Jobriath

"I'd do anything for you or to you
I'm a fool for you dear fantasy
I would love you to use me, amuse me
I'm chained to your insanity
Any day you could buy me or tie me up
A slave to your perversity
Refuse me diffuse me
To the corners of the galaxy,"

sound so sweet and sincere. I guess he didn't quite get the joke, and his Mick-Jagger-with-hints-of-Ronson is certainly entirely un-self-aware. I still love him without irony, tho.

BTW, I think it's Morrissey doing the comp. I read that he was a big fan. I guess they both have the same kind of half cringe-worthy, half straight-to-the-heart kind of style to their lyrics. Tho the Mozzer did have a much greater grasp of irony at times.

He does a number on piano direct to camera, wearing a grotesque mask. The doc is shown pretty regularly on BBC cable.

S

Also, is it Joe-Bray-Ith, or Joe-bry-ath, or what?

exactly why jobe waaayyy more interessant. and alternately, i'm not so sure, i hear he likes the killers...

Not even a slim chance. This presumes Jobriath had some rock 'n' roll in him. Well, if so, it's not on those records. But I understand the desire to make Jobriath good.

http://www.morrissey-solo.com/news/2004/images/jobriath_invite.jpg

If your definition of Bowie is: very gay man who made albums that were supposed to be glamorous and arty rock but which were stubbornly tuneless and did everything but rock.

The whole band dressed like spacemen. That was good.

pictures like this won't help either.

http://www.orlandoweekly.com/selections/archive.asp?g=4779

STRUNG OUT/EVERGREEN TERRACE We've been thinking about Jobriath a lot lately. If you're not familiar with him, he was an early-'70s glam/pop/rock un-star who made a big deal out of being gay. Nobody cared, because despite the fact that his albums were released on Elektra, they were a little too far ahead of their time and, frankly, a little too gay. Jobriath's self-titled album is SO gay that Morrissey used it in the artwork for a single, and Morrissey even wrote the liner notes for a recent CD compilation of Jobriath tracks. We're sorry, but that's as gay as it gets. What does Jobriath have to do with the punk-rock machismo that will be pouring oceans of misguided testosterone all over The Social's floor at this show (or possibly, in Evergreen Terrace's case, blood)? Check this out: We were wandering around www.jobriath.org and caught a reference to Zolar-X, a similarly spacey, similarly glam and similarly stupid '70s outfit. (Not gay, though, but stay with us.) Jobriath fans seem to hold an abiding, if condescending, affection for Zolar-X and their no-we're-really-aliens schtick. You know who else likes Zolar-X? No, not Morrissey. Jello freakin' Biafra! The Dead Kennedys dude. Punk rock? You bet! Strung Out plays punk rock too, but we wonder: If they had the opportunity to open for Jobriath, would they take it? What about Evergreen Terrace? We don't think so. We think that these guys would try to prove how manly they are by beating up frail little Jobriath. And that's so totally uncool.

The piece in Mojo from a long time ago was pretty funny... How the label wanted someone to compete with Bowie, but they didn't realize that Jobriath was not ambiguously gay but instead flaming. And his first live appearance at the Opera House in Paris featuring the Empire State Building in a King Kong/phallus sort of motif.

The whole Jobriath backstory is tragic, yet very hilarious. His music sort of sucks and is inadvertantly hysterical, judging from what i've heard, but I'll give him another shot.

http://s8.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0FCVTHV0X1XKU0QXS50LQYCVQF

I also have to admit I haven't been able to listen to the entire album.

Perfect. An ideal reissue of Jobriath would have included recommendations like these. They would potentially bring in an entirely different audience, like people who always slow down and form a traffic jam on the highway because they want to see the remnants of a multiple car crash.

As for the Jobriath, I heard nothing but silence. I give up. No one should have to go to this kind of trouble to hear an artist they're only marginally interested in hearing anyway. Country twang vocals? That's enough to send me running for the hills, thanks.

JOBRIATH WAS THE “NEXT BIG THING” WHO NEVER WAS, BUT HIS TWO ELEKTRA ALBUMS — REISSUED ON COLLECTORS’ CHOICE — DEMONSTRATE TALENT, HUMOR AND ORIGINALITY

The first openly gay glam-rock star left two curious albums, Jobriath and Creatures of the Street, in his wake. Yet he died forgotten in 1983.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — By 1973, the rock world had shed its hippie past in favor of a more theatrical universe of glam and glitter. David Bowie had given the world Ziggy Stardust, and Lou Reed had pushed the envelope of pop radio with his hit “Walk on the Wild Side.” Mott the Hoople rose to the top with a glam anthem, “All the Young Dudes,” and artists varied from T. Rex to the Faces had dressed up their acts. Was the world really primed for an openly gay glam-rock star? Promoter/manager Jerry Brandt seemed to think so, and proceeded to set the stage for the grand arrival of Jobriath. And although the promised grandeur never materialized, Jobriath did record two vastly underrated albums for Elektra Records — Jobriath and Creatures of the Street — both of which will be re-released on Collector’ Choice on September 30.

