I’ve written this memoir for my English and Colombian family, dear friends and music fans, who have followed my musical twists and turns for over half a century. We all have different memories of the same events, and these stories are my stories.

It’s a memoir that spans my 50’s childhood in Cuba, Hawaii and Venezuela, when everything seemed in the brightest technicolor, to grey but very cool ‘60’s London and the start of a music career that continues to enrich my life, some 50 years later. Roxy Music is an important part of the story and I will be forever thankful to the doors it opened for me to a global world of music and musical collaborations.

But I hope you’ll find my family history every bit as fascinating as my music adventures, I’m proud to be related to a Colombian pirate, a spy and and an Italian opera musician. Phil Manzanera is one of the UK’s best-known musicians, record producers, having shot to prominence in the early ‘70’s as the lead guitarist with the seminal band, Roxy Music.

In 2022 the band celebrated its 50th anniversary with a critically acclaimed tour of the US and UK. Phil combines his live playing with writing and producing new music, as well as contributing to other artist’s albums.

Manzanera, born to a British father and Colombian mother, has always taken a global approach to his music making, collaborating with musicians from South and Latin America, South Africa, Cuba and continental Europe. He has worked with many of the greats of popular music, including Bob Dylan, David Gilmour, Robert Wyatt, Tim Finn and Brian Eno.

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