🌟 🌟 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐁𝐎 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝟖𝟎'𝐬 🌟

"𝑾𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 80'𝒔."

(𝘉𝘳𝘢𝘯 𝘔𝘰𝘭𝘬𝘰 𝘢𝘵 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 - 2003)

Photo credit: Mick Hutson (2), *goodfon.com (80'𝑠 𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑜), edit by Laetitia

🔸Dear Soulmates, today, i'd like to talk a bit about the 80's and Placebo.

Placebo is a band who grew up in the 80's and keep saying they are children of the 80's.

" So when we cover songs, we have a tendency to go back to the 80s and cover songs which got us interested in pop music. That's why you've got Johnny and Mary by Robert Palmer, that's why you've got Daddy Cool by Boney M -- or Running up that hill, for that matter. These are songs which remind us of our childhood and make us feel nostalgic, which is why we try to do something modern with them.”
(𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘔𝘰𝘭𝘬𝘰 - 𝘚𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴, 𝘚𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 11𝘵𝘩, 2007).

This decade was heterogeneous where pop music, disco, rock, punk, synth pop went along coast to coast. A large part of their covers are songs from the 80's as they grew up during that decade. Let's go back to Placebo world through these songs. 🔸


📍 𝟖𝟎'𝐬 𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐒 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐁𝐎 𝐂𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃 📍

🎵Bigmouth Strikes again from The Queen Is Dead by The Smiths (1986)

🎵Daddy Cool from Take The Heat Off Me by Boney M (1976)

🎵Johnny And Mary from Clues by Robert Palmer (1980)

🎵Jackie from The Lion And The Cobra by Sinead O'Connor (1988)

🎵Wouldn't It Be Good from Human Racing by Kik Kershaw (1984)

🎵Running Up That Hill from Hounds Of Love by Kate Bush(1985)

🎵Life's What You Make It from The Colour Of Spring by Talk Talk (1985)

Photo credit: LUZ Photo Agency

📍 𝐐𝐔𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒 📍

📢𝐵𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛 : We are children of the 80's. There was the disco where there was...

📢𝑆𝑡𝑒𝑓𝑎𝑛: Michael Jackson.

📢𝐵𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛: Even Sheila with Spacer (...) We are children of disco.
(𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳, 2003)

🎥 𝑺𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒚 𝑺𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒍𝒂 https://bit.ly/3avUYGi 🎵


⭐𝐷𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑦 𝐶𝑜𝑜𝑙

Although Daddy Cool was released in 1976, this disco tune kept being aired on radio stations and on TV programs all through this decade (and even nowadays).

💬"Again, we grew up in the 80's, this is the kind of super danceable stuff you could hear as a kid and probably still hear at kids' birthday parties. We had no problem covering it. It was fun. Hey, we're here to make people dance too! And this cover can be seen as our way of saying that you should always keep your sense of humour. Even when it comes to us.
(𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘢𝘯 𝘖𝘭𝘴𝘥𝘢𝘭 - 𝘋𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘶𝘹 𝘣𝘺 𝘚𝘦𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯 𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘶𝘥)

🎥 𝑫𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒚 𝑪𝒐𝒐𝒍 𝒃𝒚 𝑩𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒚 𝑴 https://bit.ly/3jMK0RV 🎵


⭐𝐽𝑜ℎ𝑛𝑛𝑦 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑦

💬"When we do a cover version, the idea is not to interpret only artists who are close to us, but songs that have marked us. I don't like everything Robert Palmer has done but this one works well, it's very catchy. Brian kept humming the tune in the studio, the only way to make him stop was to record the song."
(𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘢𝘯 𝘖𝘭𝘴𝘥𝘢𝘭 - 𝘋𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘶𝘹 𝘣𝘺 𝘚𝘦𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯 𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘶𝘥)

🎥 𝑱𝒐𝒉𝒏𝒏𝒚 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒃𝒚 𝑹𝒐𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒕 𝑷𝒂𝒍𝒎𝒆𝒓 https://bit.ly/3Gay85z 🎵


⭐𝐽𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑖𝑒

💬"This song is beautiful. It's about a man leaving her. By covering it, we, three guys, pervert the meaning a bit and we like that. We add a sexual ambiguity to it that is very much like us."
(𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘢𝘯 𝘖𝘭𝘴𝘥𝘢𝘭 - 𝘋𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘶𝘹 𝘣𝘺 𝘚𝘦𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯 𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘶𝘥)

🎥 𝑱𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒆 𝒃𝒚 𝑺𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝑶'𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒓 https://bit.ly/2Zpd0b4 🎵

Photo credit: Jesus Aparicio

⭐ 𝐵𝑖𝑔𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑡ℎ 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑘𝑒𝑠 𝐴𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛

