdom — EG Records — ROXY 3 (1982)

Format: 7" Single

Country: UK

Year: 1982

Notes: Standard retail issue with “India” as B‑side. Cover art features Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s *Veronica Veronese*.

🇺🇸 United States — Warner Bros. / Atco (1982)

Format: 7" Single

Country: USA

Year: 1982

Notes: U.S. release confirmed for 1982; exact month/day not documented.

🔘 Chart Performance

United Kingdom — Official Charts (OCC)

Peak Position: #6

First Chart Date: April 3, 1982

Weeks on Chart: Not provided

Top 40: Yes

Top 75: Yes

Top 100: Yes

Label: EG Records

Catalogue Number: ROXY 3

Chart Run: Not provided

United States — Billboard Mainstream Rock

Peak Position: #58

First Chart Date: 1982 (exact date not provided)

🔘 Context & Notes

Personnel

Bryan Ferry — vocals, keyboards

Phil Manzanera — guitar

Andy Mackay — saxophone

Neil Hubbard — guitar

Alan Spenner — bass

Andy Newmark — drums

Jimmy Maelen — percussion

Fonzi Thornton — backing vocals

Recording Notes

Recorded during the *Avalon* sessions in Ireland and the Bahamas.

Synth‑driven arrangement with an extended instrumental outro.

Represents the polished, atmospheric sound of late‑period Roxy Music.

Press Reception

Praised for its elegance, restraint, and emotional clarity.

Frequently cited as one of the band’s finest singles.

🔘 Related Material

Previous Album / Group Identity

Flesh + Blood (1980)

Next Album

Avalon (1982)

Related Artists

Bryan Ferry

Phil Manzanera

Andy Mackay

🔘 Discography

Jealous Guy (1981)

More Than This (1982)

Avalon (1982)

Take a Chance With Me (1982)

🔘 Mini‑Timeline

1981: Roxy Music release “Jealous Guy”

March 29, 1982: “More Than This” released in the UK

April 3, 1982: Enters UK Singles Chart at #6

May 1982: *Avalon* album released

🔘 Glam Flashback

A drifting, weightless sigh of a single — the sound of Roxy Music closing the curtain with elegance, melancholy, and a final shimmer of glamour.

🔘 Closing Notes

“More Than This” stands as one of the defining singles of early‑1980s art‑pop, a final masterpiece from a band refining their sound into pure atmosphere.

🔘 Sources & Copyright

Sources:

Wikipedia — “More Than This (Roxy Music song)”

45cat — ROXY 3

Discogs — *Avalon* album listing

All artwork and text remain the property of their respective copyright holders.

🔘 Tags

#RoxyMusic #MoreThanThis #Avalon #1982 #GlamArchive #VinylCollectors #ArtRock #NewRomanticEra