⭐⭐ 𝙎𝙄𝙓 𝙔𝙀𝘼𝙍𝙎 𝙒𝙄𝙏𝙃𝙊𝙐𝙏 𝘿𝘼𝙑𝙄𝘿 𝘽𝙊𝙒𝙄𝙀: 𝘼𝙉𝙉𝙄𝙑𝙀𝙍𝙎𝘼𝙍𝙔 𝙊𝙁 𝙃𝙄𝙎 𝙋𝘼𝙎𝙎𝙄𝙉𝙂 ⭐⭐

"𝑯𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎. 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅." (𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘢𝘯 𝘖𝘭𝘴𝘥𝘢𝘭)

🔸Today is a special day for all of us, Placebo fans and for all music lovers. David Bowie passed away six years ago. Let's take a moment to remember this extraordinary man ✨ 🌠

Credits at the end of tbe post, edit by Laetitia

🌟 𝗗𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗱 𝗕𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗲 ~ 'shining star'

🔸David Bowie is a major artist, an innovator and an eccentric, who has touched many generations with his songs. By blending rock with many other musical influences, he continues to be a global success, inspiring artists of many generations. For almost fifty years, David Bowie has been one of the best known and most iconic artists in international music. In all, he has sold more than 140 million albums worldwide, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, and is listed as "𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 39 𝑜𝑛 𝑅𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑒'𝑠 𝑇𝑜𝑝 100 "𝐺𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝐴𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝐴𝑙𝑙 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒". (𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘸𝘪𝘬𝘪.𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰)

🔸David Bowie was born in London on 8 January 1947. His father gave him a saxophone when he was 12 years old, and this is how he discovered the music of Little Richard, Jimmy Reed and Chuck Berry. In 1962 he formed his first band, the Kon-Rads. After having formed several bands that never broke through, he took the pseudonym of David Bowie, because of the singer Davy Jones from the band The Monkees.

Photo credot: Greg Gorman

🔸David then met producer Tony Visconti and recorded 𝑆𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑂𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑦 in 1969. It was the artist's first big success, thanks in particular to its broadcast during the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969. David Bowie's career was launched. The following year, David and Tony teamed up with guitarist Mick Ronson to release the album 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑎𝑛 𝑊ℎ𝑜 𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑, which featured David posing in drag on the cover. From the beginning, he provoked the media and continued to invent eccentric characters throughout his career, mixing genres, which earned him the nickname of chameleon, which surprised him. "𝐼'𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑧𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼'𝑚 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑘. 𝐷𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑜𝑛 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠?" (𝘋𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘥 𝘉𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘦 - 𝘌𝘴𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦, 2004)

🔸In 1971, the glam album 𝐻𝑢𝑛𝑘𝑦 𝐷𝑜𝑟𝑦 was released, featuring David with red hair. This was followed by 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑅𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐹𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑍𝑖𝑔𝑔𝑦 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑝𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑠, for which Bowie played the character of Ziggy, a world-famous androgynous rock star who unleashed the crowds at each of his live performances. He took advantage of his success to release 𝐴𝑙𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑛 𝑆𝑎𝑛𝑒 with pianist Mike Garson. This record was also a hit.


🔸Ziggy Stardust is one of the most enduring images of David Bowie. Its story is that of a 'ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑦 𝑎 𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑓𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑢𝑝 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑦𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑒𝑥𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠' (𝘞𝘪𝘬𝘪𝘱𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢). The singer decided to kill his character on 3 July 1973, on stage at Hammersmith Odeon, declaring: "𝑁𝑜𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑢𝑟, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒'𝑙𝑙 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑜."

Photo credit: Paul Bergen Redferns / Getty Images

𝑫𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒅 𝑩𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒁𝒊𝒈𝒈𝒚 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒖𝒔𝒕
🎥 https://bit.ly/31ux3Wd ✨

🔸After the Ziggy Stardust period, David returned to a more classic sound. He decided to produce other artists, such as Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, and Mott The Hoople. He then invented a futuristic universe for his album 𝐷𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝐷𝑜𝑔𝑠 (1974).


