On that day, David Bowie joined Placebo on stage to perform 20th Century Boy with them.
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| The Brit Awards 1999. Photo credit unknown |
https://bit.ly/3i8R8r5
๐Placebo recorded their version of the song in 1998 specifically for the movie ๐ฝ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ where Brian and other band members appeared as actors in small roles.
You can read more about the movie in my older post:
https://bit.ly/3iV6Q8y
๐As Brian admitted, 20th Century Boy never belonged to their favourites, so it was performed live only three times. Besides The Brit Awards, it was played next month at Irving Plaza in New York City, also with David Bowie, and then, on July 28th 2000 at Fuji Rock festival in Japan.
๐ข ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ง: "That version would never be made by ourselves, just for the pleasure of it. It is not a song that has a special cling to us, we did the version ‘cause it was needed for the film. We don't even own any T.Rex record. But naturally, it was a song that we knew for many years... We listened to it on the radio. We have never been T.Rex fans, and we just do versions of songs that we like and from artists we are fond of."
(๐ท๐ ๐๐๐๐ , ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐ 14๐กโ 2000)
๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐จ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฏ๐ข๐ ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ข๐ ๐๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ง’๐ฌ ’๐๐๐ญ๐ก ๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ฒ’ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐
Fronted by the enigmatic Brian Molko, Placebo were a force to be reckoned with in the ’90s – they offered something different to the laddishness of Britpop and the nerdiness of Radiohead. Their brand of subversive alt-rock cultivated a mass of fanatical followers caught in the tightly woven net of androgynous angst and sublime songwriting. It was only a matter of time before the original agitator David Bowie would find a project to collaborate on.
That project came sooner rather than later. In the early days of Placebo, with Molko and Osdal having only demos to their name, they had one major fan – David Bowie. Not a bad place to start eh? Never one to miss the opportunity to promote the music he felt deserved a place on the mantel of music, Bowie then invited the band to open for his now-infamous Outside Tour. Bowie would also lend his vocals to the 1998 recording of Placebo’s ‘Without You I’m Nothing’.
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| Photo credit: Steve Finn |
A more intimate collaboration came in the form of a special BRIT Awards performance in 1999 that saw Placebo supported by Bowie covering another glam-rock icon’s biggest hit; Marc Bolan’s ’20th Century Boy’. Released in 1971, the song marked one of the last triumphant moments of Bolan’s sadly short career. It was a song that Placebo were already familiar with having covered the smash-hit for the soundtrack to the film Velvet Goldmine, though following Bowie rejecting the chance to have his own music appear in the film Molko said the pair “agreed never to talk about”.
The track was and remains today, an absolute dancefloor smash. Built on a simple but encouraging lead guitar (so chunky it barely needed dressing), flourished with garish and provocative lyrics, the song has effortlessly become a cross-generational smash. Nowhere is that more easily seen than in this clip from the 1999 BRIT Awards.
On one side of the stage stands the present of rock and roll. Brian Molko and his sparkling charcoaled eyes, full of the kind of sneering misunderstanding that can drive so many to mania. On the other stood an original of the glam-rock era passing the goth-glittered baton across with every lyric he sang. He plays his Tin Machine-era headless guitar and seems happy to let Molko take the spotlight. “We weren’t too bad, we were in key at least,” Molko later told Melody Maker. “But we could never really get the lyrics right. We were doing ’20th Century Boy’. We had a fucking laugh.”
The sound mixing may be a bit dodgy but the performance of this song, in particular, strikes a special chord with fans of both artists. For Placebo fans, it marks a moment in their history that they were named as “the future” by Bowie, of all people. While for Bowie fans it’s a clear indication of his admiration for them, as well as a rousing tribute to his departed friend.
Whichever way you look at it this is a moment worth savouring. So watch as Placebo are joined on stage by David Bowie to perform T-Rex’s hit ’20th Century Boy’ live at the BRITS in 1999.
(๐น๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐๐, ๐ด๐ข๐๐ข๐ ๐ก 13, 2019)
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐
20th Century Boy is a song by an English rock band ๐. ๐๐๐ฑ, written by ๐ด๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐.
It was released as a single and entered in the UK Singles Chart at number 3 on 10 March 1973 where it peaked three weeks in a row at that position.
20th Century Boy's lyrics are, according to Marc Bolan, based on quotes taken from notable celebrities such as Muhammad Ali. This can be seen through the inclusion of the line "sting like a bee", which is taken from one of Ali's 1969 speeches.
Post by Olga
