45 RPMs 62: Michael Damian ~ Rock On with 12"

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Michael Damian ~ Rock On 

12" 45 rpm record, front cover

cover photographer unknown 

photo of album cover by Styrous®
 

 

Today is the birthday of rocker, Michael Damian, born on April 26, 1962, in Bonsall, California. Damian did a FANTASTIC cover of one of my all-time favorite songs, Rock On by David Essex.     

 

I have always loved covers of songs when they are done with thought and care, however, the original version is the one I always love the best. I guess it's a case of "First Love". But in this situation I actually love Damian's better! That's saying a whole lot! His bass guitar reverberating in the opening drives me wild then there's the subtle Reggae beat that emerges at times. WOW!          

  

 

Michael Damian ~ Rock On 

12" 45 rpm record, back cover

cover photographer unknown 

photo of album cover by Styrous®

     

 

Rock On is a tribute to the early days of rock 'n' roll, with mentions of the 1956 Carl Perkins classic Blue Suede Shoes (which I love much better than Presley's) and the 1958 Eddie Cochran hit Summertime Blues. Twenty years later Cochran would be mentioned again in the New Wave song, Thank You by Chrisma.    

 

Rock On was originally meant to be the "B" side but in an interview to Circus he stated:  

"I said 'No!' I've had three years of people telling me what I should do.' But when 'Rock On' came out I was actually surprised it did so well. It was very sweet success because it was exactly what I wanted - the song, the production, the attitude - it's one of my favorite records, no matter whether I recorded it."               

I have loved covers of songs when they are done with care, however, the original version is the one I always love the best; a "First Love" syndrome. In this case, I love the cover better! That's saying a lot about this song!    

 

There have been many other covers of the Essex song, The Dave Howard Singers did a pretty outrageous, almost punk cover and Blondie came in with a really nice, laid back version of the song in 2012. Def Leppard did a bitchin' version of the song in 2005; it's the only cover they've done in concert. Then in 2017, Rickie Lee Jones and Madeleine Peyroux recorded a fantastic and politically charged video of the song in support of women's rights (links below).           

Rickie Lee Jones & Madeleine Peyroux     

photo by Shervin Lainez

      

After a 1981 appearance on American Bandstand in support of his debut single, a cover of the Eric Carmen tune She Did It, Damian was offered the part of struggling singer, Danny Romalotti, on the daytime television series The Young and the Restless in which he appeared for twelve years.          

 

He also had the starring role in the 1993 Broadway production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.         

 

 

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Playbill - 1993
 

 

Damian has released five albums with eight top 40 hits, including his number-one cover of the David Essex song Rock On (from the Dream a Little Dream soundtrack), which was certified gold in 1989. He also won a BMI Song-writing Award for his hit single Was It Nothing at All.         

 

While researching for this article I discovered Damian is a fan of actress/singer Julie London who introduced the 1953 song, Cry Me A River, written by Arthur Hamilton. I'm with him on that!        

Julie London

photo by Marina Chavez

     

Rock On lyrics

[Intro]
Ooh
Shoow

[Verse 1]
Hey kid, rock and roll
Rock on, ooh, my soul
Hey kid, you boogie too, did ya?
Hey shout, summertime blues
Jump up and down in them blue suede shoes
Hey did you rock and roll?
Rock on

[Bridge]
And where do we go from here?
Which is the way that's clear?

[Verse 2]
Still looking for that blue jean, baby queen
Prettiest girl I ever seen
See her shake on the movie screen
Jimmy Dean
James Dean

[Bridge]
And where do we go from here?
Which is the way that's clear?