🔸In 1977, he left for Berlin to record a trilogy with Brian Eno. 𝐿𝑜𝑤, 𝐻𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑒𝑠 and 𝐿𝑜𝑑𝑔𝑒𝑟reflect his taste for German electronic music, which was opposed to the punk wave vibe of the time. He became the most innovative artist of his time and managed to attract a new audience. In the 80s, David had many hits such as 𝐴𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑠 𝑇𝑜 𝐴𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑠, 𝐿𝑒𝑡'𝑠 𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒, 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑎 𝐺𝑖𝑟𝑙.

𝑨𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝑻𝒐 𝑨𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑺𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑴𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 (𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑺𝒖𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝑪𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒔)
🎥 https://bit.ly/3mkqUne🎵

Photo credit: Claude Gassian

🔸In 1989, he formed a rock band, Tin Machine, which released two albums, without much success.

🔸With several albums released in the 1990s, the songs on 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 (1999) were used in the video game 𝑂𝑚𝑖𝑘𝑟𝑜𝑛: 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑁𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑑 𝑆𝑜𝑢𝑙. He collaborated for a year with the Parisian studio Quantic Dream on the production of the video game between 1998-1999. David Cage, the video game creator seemed overcome by David's kindness, professionalism and cheerfulness.

"𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑙𝑢𝑐𝑘𝑦 𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝐷𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑑 𝐵𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑂𝑚𝑖𝑘𝑟𝑜𝑛. 𝑂𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑎 𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑎𝑚𝑒. 𝑊𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝐿𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝐸𝑖𝑑𝑜𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑎𝑚𝑒'𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑒𝑟. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑡𝑦 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎 ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑓 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠! 𝐴𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑑, ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑎 𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑏𝑢𝑚 𝑑𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑎𝑚𝑒'𝑠 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑒. 𝑉𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑙𝑦, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑎 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑎𝑚𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑠, 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑏𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠! 𝐻𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 "𝑦𝑒𝑠" 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑎 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑡ℎ 𝑖𝑛 𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 '𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠'... 𝑎𝑙𝑏𝑢𝑚, 𝑤𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑤 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑑𝑎𝑦. 𝑊𝑒 𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑚, 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑖𝑛 3𝐷 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒, 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑒𝑐ℎ𝑛𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑜 𝑔𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑠, 𝑤𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑡. 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑠, 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑡𝑦 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐 ℎ𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑒, 𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑒... 𝐷𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑑 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑟𝑜, ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑝𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑠, 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠, 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟, 𝑜𝑓 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑢𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟... 𝐻𝑒'𝑠 𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑡, 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑡, 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑, 𝑎 𝑔𝑢𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒. 𝐼𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑑." (𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘢.𝘧𝘳)

This was followed in 2002 by 𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 and in 2003 by 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦, all three produced by his lifelong friend Tony Visconti.


🔸In 2004, 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦𝑇𝑜𝑢𝑟 ended prematurely due to a stroke. This put a stop to his career. In 2013, he returned to music. David Bowie released a new album entitled 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑁𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝐷𝑎𝑦 on his 66th birthday. He repeated the experience on 8 January 2016, his 69th birthday, with a final studio album: 𝐵𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟. Suffering from cancer for two years, he died two days after the release of his last album, on the 10th January 2016.

Photo credit: Quantum Dream

𝑳𝒂𝒛𝒂𝒓𝒖𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓
🎥 https://bit.ly/3ErEcFx 🎵

𝑨 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝒃𝒚 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔 : 𝑨𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒆 𝑳𝒆𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒙 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑮𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑶𝒍𝒅𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝑫𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒅 𝑩𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝑹𝑰𝑻 𝑨𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔 2016 🎥 https://bit.ly/3okIWqT ⭐💖⭐


🌟 𝗗𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗱 𝗕𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗯𝗼 ~ 'little wonder'

🔸David Bowie's sexuality has been much talked about. He broke taboos. As early as the early 1970s, he explained that he was bisexual, at the same time as he introduced his public to the character of Ziggy Stardust, who never stopped mixing genders and appearing ever more feminine. "𝐼𝑡'𝑠 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑒, 𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝑏𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑥𝑢𝑎𝑙. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛'𝑡 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼'𝑣𝑒 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙. 𝐼 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒". (𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘰𝘺 - 1976).

This quote undeniably makes me think of Placebo. And I can only understand why he was dazzled by Brian's talent through the lyrics of 𝘕𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘉𝘰𝘺 and the music that went against the grain of what was fashionable in those years.


