1980 Albums

Armed with a guitar and two Revox tape recorders, Robert Fripp embarked on a self-proclaimed "small, mobile and intelligent" tour of record stores, canteens and other small venues across Europe and North America, from April to August 1979. God Save The Queen/Under Heavy Manners was the first release made from recordings of that tour. The album's first side presents three tracks of pure Frippertronics: a method of performing with tape-loops that Fripp conceived with Brian Eno on their (No Pussyfooting) album for Island Records in 1973.

Fred Frith was best known for his unique approach to guitar playing as part of the equally unique Henry Cow, and later Art Bears. Frith had released a solo album in the interim, Guitar Solos (a series of improvised—you guessed it—guitar solos), and a final album with Henry Cow in 1979, Western Culture. For Gravity, Frith teamed up with two Rock In Opposition stalwarts for another look at song-form, dance music and, of course, the avant-garde.