Jobriath featured on VH1 special
posted by davidt on Monday August 13 2001, @09:00AM

MOZ IS GOD writes:

Last night (08/08/01) the VH1 music channel ran a special program on sexuality in music called "Below the Belt". While they covered many openly gay performers from George Michael to Frankie Goes to Hollywood there was a surprisingly long and depthful look into the life of one of Morrissey's biggest influences, Jobriath. They covered Jobriath's highly promoted debut as well as his personal crash when his record company made a mess of his career. Jobriath eventually ended up as a polished pianist singing show tunes in New York under a pseudonym until his death from AIDS in 1983. The saddest part is that he was so devastated after his music industry nightmare that he would play any song the crowd asked for on his piano... except his own. I think this is significant not only because of his audible influence on Morrissey but because it represented a negative shift in the early 1980's Glam music scene as stars like Jobriath and the irrepressible Klaus Nomi succumbed to the AIDS epidemic.

 
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    Jobriath featured on VH1 special | Log in/Create an Account | Top | 7 comments | Search Discussion
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    The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
    Yeah.... (Score:1)
    I saw that last night. It just made me so angry seeing how he was treated after people found out about his sexual orientation. So sad. That's like blacklisting someone for wearing the wrong color socks or something. What matters is the expression and the mind which creates it. I was glad to hear what his music sounded like, I'll have to track down an album sometime.
    Violeta -- Monday August 13 2001, @02:11PM (#16801)
    (User #1820 Info)
    swivel and sway
      What a pretty star! (Score:0)
      I downloaded some tracks of that man. "What A Pretty" as well as "I'm A Man", I can't listen to them often enough. I can absolutely understand why our Moz is a fan of him, with the tragedy and all...The music is superb. Everyone who likes Ziggy Stardust will love this. I would very much love to buy a whole of Jobriath.
      Anonymous -- Monday August 13 2001, @05:51PM (#16819)
      "Who is Jobriath?" (Score:0)
      Oh there's even a song sung by David Bowie called "Jobriath". Go and seach p2p!
      Anonymous -- Monday August 13 2001, @05:53PM (#16820)
        Jobriath THE SONG (Score:0)
        Yes, I found this on napster long ago. A song called Jobriath. IT IS BEAUTIFUL. However, it was credited on the file name to Bernard Butler and Richard Ashcroft and "unreleased" while in the ID tag to David Bowie. I know Bowie's basic catalog and I don't think it's him. It actually sounds VERY MUCH like Jarvis Cocker singing.

        THIS SONG IS SO BEAUTIFUL that I spent over an hour searching the net for any clue to who this might be.

        DOES ANYONE KNOW? PLEASE!!!
        Anonymous -- Monday August 13 2001, @08:14PM (#16830)
          Who sang your life, JOBRIATH?!! (Score:0)
          I was wondering, too, if it is David Bowie. But I think it might be him, even though I didn't find the song mentioned on any of his websites. Now to add even more confusion: In mp3-land there is circulation another version of this song filed under "Scott Walker". Well, at least to this version I found some information on a David-Sylvian-website:

          "Many people have wondered if a track called Jobriath, which was on Napster, is actually a recording by Scott Walker and David Sylvian as the credits tell. It is not!!! It's just a track made by a group from L.A. who's trying to get attention by crediting their song to Walker and Sylvian."
          Anonymous -- Tuesday August 14 2001, @04:18AM (#16851)
            Interesting Show (Score:1)
            Thanks for the information it was a really interesting show.It also contained a bits about Marc Bolan and The New York Dolls and of course David Bowie.
            tibby -- Tuesday August 14 2001, @05:24PM (#16886)
            (User #2713 Info)
            Pleasure for beautiful bodies,but pain for beautiful souls~Oscar Wilde Sing me to sleep ILOVEMORRISSEY


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