[Verse 3]
Still looking for that blue jean, baby queen
Prettiest girl I ever seen
See her shake on the movie screen
Jimmy Dean
Jimmy Dean

[Break]
Rock on
Rock on
Rock on

[Verse 4]
Hey kids
Rock and roll
Rock on

[Hook]
Rock on
Hey, hey
Rock and roll
Rock on

[Hook]
Rock on
Hey, hey
Rock and roll
Rock on

[Hook]
Rock on
Hey, hey
Rock and roll
Rock on

        

 

Michael Damian ~ Rock On 

12" 45 rpm record label, side 1

photo by Styrous®

Michael Damian ~ Rock On 

12" 45 rpm record label, side 2

photo by Styrous®

        

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A - Michael Damian – Rock On (Extended Version)
Producer – Michael Damian Weir*
Written By – David Essex
Producer – Michael Damian Weir*
Written By – David Essex - 6:28

Side 2:

B1 - Michael Damian – Rock On (Radio Version)
Producer – Mich. Damian Weir*
Written By – David Essex
Producer – Mich. Damian Weir*
Written By – David Essex - 3:20

B2 - Blue Future – Where Is She
Written By – L. Weir* - 3:57

Companies, etc.

    Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Vestron Pictures, Inc.
    Copyright © – Cypress Records Ltd.
    Licensed Through – Sonet Records
    Licensed To – Intercord Ton GmbH
    Marketed By – Intercord Ton GmbH
    Manufactured By – Intercord Ton GmbH
    Published By – Rock On Music (2)
    Published By – Copyright Control
    Pressed By – Sonopress – C-7895
    Mastered At – Sonopress

 Credits:

    Producer – Larry Weir, Tom Weir

Notes:

Parts of the release have a yellow sticker on front cover "No.1 USA", apparently put on the sleeve, after the record reached No.1 in the US-charts.
"Top 10 USA" printed on front cover.
B1 printed as "Rock on (7'' Version)

Side B total time: 7:20

Top opening spineless sleeve.
Mastering date from runouts: April 1989
Printing date from sleeve: May 1989

℗ 1989 Vestron Pictures, Inc.
© 1989 Cypress Records Ltd.
Licensed through Sonet Records
Marketed by Intercord Ton GmbH, Licensee.

Publishers
A, B1: Rock On Music
B2: Copright Control

Manufactured by Intercord Ton GmbH, Stuttgart, Licensee
Printed in W. Germany

From the original motion picture soundtrack "Dream a little dream" INT 148.316, MC 448.316, CD 848.316
7''-Single INT 113.326/Maxi-Single-CD INT 828.315

Barcode and Other Identifiers        

        

    Rights Society (Boxed): GEMA
    Label Code: LC 7310
    Matrix / Runout (Label side A): C-7895 A
    Matrix / Runout (Label side B): C-7895 B
    Matrix / Runout (Runout stamped side A): DMC-7895 A-1/4-89 II
    Matrix / Runout (Runout stamped side B): DMC-7895 B-1/4-89
    Other (Print date on back cover): 5/89
    Pressing Plant ID (Embossed, below label side B): [Bass clef symbol]

 

Michael Damian – Rock On
Label: Cypress Records – INT 128.315
Format: Vinyl, 12", 45 RPM, Maxi-Single, Stereo
Country: Germany
Released: 1989
Genre: Rock, Stage & Screen
Style: Pop Rock        

        

        

        

        

Viewfinder links:       

         

Eric Carmen        

Eddie Cochran        

Michael Damian        

James Dean            

Def Leppard          
David Essex         

Debbie Harry aka Blondie         

Rickie Lee Jones        

Julie London        

Mary Ellen Mark         

Carl Perkins         

Madeleine Peyroux       

Andrew Lloyd Webber       
     
Net links:       

         

Discography        

         

Songfacts ~ Rock On        
     
YouTube links:      
         

Blondie ~ Rock On     
Michael Damian ~      

      Rock On                

      Blue Future – Where Is She       

Def Leppard - Rock On            

David Essex ~     

      Rock On         

      Rock On (Dream a Little Dream video)        

      Rock On (Midnight Special) (live) 1974       

 Madeleine Peyroux, Rickie Lee Jones ~ Rock On

                   
                 

        

Styrous® ~ Monday, April 26, 2021

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20,000 Vinyl LPs 160: Jobriath

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Jobriath ~ vinyl LP front cover
cover photo by Shig Ikeda
photo of album cover by Styrous®  
    
 

Bruce Wayne Campbell was born on December 14, 1946, and was known by his stage name Jobriath. He was an American actor, the first openly gay rock musician to be signed to a major record label, and one of the first internationally famous musicians to die of AIDS on August 4, 1983.     

