๐๐ฆ๐ธ๐ด ๐จ๐ถ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ด, ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฅ๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ...⭐
(๐ณ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฑ๐๐ ๐๐ "๐ต๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐")
I dedicate my post today to a song that Brian probably delighted his friend, mentor and dare I say surrogate father David Bowie with.
He did a live cover of David's song about the impending apocalypse... what a fitting theme for Brian, right?
I would start with a very nice review published by FarOut magazine in March 2020:
๐น๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐จ'๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ค๐จ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ ๐ญ๐จ๐ฎ๐๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ฏ๐ข๐ ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ข๐'๐ฌ '๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐' ๐๐๐๐ค ๐๐ก๐๐ญ๐ฅ๐๐ฒ๐น
When David Bowie passed away in 2016 he left a rather large hole in the music scene. The singer had been a beacon of creativity for nearly six decades before he departed and he had an unfathomable influence on one person, in particular, Placebo’s Brian Molko.
The singer had found a kindred spirit in the Starman and his passing in 2016 provoked an emotional reaction, “He was my friend and my mentor. He gave me a lot of advice. I’m meditating more on how he was quite a sage and quite a raconteur as well.”
It’s not hard to imagine, Bowie had that effect on most people. The Thin White Duke had always been lauded as one of the most influential artists in pop history but the difference here was that Bowie was just as enamoured with Placebo and Molko.
Bowie always had his finger on the pulse of new music and as well as picking out DEVO as a band of the future, he also gravitated towards Molko’s subversive alt-rock band, Placebo during the nineties. Bowie was in an industrial phase when he first came across the band and soon enough he had them open for his Outsider Tour in 1995.
They would quickly begin working with each other in the studio too. The band welcoming Bowie on the 1998 single release of the title track of their second record Without You I’m Nothing. With some backstage footage that Placebo shared after his death, highlighting Molko’s adoration of the star, gleefully looking up at him with wonder.
The pair enjoyed an enriching relationship onwards from there. Sharing the stage in 1999 at the BRIT Awards, as they performed a tribute to Marc Bolan with a cover of T-Rex’s ’20th Century Boy’. But the footage below comes a few years after in 2004 as Placebo were welcomed to French TV to perform Bowie’s iconic song, ‘Five Years’.
It’s not easy covering Bowie. Ask the countless artists who have tried and failed. But perhaps emboldened by his connection to the star or perhaps relying on the honesty of that connection in the first place, Molko delivers an impassioned and touching cover of the track.
Shot years before Bowie’s death, rather than a cover that is haunting or brittle, we see Molko engage with the track on a level of warmth and recognition. What’s more, he does so with a heavy dose of talent and an even larger serving of appreciation for the source material.
So sit back and enjoy this touching cover of David Bowie’s ‘Five Years’ from Placebo’s Brian Molko.
๐น✨๐น✨๐น✨๐น
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| Photo credit unknown |
"๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐" is a song written by ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ and was originally released on his concept album "๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ ๐ฒ ๐๐ญ๐๐ซ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ" in 1972.
As the opening track, the song introduces the overarching theme of the album: an impending apocalyptic disaster will destroy Earth in five years and the being who will save it is a bisexual alien rock star named Ziggy Stardust.
๐น๐ฌ '๐๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ 1970๐ด, ๐๐ฐ๐ธ๐ช๐ฆ ๐ค๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ง๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ด, ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ญ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ง๐ญ๐บ ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ง๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ด, ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ง๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ง๐ญ๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ.'
(๐ฝ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฟ๐๐๐, ๐๐๐ ๐ฒ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ณ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฑ๐๐ ๐๐, ๐ธ0๐ท๐ผ)
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| Screenshots from the video / edit by Silke |
To better understand Bowie's idea, I share with you an excerpt of ๐๐ง ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ฏ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฐ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ฆ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐๐๐:
๐ฝ๐ค๐ฌ๐๐: The time is five years to go before the end of the earth. It has been announced that the world will end because of lack of natural resources. [The album was released three years ago.] Ziggy is in a position where all the kids have access to things that they thought they wanted. The older people have lost all touch with reality and the kids are left on their own to plunder anything. Ziggy was in a rock & roll band and the kids no longer want rock & roll. There’s no electricity to play it. Ziggy’s adviser tells him to collect news and sing it, ’cause there is no news. So Ziggy does this and there is terrible news. “All the Young Dudes” is a song about this news. It is no hymn to the youth as people thought. It is completely the opposite.
๐ฝ๐ช๐ง๐ง๐ค๐ช๐๐๐จ: Where did this Ziggy idea come from, and this five-year idea? Of course, exhaustion of natural resources will not develop the end of the world. It will result in the collapse of civilization. And it will cut down the population by about three-quarters.
๐ฝ๐ค๐ฌ๐๐: Exactly. This does not cause the end of the world for Ziggy. The end comes when the infinites arrive..../***/
(๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฑ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ธ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ณ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฑ๐๐ ๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐, ๐ต๐๐ ๐ท๐ฟ๐ฝ๐บ)
So the idea for this opening song of the album is clear. It sets in motion the whole story that was unfolding in David's head, which he then took to the theatre stage.
His Ziggy is still immortal, don't you think?
