Roddy Frame - Career

Career

Frame became interested in music in the mid 1970s and was inspired by David Bowie. At the age of 16 he became involved with Postcard Records, and his band Aztec Camera began to record a string of low budget singles such as "Just Like Gold" and "Mattress of Wire". The latter drew attention from BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel.

In 1983, Aztec Camera released High Land, Hard Rain, their first album on Rough Trade Records, though this did not include the first two Postcard singles. It featured the hit single "Oblivious", and Aztec Camera were recognised as one of the key acts on the Rough Trade label. On tracks such as "Walk Out to Winter" and "Back on Board", Frame sang poetic lyrics about love, both lost and found, two themes he would revisit with an increasingly mature outlook through a number of subsequent albums.

However, after High Land, Hard Rain, Frame signed the band to WEA. Aztec Camera's second album, Knife, released in 1984, was produced by Dire Straits' guitarist/singer, Mark Knopfler. The album was highlighted by the hit single "All I Need is Everything".

Beginning with Aztec Camera's third album, 1987's Love, Frame became the group's only member, augmented by a wide array of session musicians for both studio recordings and live dates. Essentially Frame was a now a solo artist, working under the Aztec Camera brand name.

Love spawned 1988's "Somewhere In My Heart", which reached number 3 in the UK Singles Chart and is still a staple of FM radio in the UK. Frame performed a duet with one of his musical heroes, Mick Jones of The Clash, on his 1990 single "Good Morning Britain", which showcased an overtly political streak that sometimes featured in his work. He also recorded with the Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. Frame decided to abandon the name Aztec Camera in 1996 after the 'group' released their final album, Frestonia, for WEA.

At that point, Frame started to pursue a solo career under his own name. His first solo album, the critically acclaimed The North Star, came out in 1998, and featured the single "Reason For Living". There was a change of gear for 2002's Surf, an album of acoustic songs that also attracted widespread critical acclaim, and was generally seen as a return to Frame's best songwriting form. The track "Small World" was used as the theme music to the BBC TV comedy series, Early Doors. Frame also made his first appearance at the Glastonbury Festival in 2003. His next album, Western Skies, was released in May 2006.

Frame has also recorded cover versions of "In My Life" by The Beatles, "Bad Education" by Blue Orchids, Cyndi Laupers', "True Colors" and a slowed-down version of "Jump", originally recorded by Van Halen.

In 2006 he released a live album, Live at Ronnie Scott's, followed in 2007 by another, Live at The Blue Note, Osaka.

Frame has had a long friendship with Edwyn Collins, who was also signed to Postcard Records in the 1980s with his band Orange Juice. Frame performed with Collins in November 2007, as the latter played his first concert since suffering serious illness, and again at Glastonbury Festival in June 2008.

He toured the UK throughout October 2011, with a small band.