Jobriath 

photographer unknown

He was one of rock 'n’ roll’s most tragic casualties. Initially hyped as the “American David Bowie” via a massive marketing campaign spearheaded by Elektra Records and infamous Svengali Jerry Brandt, Jobriath instead faced a swift and vicious backlash — no doubt at least partially because he was openly gay, which was basically unheard-of in 1974. Less than a decade after the spectacular commercial failure of his debut album, Jobriath died of AIDS in obscurity and alone at the Chelsea Hotel.          
      

Jobriath was born in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, and raised in Houston, Texas. He played organ in his local church and it was during this time he was introduced to Eugene Ormandy as a child prodigy. While he was a high school student, he became further interested in classical music, and favored composers such as Sergei Prokofiev, and he wrote the first two movements of his first symphony by his senior year in high school, but for reasons unknown chose not to complete it. In 1964, he took an interest in folk music and formed the trio, The Last Three.     

Jobriath ~ vinyl LP front cover detail cover photo by Shig Ikeda
detail photo of album cover by Styrous® 

He was drafted into the military in the mid-1960 but went AWOL within months. Renaming himself Jobriath Salisbury, he relocated to Los Angeles. He auditioned for the musical Hair as a piano player but impressed producer and director, Tom O'Horgan, with his singing and talents on the piano and was cast into a leading role as 'Woof', a gay teenager; however, in 1969 he was fired from the production for "upstaging" the other actors.   

When he left Hair he joined the folk-rock band Pidgeon as their lead singer and guitarist; the group was signed to Decca Records. The band recorded a debut album originally titled First Flight From the Forest which was re-titled by their label as the self-titled Pigeon. and shortly after the album's release the group disbanded. 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. During this period he began writing the songs that would lead to his next musical incarnation. 

 

album cover with embossed title detail

detail photo by Styrous®

In mid-December 1972 Jerry Brandt overheard a demo tape made by Jobriath. Brandt located him in California, where he was living in an unfurnished apartment and working as a prostitute. Brandt: "In walked this beautiful creature dressed in white. I said, Why don't you come out to Malibu and hang out?" Brandt signed Jobriath, now calling himself Jobriath Boone, to Elektra Records for a reported $500,000, in what was allegedly the most lucrative recording contract of its time.   

The label's president David Geffen signed Jobriath for a two-album deal. 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.      

Jobriath ~ vinyl LP gatefold cover 

cover photo by Shig Ikeda 

photo of album cover by Styrous®

Plans were announced for a lavish three night live debut at the Paris Opera in France 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." Elektra, concerned about spiraling production costs, postponed the Paris Opera shows until February, later canceling them due to expense.     
     
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".       

Jobriath ~ vinyl LP gatefold interior

photo by Styrous®

The album was co-produced by Eddie Kramer and Jobriath, featuring string arrangements by Jobriath, recorded at Olympic Studios with the London Symphony Orchestra. 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. 
        
Brandt continued making extravagant statements such as "Elvis, the Beatles, and Jobriath" and declaring that both he and Jobriath had booked flights on the first Pan American 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.    

     

Jobriath ~ vinyl LP gatefold interior detail

detail photo by Styrous® 

The debut public performance by Jobriath 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. 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. The long-awaited live performance finally came in July 1974 with two sold-out shows at the New York The Bottom Line club. Sales for the album however, were poor and it failed to secure a chart placing.      

     

Jobriath ~ vinyl LP gatefold interior detail

detail photo by Styrous®  

In 1974 Jobriath and his backing-band (called 'The Creatures') did several residencies around the US in Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles & Memphis. Despite the tour having several well-attended shows and/or several sold-out nights, both Brandt and Elektra stopped financing the tour midway through. Despite this, Jobriath and 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 department being summoned when the excited audience set off the alarm.   

