New York, NY (Top40 Charts) JOBRIATH was...
"The American
David Bowie"
"Hype Of The Year"
"The True Fairy Of Rock And Roll"
Jobriath A.D. on DVD with an LP of NEVER BEFORE RELEASED music from Jobriath's lost musical, "
Popstar" April 21st via Factory 25
"Neither for the ears of the elderly nor for those with middle-aged perspectives, Jobriath voiced the excess destitution of New York's most tormentedly aware, whose lives were favoured by darkness. Cinematic themes of desperate dramas in paranoid shadows were presented as choppy and carnivalesque melodies...Neither
America nor England was quite ready. " - Morrissey
Factory 25 announces the release of director Kieran Turner's music documentary Jobriath A.D.
about seventies glam rock musician Jobriath, also known as "The American Bowie," "The True Fairy of Rock & Roll," and "Hype of the Year." The film, on DVD, will be packaged with an LP of unreleased music from Jobriath's lost musical, "
Popstar".
The first openly gay rock star, Jobriath's reign was brief, lasting less than two years and two albums. Done in by a over-hyped publicity machine, shunned by the gay community, and dismissed by critics as all flash and no substance, Jobriath was excommunicated from the music business. He retreated to the Chelsea Hotel where he died, forgotten, in 1983 at the age of 37, as one of the earliest casualties of AIDS.
In the years since his death, new generations of fans have discovered his music through acts as diverse as Morrissey, Def Leppard, The Pet Shop Boys, and Gary Numan, all of whom have cited Jobriath as an influence. Through interviews, archival material, and animation, audiences can experience the heartbreaking and unbelievable story of the one, the only, Jobriath.
The film features narrator Henry Rollins (Black Flag) and interviews with Jobriath influenced artists: Marc Almond, Joey Arias, Jayne County, Joe Elliott of Def Leppard, Stephin Merritt of Magnetic Fields, Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters, Will Sheff of Okkervil River, and Justin Tranter of Semi Precious Weapons.
JOBRIATH A.D.: WRITEN & DIRECTED BY KIERAN TURNER; PRODUCED BY KIERAN TURNER; EDITED BY DANNY BRESNIK; CINEMATOGRAPHY BY MICHAEL CANZONIERO AND PJ GAYNARD; SOUND BY RACHEL CHANCEY, MUSIC BY IAN MOORE AND JASON STACZEK; NARRATED BY HENRY ROLLINS