🔸David Bowie once said: "𝐼𝑓 𝐼 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑡, 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑡. 𝐼 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝐿𝑜𝑢 𝑅𝑒𝑒𝑑, 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝐼𝑔𝑔𝑦 𝑃𝑜𝑝. 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑, 𝑎𝑠 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒, 𝐼 𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑎𝑑𝑣𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚." (𝘓𝘦𝘴 𝘐𝘯𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘴, 1993)

Later on, he could have added Placebo to his list! 😊

Photo credit unknown

“𝐷𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑑 𝐵𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑢𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑙, 𝐵𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ ℎ𝑖𝑚. 𝐴𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑔𝑢𝑦𝑠. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑝𝑜𝑜𝑟, 𝑠𝑜 𝑝𝑜𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑝𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑦 𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑑𝑎𝑦. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒, “𝐻𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑜, 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑜 𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝐷𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑑 𝐵𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑒?” (𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘔𝘰𝘭𝘬𝘰 - 𝘑𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 2010)

These two quotes side by side complement each other, don't you think so? It is undeniable that they 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 meet and work together 🎶 🔥


🔸The members of Placebo have consistently praised David throughout their career, even calling him a mentor. “𝐼’𝑣𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐷𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑑 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒 𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑥 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑟𝑏𝑖𝑡. 𝐻𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑦 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑦 𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑜𝑟. 𝐻𝑒 𝑔𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑒 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑑𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑒. (...) 𝐻𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑜𝑟.” (𝘕𝘔𝘌 - 𝘖𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘣𝘦𝘳 5𝘵𝘩, 2017)


🔸Who better than a member of Placebo to talk about David Bowie with the right words, full of love and respect? When David passed away in 2016, Stefan and Brian both shared a touching tribute.

Photo credit unknown

⭐ 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐚𝐧
📖 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝑫𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒅 𝑩𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒆𝒂𝒓

I feel like I've lost a loved one. He was a great artist and offered a place for our young band. He gave of his time. He gave it to each of us individually. David Bowie was one of those people who cared deeply for others, who took the time to listen to them. For all these reasons, I am terribly sad. One particular anecdote comes to mind. David Bowie was a seducer. When he spoke to you, he had a piercing look in his eyes, he flirted with his interlocutors...

The relationship between Bowie and Placebo started in 1996, before the release of our first album. He was on tour in Italy and had just heard one of our demos. He had never heard us before, nor played on stage. Despite this, he asked us to open for him. At the time we were playing to audiences of 300 people. The day we joined David Bowie in Italy, we found ourselves in front of 7000 people. It was a shock. We had to learn very quickly to perform in front of an audience of that size.

It was scary. I was twenty years old at the time. We had one more beer before we went on stage. David came to reassure us. When you start a career as an artist, you are convinced that your art is not worth much, David gave us confidence. He made it possible for us to feel capable of producing beautiful things. That day he told us a sentence that I will never forget: "Never be lazy, as an artist go beyond yourself, all the time, don't be afraid to confront yourself".

We regularly had dinner together, and we also spent a lot of time in the backstage area when he asked us to open for him. And then, twice, we went on stage with him. At that moment, we were above the clouds, lulled by adrenaline, as powerful as a drug. We felt that something crazy was happening, something magical. You were standing on the same stage as a magician, an exceptional artist, an extraordinary human being.

I have many memories with David Bowie. Like the one where when the album Without you I'm nothing was released, he called us and said, "I want to sing a song from this album. I have to do it."

We said "ok of course" and proposed to turn it into a duet between Brian Molko and David Bowie.

I am very sad, I was closer to him than some of my family members. It's a terrible day. I feel like I've lost a loved one. He was a great artist and offered a place to our young group. He gave of his time. He gave to each of us individually. David Bowie was one of those people who cared deeply for others, who took the time to listen to them. For all these reasons, I am terribly sad.

One particular anecdote comes to mind. David Bowie was a seducer. When he spoke to you, he had a piercing look in his eyes, he flirted with his interlocutors. The day we got together to hear him record a song from our album Without you I'm nothing, no one knew what song he had chosen and, more importantly, no one had rehearsed with him. I was a little freaked out. I was thinking "damn, I hope he's good, because if the song sucks, we can never tell him."

We were in the studio and Bowie told us he was going to sing the eponymous song from the album. He started whispering the harmony in my ear. My feet went off the floor. I knew he was going to blow it up.