Jobriath was actually Bruce Campbell, born in Philadelphia in 1946. He cut his onstage teeth as a cast member of the Broadway musical Hair, and was later member of a band called Pidgeon, described in the reissue notes as “an uneasy mix of California pop-rock and heavier psychedelia.” It was only when he submitted a tape to Clive Davis’ CBS Records in the early ‘70s that he got his big break, when promoter Jerry Brandt (best known for operating the Electric Circus and managing Carly Simon) happened to overhear Jobriath’s music in the label’s A&R corridors. When Brandt inquired as to CBS’ intentions for Jobriath, he was told that “Clive thinks Jobriath is mad and unstructured and musically destructive to melody.” Brandt had a very different take: “The images [the tape] was provoking in my imagination were enormous. I kept seeing a vast spectacle.”

Brandt contacted all the record labels asking a cool million for the rights to sign his incipient star. When he asked producer Richard Perry to work his magic, Brandt was told that “if Jobriath is where music is going, I want out.” In the end there were no takers, so Jobriath went into the studio with engineer/producer Eddie Kramer (known for the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and David Bowie) and emerged with a completed album. Brandt took it to Elektra, where Jac Holzman signed Jobriath as his final act prior to departing the label he founded. It was not a million-dollar deal by any means, but rather a favor to Brandt for having brought Carly Simon to the label. And Holzman latter confessed, quoted in the Richie Unterberger’s liner notes: “I made two errors of judgment in my days at Elektra, and Jobriath was one of them.”

Yet Stephen Holden had a vastly different take in his Rolling Stone review, finding Jobriath’s self titled debut album “a flashy an provocative debut album. Jobriath brings to rock a voice uncannily reminiscent of Mick Jagger’s and a theatrical intuitiveness and thematic sensibility that are superficially similar to avid Bowie’s. Like Bowie, Jobriath is fascinated with extraterrestrial fantasies that combine autoeroticism and prophecy, though Jobriath’s musical and poetic vernacular are blunter, deliberately eschewing intellectual sophistication for a bold populist stance.”

The album had failed to establish Jobriath as the next Beatles nor even Bowie. In fact it missed the charts entirely, yet Elektra did release a follow-up, Creatures of the Street. Global stardom would greet Jobriath’s second album, proclaimed Brandt, who in the Rolling Stone feature headlined “Jobriath: Gay Rock Breaks All the Rules,” said, “Presenting Jobriath in the way he must be presented means you have to break all the rules. That requires the greatest promoter in the world. And I’m it.” Brandt planned for the first live performance to take place at the Paris Opera House, since, according to the promoter, “if you’re planning to come to New York, Paris is the best place to come from.” There was also talk of a $200,000 set. The Paris shows were cancelled due to the cost, and the New York dates were modest, attended primarily by members of the music industry.

The second album itself, however, was rich in melodic Broadway-tinged pop songs like “Heartbeat,” “Street Corner Love,” “Ooh La La” and “Scumbag.” Sadly, the press shied away from the better of Jobriath’s two albums, stung by all the unfulfilled hype. By the time Jobriath toured small clubs in major U.S. cities, he’d been dropped by Elektra. He lived the rest of his life in obscurity, dying of AIDS at New York’s Chelsea Hotel in 1983. So unnoticed was his passing that Morrissey tried to contact him in 1992 to see about opening for his tour.

Now, Collectors’ Choice is preparing to present the Jobriath albums with no hype nor proclamations of next-Bowie-dom. Perhaps in death, 35 years after the albums’ initial release, Jobriath will develop the fan base he never achieved in life.

There's a song about Jobriath on the new Okkervil River record. It's called "Burce Wayne Campbell Interviewed On the Roof of the Chelsea Hotel, 1979."

I'm quite curious to hear these records for the first time.

er, "Bruce," obv.

“if Jobriath is where music is going, I want out.”

I happen to love "World Without End," but man, that line is funny.

Man, that George Smith guy sure hated this musical artist. He was taking shit personally.

So is it Jo-bray-ith, or Jo-Bry-ath?

This set resurfacing prompted me to check Youtube, and there are a couple of cracking colour clips from a 1974 NBC Midnight Special up there.

Let's see if I can get the formatting to work

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXks3Xjydh0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Lp_e4wUnz4

"A little Richard goes a long, long way . ." indeed. Very Dollsy, and not really what I was expecting from the comments above.

I was really impressed by the Jobriath song on the Jon Savage compilation of music by teh geays. I hope to discover more of his music.

