wrapped in lust and lunacy:  my adoration for  brian molko.

not "just another nancyboy"

Nineteen seventy-two:  The same year that brought us the glam, androgynous wonder of the Ziggy Stardust era also had another very glam (And androgynous) beginning:  the birth of Placebo frontman, Brian Molko. Coincidence? Perhaps.

Born to Scottish and American parents living in Belgium, his childhood was full of geographic change. His father a conservative international banker ever on the quest for riches, Brian was dragged everywhere from Lebanon to Liberia to Luxembourg.  At his American school in Luxembourg, he was the outcast, preferring drama to sports.  At age seventeen he'd had enough and moved to London, where he studied drama at Goldsmiths.  His parents, the born-again Christian traditionalists, made every effort to form Brian into the conservative ideal and hoped he would drop the theatrics and become a banker. (His brother Bobby, ten years his senior, did in fact follow his father's footsteps in the banking industry and actually handles Brian's finances to this day.) However, he took on everything they hoped he wouldn't :  the makeup wearing, drug-using, guitar-playing, pop star archetype type that you most likely associate with him.

All that glitters wasn't always gold, naturally. Brian spent his college days  quite "bisexually frustrated" as he so aptly put it; eventually he was another lonely boy with his guitar, on the dole.  He formed Placebo in 1995 with Stefan Olsdal (whom he knew from school) and Steve Hewitt (whom he knew from a mutual friend and met at a Burger King). While Hewitt was to leave the band because of other musical conflicts and was temporarily replaced by Robert Schultzberg, for the second album and long run, Steve is with the boys once more. 

But glory soon came to this band named for "a drug that doesn't work, one that you only think makes you feel better" -- and success wasn't only in their heads. A contract was signed with Hut Records in 1995 (in that time they also formed their own label, Elevator Music) and by 1996 David Bowie became both a fan and a friend to Molko & Co.  Supporting Bowie on the European leg of his 1996 tour and releasing their self-titled debut album, they were on their way. As Alternative Press commented, most couldn't tell if Brian was a boy or a girl -- but they knew they liked him.  1997 saw "Nancy Boy" rise to #4 on the UK charts, a performance at Bowie's 50th birthday party, and support for U2 on their Popmart tour.  Also, the boys shone on the silver screen playing the band "Flaming Creatures" (pun intended?) in Velvet Goldmine, a film paying homage to -- what else -- glam rock; additionally, they covered T-Rex's classic 20th Century Boy for the film.

Calming down from the drugs, sex, and rock-n-roll angst of their first album, Placebo released their second album -- their Virgin debut -- Without You I'm Nothing.  "Pure Morning" rose to #4 on the UK charts and got steady airplay here in the US as well.  In March of 1999, I saw Placebo live at a club venue in Orlando, FL when they were supporting Stabbing Westward -- and I've been in love ever since.  Despite the crowd around me and the silliness of the matter, it was an intimate experience and helped me find a wonderful passion.  The year also saw the duet of David Bowie and Brian singing the album's title track, released as a four-track EP featuring remixes by UNKLE and others.  A French version of Burger Queen was also released, much to the joy of Placebo's wide French fan base and Brian  - who's got quite the fancy for singing in French.

Now that we look to these twenty-first century boys for more, our appetites shan't go unsatisfied:  the third album is expected to be released by this summer and the band will be playing two confirmed festival dates, 26 Aug (Leeds) and Sun 27 Aug (Reading).

In the meantime, please visit the following links for audio samples, graphic libraries, band information, and much more:

++ the brick shithouse ++

++ placebo official site ++

++ tidbits of interest ++

likes:   smoking (marlboro lights, just like bowie);  cosmetics (lipstick, eye makeup, dark nailpolish-- "fingers look so much nicer along a fretboard with nails done");  women's clothes (a more fun, flattering fit);  drinking bloody maries; stealing CDs.

   dislikes:  his belly; his egomaniacal tendencies; shaving; his chest; his thoughtlessness.

sexually: identifies as bisexual; lost his virginity to a girl (carole, aged 16) when he was fourteen and had his first homosexual experience at age sixteen.

pleasures of the past: drugs, orgies, one-night-stands.

favourite fantasy: involves "multiple people of both sexes, all of them famous -- a mass orgy."

claims: to have learned "the spine-tingling triptych of sex and drugs and rock 'n roll" in Britain.

was naked: for the recording of "Bruise Pristine."

cried: when actress Lisa Walker dumped him and on the sets of the "36 Degrees" and "You Don't Care About Us" videos (from the freezing water).

Born 10 December 1972 to Scottish and American parents in Belgium; lived in Liberia, Lebanon, and Luxembourg before finally settling in London at age seventeen.

on his fans:

"I've always known that our band would be a weirdo magnet. There's something  just... just... twisted about Placebo."

on his role:

"I'd like to be more of a bad influence than a role model. I'm getting a lot of boys into wearing eyeliner again, which is good."

on his parents' idea of Placebo:

"My mother is a Christian and my father is a banker...You couldn't really get a son which is more different than that. I'm everything that they didn't want me to be -- a boy that wears makeup and plays guitar. And they still have a very clichéd idea of what rock and roll represents -- it's all about butt-fucking and heroin, you know what I mean?"

on the band's intentions:

"We just want you to look at yourself and be scared at what you find."

on public perceptions:

"I'm more interested in coming across as intelligent than as a larger-than-life personality."

on being voted least sexy man:

"It's love or hate. Indifference has no place with Placebo. I like the fact that people think I'm either drop dead gorgeous or fucking ugly."

on image:

"I was constantly being mistaken for a girl. I thought that was quite interesting, so I decided to play around with it because people were so easily confused. Even when I hadn't shaved. I thought that I would turn the confusion button up a little bit and see what happens."

on bad behaviour:

"We left a trail of blood and spunk all over the country."

who's the nancy boy:

"It's me and the crazy situations I get myself into."

more naughtiness:

"For someone this small, my mouth is way too big."

if born a girl:

"It would have been fun to be a real rock chick superwench, and use my sexual powers to destroy men. Hopefully, I'd be a maneater."

famous last words:

"I used to be quite a nice person before rock-n-roll eroded it."

Considers himself a "bad American" on the basis of never living Stateside but is British in spirit anyhow.

In his school days he was the unpopular drama boy, preferring theatre to sports.