Something broke inside me on that Monday, January 11. Six months ago, I was talking to Brian about the avant-garde jazz he was giving to his latest album Blackstar. We said to each other that at almost 70 years old, this man was still doing new and surprising things. Right up to the end of his life, he had this requirement not to be guided by a road already mapped out, not to follow trends, but to constantly question what he was capable of creating.

He loved to tell stories, he had tons of them. His story is not finished. 📕
(𝘩𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵.𝘧𝘳)

Photo credit unknown

⭐ 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧
📖 “Dearest David

Wherever you are now, I miss you. Not only do I miss you but my heart is broken. You were my idol, then you became my mentor and my friend. I learnt so much from you, just by being in your presence, the conversations we had and, of course, watching you perform. You always had time for me. My band and I were tiny when we first met. Nonetheless , you took us under your wing. You believed in us and gifted us with so many fantastic opportunities. Without you, your tutelage and your wisdom, I don’t think I would be where I am today, as an artist but also as a person. For that I will be eternally grateful.

Float around the ether, David. Bounce gracefully off planets light-years away as you become one with the Universe, as you dive into the Great Unknown.

My sincere and heartfelt condolences to Iman, Lexi and Duncan, whose hearts I know are far more broken than mine. As for me, I will treasure every memory of every moment we spent together.

Dear David, beautiful man and force of nature, you are immortal. You live beyond the veil of the big sleep. Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo.

Namaste"

Brian Molko 📕

(𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘣𝘰𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 - 𝘑𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘺 11, 2016)

Screenshot from Blackstar

🌟 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗯𝗼 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗱 𝗕𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗲 ~ 'heroes'

🔸 𝑊𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝐼'𝑚 𝑁𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔

David was captivated by Without You I'm Nothing so that he asked the band if they wanted to record the song with him.

𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝑫𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒅.
🎥 https://bit.ly/3yKHpy1
⭐Quite funny actually 😊

𝑳𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝑰𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒛𝒂 𝒐𝒏 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉 29, 1999
🎥 https://bit.ly/3mqWyiX 🎵

𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑫𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝑰'𝒎 𝑵𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒕 𝑰𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒛𝒂 𝒐𝒏 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉 29, 1999
🎥 https://bit.ly/3EhAxt7 🎵

The last video, filmed by Stefan, was kindly shared by Placebo as a tribute to David when he passed away. Respect, complicity and passion for music are all that shine through in this clip.


🔸 20𝑡ℎ 𝐶𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑦 𝐵𝑜𝑦

At the Brits Awards on February 16, 1999, Placebo, who were nominated for the British Video of the Year with 𝑃𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑀𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔, performed 20𝑡ℎ 𝐶𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑦 𝐵𝑜𝑦 with David. Originally a song by T.Rex, a great friend of David's during the glam era, this performance establishes David as the bridge between a bygone era and the new musical era that is coming.

20𝒕𝒉 𝑪𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒚 𝑩𝒐𝒚 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒕 𝑨𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔 1999
🎥 https://bit.ly/3sjK6W6 🎵

Credit: thesource.com

✨ I'll end this sad anniversary with these words: David, you are no longer physically part of this world, but your sublime art, your enchanting and exceptional spirit will live on beyond the stars and will defy time. The legacy you leave us, whether to music lovers or to musicians themselves, is an immeasurable gift.

𝑾𝑬 𝑳𝑶𝑽𝑬 𝒀𝑶𝑼 𝑫𝑨𝑽𝑰𝑫, 𝑭𝑶𝑹𝑬𝑽𝑬𝑹 𝑨𝑵𝑫 𝑬𝑽𝑬𝑹. ♾️ ✨ 💕

🔸I'd like to share one of my favorite song from this genius mind and a song I still have some difficulties to listen to...

