Jobriath (born Bruce Wayne Campbell on December 14, 1946 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, died August 3, 1983), was an American folk and glam rock musician and actor.[1]Contents [hide] 1 History 1.1 The Beginning: Hair, Pidgeon and Jobriath Salisbury 1.2 The Middle: Jerry Brandt, the hype and Jobriath Boone 1.3 The End: Cole Berlin, schizophrenia and The Chelsea Hotel 2 Legacy 3 Discography 3.1 Studio albums 3.2 Compilations 3.3 Singles 4 References 5 External links
[edit] History [edit] The Beginning: Hair, Pidgeon and Jobriath Salisbury
A native of King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, he showed exceptional talent for playing the piano and was once introduced to Eugene Ormandy as a child prodigy[citation needed]. Conscripted to the military in the mid 1960's, he went AWOL within months. Renaming himself Jobriath Salisbury, he relocated to Los Angeles. When he arrived to play piano for a friend's audition for the musical, "Hair", he also secured the role of 'Woof', an implicitly gay teenager.[2] He appeared in the West Coast production, at the Aquarius Theater, on Sunset Boulevard. He left the production in 1969 to form the folk-rock band Pidgeon, which was signed to Decca Records. They released one single, "Rubber Bricks", as well as a self-titled album, before disbanding.[3] Both were produced by Stan Farber, who later produced Pink Floyd's The Wall. At this time he was traced by the military police and arrested, spending nearly six months in a military psychiatric hospital after suffering a breakdown.[2] During this period he began writing the songs that would result in his next musical incarnation. [edit] The Middle: Jerry Brandt, the hype and Jobriath Boone
In mid-December 1972, Jerry Brandt, Carly Simon's former manager, overheard a demo tape being played by Clive Davis at CBS Records. Davis rejected the tape as "mad, unstructured and destructive to melody", but Brandt was quick to step in. Jobriath later remarked "that coming from a man who discovered both Patti Smith and Barry Manilow...so much for sanity and structure!".[4] Brandt located Jobriath in California, where he was living in an unfurnished apartment and working as a prostitute. Brandt became smitten with Jobriath, not only as an artist but romantically, and made no secret of it. Brandt: "In walked this beautiful creature dressed in white. I said, Why don't you come out to Malibu and hang out? And that's where we fell in love, because he showed me some tricks I didn't know."[5] This became a feature of the mythology used to promote Jobriath, and helps to explain the acrimony that followed the dissolution of their professional and personal relationship.
Newly named Jobriath Boone, Brandt signed Jobriath to Elektra Records for a reported $500,000; allegedly the most lucrative recording contract of its time.[6] The label's president, Jac Holzman, later remarked "I only made two mistakes when I was at Elektra and one of them was Jobriath. It was just so over the top and crazy."[7] A huge marketing campaign and media blitz ensued, including full-page advertisements in Vogue, Penthouse and Rolling Stone magazines, full-length posters on over 250 New York City buses and a huge, 41’ by 43’ billboard in Times Square. All featured the forthcoming debut album sleeve design by noted photographer Shig Ikeda, which featured a nude Jobriath, made to resemble an ancient Roman statue.[8] Plans were announced for a lavish three night live debut at the Paris Opera that December, at a cost of $200,000 and a subsequent tour of European opera houses. Jobriath informed the press that the show would feature him dressed as "King Kong being projected upwards on a mini Empire State Building. This will turn into a giant spurting penis and I will have transformed into Marlene Dietrich."[9] Elektra, concerned about spiraling production costs, postponed the Paris Opera shows until February, later canceling them due to expense.
Amidst this barrage of promotion, the debut album Jobriath was released, garnering mostly positive reviews. Rolling Stone stated that Jobriath had "talent to burn", Cashbox called it "truly one of the most interesting albums of the year" and Record World hailed it as "brilliantly incisive", referring to Jobriath as "a true Renaissance man who will gain a tremendous following". Esquire disagreed, calling it "the hype of the year". The album was co-produced by Eddie Kramer and Jobriath, featuring string arrangements by Jobriath, recorded at Olympic Studios with the London Symphony Orchestra[10]. Kramer described Jobriath in Mojo as "a romantic soul, really. He wanted orchestrations like old film music, though he knew nothing about scoring. So he bought a book on orchestration and within a week he'd come up with scores of a haunting quality". Peter Frampton is also credited on the album, though his contribution is unclear.[11]
During this period, Brandt continued making extravagant statements such as "Elvis, the Beatles and Jobriath" and declaring that both he and Jobriath had booked flights on Pan American's first passenger flight to the moon. Meanwhile, Jobriath declared himself "rock's truest fairy", a comment that did little to increase his popularity at the time but has since confirmed his status as the first openly gay rock singer to be signed to a major record label.[12][13]
Jobriath's debut public performance was made on television, when Brandt secured him an appearance on the popular show The Midnight Special. The costumes were designed by Jobriath and the choreography was by Joyce Trisler, of the Joffrey Ballet[14]. Two songs were performed, "I'maman" and "Rock of Ages", the latter substituting for "Take Me I'm Yours" which was pulled after the producer objected to its overtly sado-masochistic theme.[citation needed] The long awaited live performance finally came in the summer of 1974 with two sold-out shows at New York's Bottom Line club.[2] Sales for the album however, were poor and it failed to secure a chart placing.