Gladys Knight: "Ladies and gentlemen...Joe Breath."

I like "Captain of my morning starship" or whatever its called.
Haven't listened to Jo in some time.

Man, that George Smith guy sure hated this musical artist. He was taking shit personally.

In your mind. I had both Jobriath albums decades ago. They just weren't very good. Full page ads for the first one in some of the music mags, as I recall.

If you like Tin Pan Alley-influenced things, there is probably something in these for you. If you like glam, though, digging for Jobriath is real barrel-scraping.

But there's enjoyment to be had from some of the most least barrel-scrapings. If I'm feeling adventurous and the price is right, I might reinvest.

Jobriath is definately not the artist for people wanting glam. The glam stylings on his first album were more or less at the behest of his manager to make him more attractive to record companies, rather than a direction he intended to head in himself. On the second album, Jobriath was left to do pretty much what he wanted, so it's much more his personal statement, and certainly my favourite of the two. It's heavy on the Broadway, but there's an edge underneath which makes it more than just a bunch of show tunes.

Listening now to his 1969 album with the band Pidgeon. Was falsely led to believe by the blog that was sharing it that it was some kind of proto-glam masterpiece. That is not what it is. It's pretty cool, though. Lots of high harmonies and organ... kind of like a more hippied-out version of Yes.

Is it worth it to track this guy's stuff down? I have to admit the thing really making me curious is he was in the original LA cast of "Hair"!

The thing that made me NOT curious was a description of his vocals as "Jagger-esque." Unless they meant our own l0u1s jagg3r that's not really a selling point.

He's not that much like Jagger really. Definitely worth tracking down.

Did not until this moment realize that Jobriath was in Pidgeon. I used to stare at that album in the store as a youth (probably thinking of the dinner scenes in "Whatever Happened To Baby Jane.")

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_uypEFQ3_Vu8/SotUM_szbFI/AAAAAAAAEyk/uJvdUkIwrRc/s320/Untitled.jpg

I had both Jobriath records back in the 70s. The lead track from the debut, "Take Me I'm Yours," is worth a search. Can't remember anything else.

Captain of my Morning Starship is a cool song iirc

'Street Corner Love' is awesome for the line "love me like we never met".

listening to this for the first time way late, i'm reminded more of bobby conn than jagger or bowie (or morissey)

hm. this jobriath disc just appeared on emusic.

i have the same question as abbott: worth downloading?

Yes. There are a couple of duds but otherwise it's a good album. 'Rock of Ages' in particular, er, rocks, and it's lyrics are genuinely and intentionally funny as well.

I actually found a CD of "Creatures of the Street" at the local library, and I checked it out, but I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet.

So, I just finished listening to "Creatures of the Street," and it is totally decent. I think it is benefiting from low expectations but I cld foresee playing this at 2 or 3 more times in the next month.

Not really what I was hoping for when I bought the comp (I wanted something sounding more like Mick Ronson's Only After Dark), but he had more than a couple of good songs - stuff like World Without End and I'maman is good.

Can't wait to see this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=306ZNNuW4Kg

It's playing in town in a couple of weeks. I hope my schedule will let me see the one showing.

oh yes oh yes oh yes

xpost does "in town" mean nyc i hope?

http://jobriaththemovie.com/screenings/

Tomorrow in NYC & Houston, Monday in Austin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c5kMO-xs_M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c5kMO-xs_M

I guess there is a Jobriath thread.

http://dangerousminds.net/comments/jobriath_documentary_on_glam_rock

So anyway, watched that documentary tonight -- pretty good, definitely a little idiosyncratic around the corners (narration only suddenly starts about twenty minutes in, and then it turned out to be Rollins) --
but I'm actually pretty impressed that so many people who knew him, not just from the failed fame launch period but from the Hair days -- and in some cases before! -- were still alive and happy to share all kinds of stories. (Plus a number of people involved with the Pidgeon album too.) You definitely get a sense that he was ultimately self-contained -- it's like he had many friends and compatriots but I couldn't say for sure any of them, one or two aside, were truly close. Fun to see Gloria Jones and Eddie Kramer pop up multiple times among others. And definitely a sad story in terms of how his father acted immediately after his death.

Definitely the oddest element of it all was how his Tony DiFries (or rather Colonel Tom Parker) equivalent, Jerry Brandt, got what Kate and I felt was more than his share of deserved screen time. Certainly his managerial scheming and plots were a huge part of the whole story beyond the music, but there were a couple of times where I was wondering if it was Jobriath's story or his, especially with a very strange extended sequence towards the end. I almost half wondered if the whole idea was that they had to include a certain amount of him in order to get the film even made, if he still maintains some rights to the songs.

just heard "Time Sat on My Face" on wfmu... this guy's new to me!

https://www.highsnobiety.com/2017/04/25/jobriath-gay-rock-icon/