𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐁𝐎 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒. 𝐇𝐎𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐃

𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒. 𝐇𝐎𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐃, an original writer of the song 𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐎𝐋𝐔𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓, would have turned 62 today

The song was covered by Placebo and included into their EP 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞'𝐬 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐈𝐭 released on October 7th, 2016.

𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 – 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 (𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐨)
🎵 https://bit.ly/2zK6AGR 🎵

Photo credits unknown / edit by Olga

𝐑𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐇𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 (October 24,1959 – December 30, 2009) was an Australian rock musician, guitarist and songwriter, best known for his work with the post-punk band 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲 and his subsequent solo career.
Howard’s music was inspired by progressive rock, glam, Syd Barrett, Brian Eno and especially, 𝑫𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒅 𝑩𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒆. According to his brother’s memories, young Rowland wanted to be alike Bowie’s fantastic rock’n’roll characters.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲 was active from 1978 to 1983 with Nick Cave as a vocalist. The band relocated from Australia to London in 1980 and subsequently to West Berlin.
They have been called one of the darkest and most challenging post-punk bands in the early '80s, and their single "Release the Bats" was particularly influential on the emerging gothic scene. Howard's discordant guitar considered to be a major factor in the band’s sound.

As soon as Howard and Nick Cave started to suffer 'creative differences', Howard left 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲, so they transformed into The Bad Seeds. He soon became a member of 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞 & 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 and appeared with them in the iconic movie 𝑾𝑰𝑵𝑮𝑺 𝑶𝑭 𝑫𝑬𝑺𝑰𝑹𝑬 by German filmmaker 𝑾𝒊𝒎 𝑾𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 playing the song Six Bells Chime in a Berlin Club. Their inclusion in the film was essential for 𝑾𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 because “musically, that’s where Berlin was at the time.” The director called Howard and his mates a “bunch of Australians who landed from a different planet. […] There was a hush when they showed up somewhere. They were really big. They were the biggest thing in Berlin.”

𝑾𝑰𝑵𝑮𝑺 𝑶𝑭 𝑫𝑬𝑺𝑰𝑹𝑬 is a 1987 romantic fantasy film about invisible, immortal angels who populate Berlin and listen to the thoughts of its human inhabitants, comforting the distressed. Even though the city is densely populated, many of the people are isolated or estranged from their loved ones. One of the angels falls in love with a beautiful, lonely trapeze artist. The angel chooses to become mortal so that he can experience human sensory pleasures, ranging from enjoying food to touching a loved one, and so that he can discover human love with the trapeze artist.

Rowland S. Howard and Nick Cave. Photo credit unknown

Later Rowland S. Howard formed the band 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐬, worked as a solo artist and also collaborated with Lydia Lunch, Nikki Sudden, ex-Barracudas singer Jeremy Gluck, guitarist Gavin Poolman, French electro group KaS Product, Barry Adamson, guitarist Chris Haskett, Henry Rollins to name a few.

We can find 𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐎𝐋𝐔𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓 on the first Howard’s solo album Teenage Snuff Film (1999).
𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐆
https://bit.ly/3gBZ1T3

📍An interesting fact is that Rowland S. Howard also covered Talk Talk’s 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞'𝐬 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐈𝐭. He performed the song live at Fuji Rock Festival in Japan, on July 26, 2009, half a year before his death.
https://bit.ly/2MjuawB

Howard suffered from chronic Hepatitis C and passed away of liver cancer secondary to liver cirrhosis at the age of 50.

📍𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐎𝐋𝐔𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓 gave a title to the documentary on musician’s life “Autoluminescent: Rowland S. Howard”. The film had a limited release for cinema in October 2011.

Post by Olga