He got signed by Columbia and moved to LA to make his debut album, Sunny Nights. It was released in 1988 under his new name, Parthenon Huxley. A nod to the old world, and a wink at the brave new one.
Parthenon Huxley also helped out on other artists' records. He coproduced the two albums that Mark Oliver Everett made as A Man Called E (before spawning the band Eels). He also worked with Sass Jordan, Stevie Salas, and Kyle Vincent, among others.
A man called E meets Mullet Man
Parthenon Huxley formed a power pop power trio and named it P. Hux. The band's 1995 debut album, Deluxe, is a celebration of being in love. Sadly, the next P. Hux album Purgatory Falls (released in 2001) was about the grief of losing his wife to cancer.
Huxley joined The Orchestra and toured the world with Mik Kaminski, playing ELO classics and new material. A song from The Orchestra's album No Rewind is included in today's share. There's also a remix of a song from Homemade Spaceship, a P. Hux album of ELO covers.
He eventually remarried and became the father of two daughters. Five more studio albums were released over the next two decades, plus two collections of stray tracks, three live records, and an autobiography.
Parthenon Huxley died in 2026, seventy years after Rick Miller was born. As a songwriter, he captured authentic feelings of love and loss. He could poke fun at organized religion and at himself ("Angeleno"). He could be eloquent, and he could celebrate "Simple Things". He sang and harmonized beautifully, and boy could he play guitar. Check out "Meteor Sky" from his other power trio, VeG. I treasure his music, and hopefully this collection represents his talents.
RIP P. Hux -- https://pixeldrain.com/u/dMmQrsAU
ReplyDeleteCompared to other blogs, Stinky and I don't do a lot of posthumous tributes. We prefer to give artists their flowers (and their due) while they're alive. But I didn't know Parthenon was ill, and the news of his death came as a surprise. Not that I knew the man -- he periodically sent email updates to the fans on his mailing list, and he autographed every disc sold from his website. That was the extent of my "connection" to him -- as a fan, and as a customer. Always thought I would one day take the opportunity to go up to MD or NC or VA for one of his shows.
"Deluxe" was my first P. Hux album, and remains a favorite. Back in the 1990's, CD's and DVD's were available for checkout from my public library. When they sold off their CD collection, I bought the library copy of Deluxe that I used to borrow. I ran into another copy of Deluxe a few years ago at another CD sale, and I sent it to Stinky.