𝑴𝒂𝒋𝒐𝒓 𝑻𝒐𝒎
🎥 https://bit.ly/3qjdSYr 🎵

𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓
🎥 https://bit.ly/3Fi0BFz 🎵


Photo credits pic 1: Photofest,BBC Alamy Picture Press, Frank Ockenfels III, Jimmy King, Masayoshi Sukita, edit by Laetitia

Post by Laetitia
Edit and translation by Laetitia

🌟𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐁𝐎 & 𝐃𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐃 𝐁𝐎𝐖𝐈𝐄 𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐓 𝐀𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐒 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟗🌟

The 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄 I’m going to share with you today was publishes 20 years later after the legendary performance. The 1999 Brit Awards were the 19th edition of the biggest annual pop music awards in the United Kingdom and took place on 𝐅𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟏𝟔𝐭𝐡 at the 𝑳𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒏 𝑨𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒂.
On that day, David Bowie joined Placebo on stage to perform 20th Century Boy with them.

The Brit Awards 1999. Photo credit unknown

𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 - 𝟐𝟎𝐭𝐡 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐲 𝐁𝐨𝐲 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐭. 𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐁𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐞, 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟗
 https://bit.ly/3i8R8r5

📍Placebo recorded their version of the song in 1998 specifically for the movie 𝑽𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒕 𝑮𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆 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

📍As 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.

📢 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧: "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."
(𝐷𝑁 𝑀𝑎𝑖𝑠, 𝑂𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑏𝑒𝑟 14𝑡ℎ 2000)

🌟𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐁𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜 𝐁𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐧’𝐬 ’𝟐𝟎𝐭𝐡 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐲 𝐁𝐨𝐲’ 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐒, 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟗🌟
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’.

Photo credit: Steve Finn 

In particular, Molko was very close to Bowie with the latter providing Molko with advice throughout his career. He recently opened up [...] about his presence: “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.”
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.
(𝐹𝑎𝑟 𝑂𝑢𝑡 𝑀𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑒, 𝐴𝑢𝑔𝑢𝑠𝑡 13, 2019)

🌟𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐎🌟
20th Century Boy is a song by an English rock band 𝐓. 𝐑𝐞𝐱, written by 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒄 𝑩𝒐𝒍𝒂𝒏.
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

🔸BIRTHDAY: MARC BOLAN (20TH CENTURY BOY)🔸

Photo credit: Marc Bolan - unknown; Brian Molko - screenshot from Velvet Goldmine / edit by Olga

𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐁𝐎𝐋𝐀𝐍, an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and poet, was born on this day, on 𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟑𝟎𝐭𝐡, 𝟏𝟗𝟒𝟕, and would have turned 𝟕𝟒 today

He is known as one of the pioneers of the glam rock movement of the early 1970s with his band 𝐓. 𝐑𝐞𝐱. Particularly, we know the frizzy-haired musician as a songwriter of 𝟐𝟎𝐓𝐇 𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐘 𝐁𝐎𝐘.

In 1998, Placebo recorded their version of the song for the movie 𝑽𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒕 𝑮𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆 where Brian and other band members appeared as actors in small roles. Actually, Marc Bolan was a prototype for Brian Molko’s character in the film, 𝑴𝒂𝒍𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒎 of 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬.
Placebo created “one of the best and most glittery musical performances in the film – the fictional band The Flaming Creatures’ biting, almost gothic rendition of T. Rex’s 20th Century Boy.”
(𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑇𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑁𝑒𝑤𝑠, 𝐴𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑙 2007)

🎥 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 - 𝟐𝟎𝐭𝐡 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐲 𝐁𝐨𝐲 (𝐕𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐭 𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞)
https://bit.ly/3hkM8we

Also in 1998, the song was officially released as B-side on one of the CDs of 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐔𝐬 single.

In 1999, Placebo performed the song live together with 𝑫𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒅 𝑩𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒆 at the 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 at the London Arena (later, it was played on stage only twice).
🎥 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭. 𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐁𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐞 - 𝟐𝟎𝐭𝐡 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐲 𝐁𝐨𝐲, 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟗
https://bit.ly/3eK588H

Screenshot: Placebo and David Bowie Brit Awards 1999

🎥 𝐓.𝐑𝐞𝐱 - 𝟐𝟎𝐭𝐡 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐲 𝐁𝐨𝐲
https://bit.ly/3kJhaCZ

In the late 1960s, 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐁𝐎𝐋𝐀𝐍 had risen to fame as the founder and leader of the psychedelic folk band 𝐓𝐲𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐮𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐱 with whom he released four critically acclaimed albums. Bolan's March 1971 appearance on the BBC's music show Top of the Pops, wearing glitter on the face, is cited as 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒎 𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒌 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕.
T. Rex's 1971 album Electric Warrior, with all songs written by Bolan, has been described as "the album that essentially kick-started the UK glam rock craze."
Bolan died on 𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟔𝐭𝐡, 𝟏𝟗𝟕𝟕, at the age of 29 in a car crash two weeks before his 30th birthday. It happened when a car driven by his girlfriend, singer Gloria Jones, struck a tree in southwest London.