💬"When we got the offer from France, we were surprised that no one had chosen to cover 𝐵𝑖𝑔𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑡ℎ 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑘𝑒𝑠 𝐴𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛 before, so we figured it must have scared a lot of people off. We took the challenge because it's such a 'biting' song... We just tried to raise the bar sonically to match it. We wanted to translate the hatefulness of the lyrics into the sound."
(𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘔𝘰𝘭𝘬𝘰 - 𝘋𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘶𝘹 𝘣𝘺 𝘚𝘦𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯 𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘶𝘥)

🎥 𝑩𝒊𝒈𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝑨𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒃𝒚 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒔 https://bit.ly/3GdOOZN 🎵


⭐ 𝐿𝑖𝑓𝑒'𝑠 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑀𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝐼𝑡

💬"We chose some covers that we were fond of. [...] Also, we're children of the 80s so a lot of the covers we chose are from the 80s."
(𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘢𝘯 𝘖𝘭𝘴𝘥𝘢𝘭 - 𝘎𝘪𝘨𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 25𝘵𝘩, 2016)


💬“𝐿𝑖𝑓𝑒'𝑠 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑀𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝐼𝑡 is kind of a slogan to wake up to each day, you know? Sometimes I wake up with panic attacks and I just have to tell myself that this will pass and that there are a lot of good things to live for. There are a lot of things that I appreciate and I am thankful for everything that I have.“
(𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘔𝘰𝘭𝘬𝘰 - 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘖𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘣𝘦𝘳 3𝘳𝘥, 2016)

🎥 𝑳𝒊𝒇𝒆'𝒔 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝑴𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝑰𝒕 𝒃𝒚 𝑻𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝑻𝒂𝒍𝒌 https://bit.ly/3jol7eU 🎵

Photo credit: Jenny Lewis

📍 𝐅𝐔𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑 ? 📍

💬 𝗔𝗻𝘆 𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 ?

📢 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏: Yeah, Total Eclipse Of The Heart by Bonnie Tyler.

💬 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗹𝘆 ?

📢 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏: Oh yeah !

📢 𝑺𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆: Hewitt: Unfortunately, he's serious ! (laugh)
(𝘔𝘛𝘝 𝘚𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤 - 2004)


Brian replied the same at Taratata in 2009 when he was asked what song he'd dream to cover.

A long-standing desire for Brian it would seem. To be honest, I am quite curious how it could sound between Placebo's hands ! 😊

🎥 𝑻𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝑬𝒄𝒍𝒊𝒑𝒔𝒆 𝑶𝒇 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒃𝒚 𝑩𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒆 𝑻𝒚𝒍𝒆𝒓 https://bit.ly/3B3XMVW 🎵

Photo credit unknown

🔸We can say Placebo are not influenced by the 80's music sonically speaking because even the covers have this particular and recognisable Placebo sound. They like these songs at a personal level. But it can't be denied what attracted them too was the artists who got their very own personal touch (Talk Talk, Kate Bush). and their own strong personality. Although Placebo did not cover any of Serge Gainsbourg's songs from the 1980s, he was (and remains) an important figure in the media landscape during that period. Gainsbourg's strong personality was not lost on Brian.


💬"I grew up listening to his songs. Along with 𝐵𝑟𝑒𝑙, he remains my favourite singer. Besides 𝐿𝑎 𝐵𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑑𝑒 𝑀𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝑁𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑜𝑛, I have just recorded 𝑅𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑒𝑚 𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑈𝑛 𝐶𝑜𝑛 with 𝐹𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐̧𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝐻𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑦. I love the artist and the man. 𝐺𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑔 is quite a figure. When I was a kid, I saw him on Drucker's show saying to Whitney Houston: "I want to fuck you". He burned money on television. In his own way, 𝐺𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑔 was a real punk! "
(𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘔𝘰𝘭𝘬𝘰 - 𝘋𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘶𝘹 𝘣𝘺 𝘚𝘦𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯 𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘶𝘥)


A political act Gainsbourg did in order to denounce high taxes, which is still today in every mind here.

🎥 𝑺𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒆 𝑮𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒈 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒚 (1984) https://bit.ly/3Gb9guz 🎵


The 80's songs Placebo decided to cover are more than just danceable tunes, they all deal with strong, deep and true emotions, which lead to internal questionings about ourselves or about the world we live in through the lyrics or the videos. A significant and valuable topic for the band. It may be a way for them to beat this nostalgic feeling when they listen to them ? 🔸


I'd like to share Nik Kershaw's cover because it was the one I was the most happily surprised when I first heard it because I've always loved it since my childhood 💕

🎥 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝑻𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒂 (2009) https://bit.ly/30Xt3NW 🎵

Post by Laetitia