The Golden Section
album by John Foxx
The Golden Section is a 1983 album by English musician John Foxx. A progression from the sound of The Garden (1981), Foxx called The Golden Section "a roots check: Beatles, Church music, Psychedelia, The Shadows, The Floyd, The Velvets, Roy Orbison, Kraftwerk, and cheap pre-electro Europop".
The album was Foxx's first work with a producer since his final Ultravox album, Systems of Romance, in 1978; The Golden Section was co-produced by Zeus B. Held, well known in the Krautrock scene of the 1970s. In addition to Foxx's wide array of synthesizers, the production made extensive use of vocoder effects and sampling, along with traditional rock guitar.
Production and style
Foxx's two previous solo albums, Metamatic (1980) and The Garden (1981), had included a number of compositions written for earlier projects but shelved for one reason or another, such as "He's a Liquid" and "Touch and Go", originally performed live with Ultravox, and "Systems of Romance" and "Walk Away", written during sessions for the album Systems of Romance. In contrast, The Golden Section was almost wholly made up of material written especially for the album in 1983, the exceptions being "Like a Miracle", an earlier version of which was recorded during the Metamatic sessions and released on the deluxe edition of that album, and "Endlessly", an early version of which Foxx had released as a single on 16 July 1982. Another eight songs he recorded around the same time as "Endlessly", that were to have formed an album, were scrapped.
The album's psychedelic rock flavour was evident on tracks like "Someone" and "Endlessly". The latter was described by Trouser Press as "the album's clear standout, a magnificent multi-level pop creation". "Ghosts on Water" opened with vocal samples from the embers of "Endlessly", the preceding track on the album.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “The Golden Section” is album by John Foxx. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Golden, Section and album, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “album by John Foxx” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3987313. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1983, 1981, 1978 and 1980.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “The Golden Section”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow The Golden Section primary sources, The Golden Section archive and Golden research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The Golden Section”?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “The Golden Section” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.