base talk Jobriath appreciation thread

[JoeAg]

in honor of pride month, i wanted to make a thread for appreciating the criminally underrated gay glam rock pioneer Jobriath  

 

born child prodigy Bruce Wayne Campbell in small town Pennsylvania, Jobriath was a multi-talented musician and actor who initially rose to stardom playing the—cute queer hippie—character Woof in the original West Coast cast of the polarizing 1967 musical Hair!

 

 

in December 1972, one of Jobriath’s demos was heard by Carly Simon’s former manager Jerry Brandt. while he was working as a prostitute, he was signed by Brandt for a two album record deal. the hype was REAL at this point, as Jobriath was quickly being marketed as essentially the American David Bowie! publications such as Vogue and Rolling Stone soon began promoting him. he was also featured on a bus advertisement, which i think is dope

 

 

Jobriath’s most enduring and popular hit is the elegant and epic baroque pop-glam anthem “I’m a Man,” which expands upon the concept of a man loving a man the way society expects a man to love a woman. in my opinion, this absolute banger is the precursor of songs such as “Queen” by Perfume Genius and “1950” by King Princess. here’s an iconic performance of the song:

 

unfortunately, the homophobia was real and everpresent. though Jobriath was promoted as the American answer to David Bowie, his songs seemed to have been too queer to fully permeate the mainstream. here are some gems of his which i’m currently listening to:

 

ever the musical chameleon, he later adopted the handsome, classy pianist persona Cole Berlin. at this point in his life, he was unfortunately fading into obscurity and poverty, and he spent the rest of his life living at the Chelsea Hotel, working as a cabaret performer, and returning to prostitution for income as well

 

this beautiful, talented man tragically passed away from AIDS-related causes in 1983. this happened one week after his original music contract has run its course. but his legacy and influence lives on in modern queer artists such as Perfume Genius, Troye Sivan, Kevin Abstract, Declan McKenna, Adam Lambert, and King Princess (whether they directly realize it or not tbh!)

 

so i just wanted to shine some light on this underappreciated but important figure in both music history and gay culture! we should honor the legacies of our queer forebears. happy pride y’all 

 

[JoeAg]

bringing this thread back for pride month because I love him SO much