๐น๐ถ ๐๐๐ฏ๐ข๐ ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ข๐ '๐๐ข๐ ๐ ๐ฒ ๐๐ญ๐๐ซ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ' ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐
https://bit.ly/3PenY7d
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| Photo credit: Adam Bielawski |
๐ผ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ข๐๐๐ ๐พ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐ก, ๐คโ๐ ๐ค๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ค๐๐กโ ๐ท๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ข๐ ๐๐ โ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ข๐๐ :
๐น๐ฌ ⭐Having worked with both the Beatles (he was an Abbey Road engineer throughout the ‘60s) and David Bowie, producer Ken Scott is in the ideal position to compare the working methods of the two, and in a new interview with Strombo on Apple Music Hits, he’s been discussing the key thing that they had in common.
“I compare him to the Beatles in one respect and that's how brave they were in their ability to not care what people thought,” says Scott. “If they suddenly wanted to change direction, they would do it no matter what. And there are a lot of artists that won't do that.”
Ken Scott, who was David Bowie’s co-producer for four albums, recalled that the musician was in tears as he completed his performance of the opening track on groundbreaking album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars.
Scott explained that, while it can’t be heard as well in the final mix, he’s used an alternative version to demonstrate to fans just how much Bowie gave while he was working. “Five Years,” and an isolated vocal version, can be heard below.
He continued: “The first track on Ziggy, Five Years, by the end of the take he was bawling his eyes out, there were tears rolling down his face. Now, unfortunately when one is mixing, doing a final mix, you're trying to be dramatic should we say, and put everything across as best you can. And when you do that sometimes these little bits and pieces get a little lost. And you do hear that there's emotion in his voice at the end there. But now quite often in my talks, I will play the ending of 'Five Years'. It starts off with just the regular track, I've laid that down so it's just David and acoustic guitar, and I've had members of the audience that have heard this, they've started to bawl their eyes out. It is so moving. And that's what he gave every single time.”
“Of the four albums I co-produced with David, about 90% of the vocals were first take beginning to end,” he reveals. “I would run the take, get the level for his vocal, go back, hit record on the take, and what he did that one time through is what we still hear today. And that's no Auto-Tune, that's no cut and pasting things, no moving anything around. It was one performance that came from his heart every time.”
“With all of the top name artists I’ve worked with, and vocalists, I've never come across anyone quite like that,” the producer told Music Radar in a recent interview, adding of Bowie’s performances: “a friend of mine said they're perfect in their imperfection. And that's what it is. They're not totally in tune. They're not totally in time, but they come from your soul. He's putting across himself in every one of those.”
Here you can listen to both original versions of this song, which Ken Scott has made available as a lovely reminder of his time with David.
๐น๐ถ David Bowie’s Full Version of ‘Five Years’
https://bit.ly/3BVLCTg
๐น๐ถ David Bowie’s Isolated Vocals on ‘Five Years’
https://bit.ly/3bHwOwz
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| Screenshot from the video |
Pushing through the market square
So many mothers sighing (sighing)
News had just come over
We had five years left to cry in (cry in)
News guy wept and told us
Earth was really dying (dying)
Cried so much his face was wet
Then I knew he was not lying (lying)
I heard telephones, opera house, favorite melodies
I saw boys, toys, electric irons and TV's
My brain hurt like a warehouse, it had no room to spare
I had to cram so many things to store everything in there
And all the fat, skinny people
And all the tall, short people
And all the nobody people
And all the somebody people
I never thought I'd need so many people
A girl my age went off her head
Hit some tiny children
If the Black hadn't have pulled her off
I think she would have killed them
A soldier with a broken arm
Fixed his stare to the wheels of a Cadillac
A cop knelt and kissed the feet of a priest
And a queer threw up at the sight of that
I think I saw you in an ice-cream parlor
Drinking milk shakes cold and long
Smiling and waving and looking so fine
Don't think you knew you were in this song
And it was cold and it rained, so I felt like an actor
And I thought of Ma and I wanted to get back there
Your face, your race, the way that you talk
I kiss you, you're beautiful, I want you to walk
We've got five years, stuck on my eyes
Five years, what a surprise
We've got five years, my brain hurts a lot
Five years, that's all we've got
We've got five years, what a surprise
Five years, stuck on my eyes
We've got five years, my brain hurts a lot
Five years, that's all we've got
We've got five years, stuck on my eyes
Five years, what a surprise
We've got five years, my brain hurts a lot
Five years, that's all we've got
We've got five years, what a surprise
We've got five years, stuck on my eyes
We've got five years, my brain hurts a lot
Five years, that's all we've got
Five years
Five years
Five years
Five years
๐น✨๐น✨๐น✨๐น
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| Photo credit unknown |
The show was presented and produced by Guillaume Durand, it was aired from 2002 to 2005.
I love this David song and I love Brian's live performance. Just look at the presenter enjoying that song about the end of the world... ๐
Brian's energy and the vibrancy of his voice, as if his tone belies this dystopian vision of the future... Like he's singing '...yeah, folks, in five years our end will come, it's clear and inevitable, so let's finally live to the fullest, let's fulfill our dreams so we don't leave this world feeling useless...
...and who knows, maybe then the harsh reality will change... if we start living in more joy...'
I know, it's a utopia as big as the universe...๐
Dear friends, I'll say goodbye with David's quote, which is a guide to life for all of us:
๐น"๐ฐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐, “๐ฐ๐ ๐ฐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐, ๐ฐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐.”๐น
(๐ณ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฑ๐๐ ๐๐, ๐ฟ๐๐๐ข๐๐๐ข ๐๐๐. ๐๐๐ ๐ท๐ฟ๐ฝ๐ผ)
Post by Marti
