In 1976, while Roxy Music had temporarily disbanded, 801 (also referred to as THE 801) got together as a temporary project and began rehearsing at Island Studios, Hammersmith, about three weeks before their first gig. The name of the band was taken from the Eno song “The True Wheel”, which appears on his 1974 solo album Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy). The refrain of the song — “We are the 801, we are the central shaft” — reportedly came to him in a dream (although it has also been noted that “Eight Nought One” acrostically spells his name). 801 performed three critically highly acclaimed concerts: in Norfolk, at the Reading Festival and the final concert on 3 September at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall. This last concert was recorded live and released as the album 801 Live. The music consisted of more or less mutated selections from albums by Manzanera, Eno, and Quiet Sun, plus a full-scale rearrangement of Lennon-McCartney’s “Tomorrow Never Knows”.
New Music United 