Amongst many other things he talks about the band that “opened up a whole new world” to him, the group that he was obsessed to as a teenager and the one song that describes him completely.
It's a musical journey with Brian from Dead Kennedys to Bonnie Tyler and back to Violent Femmes.
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| Photo credit: Thomas Rabsch |
Sonic Youth were the beginning for me. The whole “Goo” album changed my life because before it, I was unaware of all the possibilities of guitar music. They had the ultimate punk attitude towards the guitar, they threw the rulebook away and made the guitar work for them. They also showed me the beauty of atonal chords and dissonance. They opened up a whole new world to me.
๐ Find it : Goo, 1990
๐ธ ๐ฅ๐๐ฉ๐๐ฅ ๐๐จ๐ฃ๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ฆ ๐ธ
I was 16 and growing up in Luxembourg when I first heard this. I had never heard a voice like Black Francis’ before. He was this rotund young man singing like a castrado, it was so unexpected. I was instantly fascinated and went straight out and bought “Surfer Rosa”. The Pixies remain so significant to Placebo to this day – we covered “Where Is My Mind?” and Frank Black joined us onstage once, which was a hell of a moment.
๐ Find it : Surfer Rosa, 1988
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| Photo credit: Scarlet Page |
I was obsessed with the Dead Kennedys when I was 13. I was developing as a political being at that time, I guess. Because I lived in Luxembourg, my access to music was very jumbled up and I didn’t discover punk through the English bands, as you’re supposed to. I discovered the really political, anti-Reagan, American Punk. Jello Biafra’s lyrics really appealed to my anti-establishment nature. They are stil my favourite punk band.
๐ Find it : Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables, 1980
๐ธ ๐ฆ๐๐๐๐๐-๐ก๐-๐๐๐ ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐ฌ ๐ธ
Steve [Hewitt, drums] introduced me to PJ Harvey when we were at university. Her songwriting instantly became a big influence on me. I was struck by how individual her voice was and then by how taut and nervous the instrumentation was. It was so expressive of internal torment, desire, lust and rejection. She’s always been very brave, she’s not afraid to make a record that sounds like someone bleeding on you.
๐Find it : Dry, 1992
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| Photo credit: Virgile Biechy |
๐ธ ๐๐๐๐ฆ๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐๐ก ๐ง๐๐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ก ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ข๐๐๐ก๐ง ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐ธ
I was listening to this when I first realised I could sing. I put it on in my Mum’s car on the way home from the supermarket when I was 13 and I was singing along to it. When I was 13, my voice sounded exactly like [Violent Femmes vocalist] Gordon Gano’s. From then on I devoured that record and the teenage angst of it all. It’s a very weird and individual record-it’s almost folk-rock and it probably shouldnt work but it does.
๐ Find it : Violent Femmes, 1983
๐ธ ๐๐๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ง๐๐ ๐ก๐ข.๐ฎ ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐๐ข๐ก๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐ก ๐ธ
I’m a huge Leonard Cohen fan and this was one of the first songs I learned to play on the acoustic guitar. I was fascinated by Janis Joplin at the time and this was basically the story of him and her in a hotel room, having sex and doing drugs. His lyrics are masterful and so simple. Leonard Cohen remains an influence on me to this day-you just have to listen to “In The Cold Light Of Morning” on our “Meds” album to hear his impact.
๐ Find it : New Skin For The Old Ceremony, 1974
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| Photo credit: Benni Valsso |
๐ธ ๐๐ข๐ก’๐ง ๐๐๐ง ๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ก๐๐๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ง๐ข๐ข๐ ๐ฏ๐ ๐ก๐๐ก๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐ข๐ก๐ ๐ธ
The first time I heard this it just seemed to describe me completely. The lyrics are “I’m just a soul whose intentions are good, Oh Lord, please don’t let me be misunderstood”. It implies someone fucking up all the time, which I do, but I have good intentions. That line is the line I’ll put on my tombstone. It encapsulates how I see my own soul.
๐ Find it : Broadway-Blues-Ballads, 1964
๐บ ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ก'๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ผ๐๐๐๐:๐ป
๐ธ ๐ง๐ข๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ ๐ข๐ ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ง ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ข๐ก๐ก๐๐ ๐ง๐ฌ๐๐๐ฅ ๐ธ
It’s amazing! It was written by Jim Steinman, who did all the Meat Loaf records, but this is his best work. It was huge when I was a kid and I can still see the video in my head. I heard it on the radio the other day. I didn’t realise what it was, and my body tingled and I went, “What the fuck is that? That’s amazing”. I don’t love it for kitsch reasons, I love it for the right reasons.
๐ Find it : Faster Than The Speed Of Night, 1983
(Kerrang "Brian Molko: The Songs That Changed My Life", June 2006)
Post by Silke