Six months after the release of the debut album, Creatures of the Street was released, again featuring Peter Frampton, as well as John Paul Jones, of Led Zeppelin.[15] The costumes were by Stephen Sprouse. Compiled from the extensive sessions for its predecessor, it was launched without any fanfare or media promotion and failed commercially. A US tour followed, during which recordings took place at local studios for a projected third album. Both Brandt and Elektra abandoned Jobriath midway, but despite this the band completed the tour, continuing to bill Elektra for expenses. A final show, at the University of Alabama, ended in five encores and the fire brigade being summoned, due to the excited audience setting off the alarm.[16] [edit] The End: Cole Berlin, schizophrenia and The Chelsea Hotel
In January 1975 Jobriath announced his retirement from the music industry to a disinterested press and moved into a pyramid topped rooftop apartment at the famous Chelsea Hotel in New York City. He attempted to resume his acting career and auditioned for the role of Al Pacino's lover in the film Dog Day Afternoon without success.[17] Calling himself 'Cole Berlin' (a play on both Cole Porter and Irving Berlin), he worked as a cabaret singer[18] at a restaurant called The Covent Gardens, as well as clubs and cabarets, augmenting his income with occasional prostitution.[2]
In a rare magazine article for Omega One during the late 1970s, he stated "Jobriath committed suicide in a drug, alcohol and publicity overdose". He went on to explain that "Schizophrenia is my lifestyle. I think everyone is schizophrenic. I, or should I say we, are not fighting it. Come over and I'll ask some of us out to play." Upon their arrival, he greeted them as Cole Berlin and went on to introduce both Joby Johnson and Mr. Broadway. Only with reluctance would he talk about Jobriath: "Mister 'P.T. Barnum' Brandt was so busy getting his name on posters and buses, he neglected to get me on tour or my album played". It was to Mr. Broadway that he credited the ongoing writing of a musical, entitled Popstar. "It's about a pop star and about hype. It's about America." [19]
By the time his 10 year contract with Brandt was finally up, Jobriath was sick with AIDS. He began to feel ill in late 1981 but still managed to contribute to the Chelsea Hotel's 100th birthday celebrations in November 1982. On August 3, 1983, one week after the end of his original 10 year contract with Jerry Brandt expired, Jobriath died, becoming one of the first musical casualties of the disease. It was nearly a week before his body was discovered.[citation needed] [edit] Legacy
In November 2004, long-time fan Morrissey oversaw Jobriath's first CD re-issue, a compilation called "Lonely Planet Boy".[20]
Both Jobriath's original studio albums were officially reissued on CD in Japan in late 2007 being remastered and issued in mini-vinyl replica sleeves. They were released in the U.S. in standard jewel-box packaging in 2008 by Collectors' Choice Music.[21]
The group 'Balcony' released a semi-tribute track entitled "Jobriath" as a free MP3 anonymously on the internet in 2000[22] that was later included on their second album Before Needs.[23] Jobriath has also been referenced by the indie-folk band Okkervil River on the final song of their 2008 album The Stand Ins, entitled "Bruce Wayne Campbell Interviewed on the Roof of the Chelsea Hotel, 1979".[24] Def Leppard released a cover of “Heartbeat” on some versions of their 2006 album Yeah!.[25]
"Morning Starship" was sampled by hip-hop artist Ill Bill on the title track to his 2007 mixtape album "Black Metal".[26]
Filmmaker Kieran Turner (24 Nights) is currently shooting a feature documentary about the late singer called "Jobriath A.D."[27][28][29]
Jobriath was listed at #1 on the Something Awful list of "The Worst Rock Stars Ever".[30] [edit] Discography [edit] Studio albums 1969 Pidgeon - Decca (DL 75103 WLP) [31] 1973 Jobriath - Elektra (EKS-75070) [32] 1974 Creatures of the Street - Elektra (7E-1010) [33] [edit] Compilations 2004 - Lonely Planet Boy - Attack / Sanctuary (ATKCD010) [34] [edit] Singles 1969 Rubber Bricks / Prison Walls (with Pidgeon) - Decca (832545) 1974 Take Me I'm Yours / Earthling - Elektra (EK-45878) 1974 I'maman / Rock Of Ages - Elektra (EK-45888) / Barclay (620 062) [35] 1974 Llévame, Soy Toyo (Take Me I'm Yours) / Rock De Las Edades (Rock Of Ages) - Elektra (45 1046) (Spain) 1974 Liten Up / Ooh La La - Elektra (E-45210) [36] 1974 Street Corner Love / Rock Of Ages - Elektra (EK-12146) [37] 1974 Ooh La La / Gone Tomorrow - Elektra (K-12156) 2004 I Love a Good Fight + Scumbag - Attack / Sanctuary (ATKXS012)