In 1977, a memorial stone and bust of Bolan, Marc Bolan's Rock Shrine, was unveiled at the site where he died. His musical influence as guitarist and songwriter was profound; he inspired many later acts over the following decades. As a member of T. Rex, Bolan was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020.

⭐𝟔 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐁𝐋𝐘 𝐃𝐈𝐃𝐍'𝐓 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐁𝐎𝐋𝐀𝐍⭐
(based on a film Marc Bolan: Cosmic Dancer by BBC Four, featuring interviews with those who knew him best - his partner Gloria Jones, producer Tony Visconti and manager Simon Napier-Bell)

𝟏. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬
Marc Bolan, born Mark Feld in Hackney, London, always knew he was going to be a pop star, even when he was kid. He was fascinated by early rock'n'roll stars like Eddie Cochran, Little Richard and Elvis and says in the film, "I always knew I was different - right from the start, right from the moment I was born. When I was younger, I certainly thought I was a kind of superior being." Later, like Bowie, he became a master of reinvention - he was first a mod, then a hippyish singer-songwriter, before coming into full bloom as a glittering glam rock superstar. […]

𝟐. 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐮 𝐁𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐥, 𝐚 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲-𝐞𝐫𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐲
Aside from his fascination with early rock'n'roll, Marc looked to books - particularly The Lord of the Rings - for inspiration, and also intriguing figures from British history. One man he became obsessed with was Beau Brummell (1788-1840), a fashion icon from Regency England who is credited with establishing the modern men's suit, worn with a necktie, as a means of standard, formal dress. "Ninety-five per cent of my success is the way I look - look and presence is what people pick up on," he says in the film. […]

𝟑. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐁𝐂
[…] In 1967, [the first band Bolan joined, John's Children] released a single Desdemona, which contained the lyric, "Lift up your skirt and fly" - about a witch, Marc claimed, but the line aroused suspicions. The BBC banned the song, and the name of their only album, Orgasm, caused issues in the US, too. […]

Screenshot of the Placebo video, cover of the T. Rex record / edit by Silke

𝟒. 𝐓. 𝐑𝐞𝐱 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐆𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐲
Tyrannosaurus Rex (later shortened to T. Rex), were the headliners of the first-ever Glastonbury festival. […] Back then, Glastonbury wasn't the huge media event it is now, but it was still a great booking for the band and it secured them a place in British music history.

𝟓. 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐏𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 "𝐚 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐤𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐯𝐞"
John Peel was a huge supporter of T. Rex in their early days, and calling Marc "a flower child with a knife up his sleeve" was an observation rather than an insult. He, like many others, noticed that Bolan was fiercely ambitious. […] Tyrannosaurus Rex became T. Rex, Marc dabbed some glitter on his face, and there began an extraordinary run of impeccable glam rock singles, including Ride a White Swan (their breakthrough hit in 1970) and, all in 1971, Hot Love, Get It On and Jeepster.

𝟔. 𝐇𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡
Marc feared a premature death - hence he never learned to drive - and he also believed he would die young, once saying: "The thing about success, certainly in the rock'n'roll business, is that it gives you an incredible amount, but what it takes away is irreplaceable and sometimes I get a funny feeling that I shan't be here very long. And I'm not talking in terms of things like success. It frightens me sometimes."
If that wasn't freakish enough, in the film Simon Napier-Bell says the following: "Chet Baker was a hero of his, and James Dean. And I said, 'Well, be careful having James Dean as a hero, because you might end up dying in a Porsche. And he said, 'Oh, I'm just tiny, I'd like to die in a Mini.'"
It was in a Mini that he died, on that tragic night in September 1977.
(𝐵𝐵𝐶,15𝑡ℎ 𝑆𝑒𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 2017)

Post by Olga