     

In January 1975 he announced his retirement from the music industry and moved into a pyramid topped rooftop apartment at the Chelsea Hotel in New York City. He attempted to resume his acting career, and was invited to audition for the role of Al Pacino's lover in the film Dog Day Afternoon. According to keyboard player Hayden Wayne, Jobriath had the script for Dog Day backstage at a concert at Nassau Coliseum, and claimed he didn't want to do the film due to the character's wearing of a dress. Calling himself "Cole Berlin" (a play on both Cole Porter and Irving Berlin), he worked as a cabaret singer at a restaurant called The Covent Gardens, as well as clubs and cabarets, augmenting his income with occasional prostitution. 

      

Jobriath ~ vinyl LP gatefold interior detail

detail photo by Styrous®  

When 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 100th birthday celebration in November 1982. He died on August 4, 1983, one week after the end of his original 10-year contract with Jerry Brandt expired. Jobriath was found at his piano, three days after he died.      

      

In November 2004, long-time fan Morrissey oversaw Jobriath's first CD re-issue, a compilation called Lonely Planet Boy. It was produced by Eddie Kramer. Morrissey had previously attempted to secure Jobriath as a support act for the tour in support of his Your Arsenal album, having been unaware that the singer had died some years previously.     

         

Jobriath ~ vinyl LP gatefold interior detail

detail photo by Styrous®

Both Jobriath's original studio albums were officially reissued on CD in Japan in late 2007, 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.  

The group Balcony released a semi-tribute track entitled Jobriath as a free MP3 anonymously on the internet in 2000 that was later included on their second album Before Needs. He is referenced using his legal name 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".     

           

Jobriath ~ vinyl LP gatefold interior detail

detail photo by Styrous®

Filmmaker Kieran Turner (24 Nights) has created a feature documentary about the late singer called Jobriath A.D. (link below).  

Jobriath A.D poster 

      

Def Leppard released a cover of Heartbeat on some versions of their 2006 album Yeah!. Morning Starship was sampled by hip-hop artist Ill Bill on the title track to his 2007 mixtape album Black Metal. Ann Magnuson is working on an EP featuring four Jobriath songs and a spoken-word narrative.   

On October 29, 2013, Eschatone Records released three 1971 Jobriath tracks digitally and on 10" vinyl as the EP Amazing Dope Tales.      

 

On May 6, 2014, Eschatone Records released the full-length As the River Flows album of never-before released Jobriath recordings from 1971–72 on CD, limited edition vinyl and in digital format.  

      

Jobriath ~ vinyl LP gatefold detail

detail photo by Styrous®

Jobriath ~ vinyl LP, side 1

photo by Styrous®

Jobriath ~ vinyl LP label, side 1

photo by Styrous®

Jobriath ~ vinyl LP, side 2

photo by Styrous®

Jobriath ~ vinyl LP label, side 2

photo by Styrous®

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A1 - Take Me I'm Yours     4:14
A2 - Be Still     3:40
A3 - World Without End     3:43
A4 - Space Clown     2:57
A5 - Earthling     3:53
A6 - Movie Queen     1:50

Side 2:

B1 - I'maman     3:35
B2 - Inside     3:52
B3 - Morning Star Ship     3:30
B4 - Rock Of Ages     2:21
B5 - Blown Away     4:59

Companies, etc.

    Phonographic Copyright (p) – Elektra Records
    Lacquer Cut At – Sterling Sound

Credits:

    Lacquer Cut By – RL*
    Mixed By, Producer – Edwin H. Kramer*
    Musician – Andy Muson, Billy Schwartz, Carl Hall, Heather MacRae, John Syomis, Ken Bichel, Peter Frampton, Rhetta Hughes, Steve Love, Tasha Thomas, Zenobia (5)
    Written-By, Producer – Jobriath

Notes:

Housed in a gatefold cover with embossed title on the front.

1st catalog number as printed on center labels.
2nd catalog number as printed on cover spine.

Runout info: STERLING is machine-stamped, everything else is hand written.
Barcode and Other Identifiers

    Matrix / Runout (Runout side A): EKS-75070-A-1 STERLING RL B
    Matrix / Runout (Runout side B): EKS-75070-B-3 STERLING RL
    Other (On spine of the cover): 0598

Jobriath ‎– Jobriath
Label: Elektra ‎– EKS-75070, Elektra ‎– 75070
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1973
Genre: Rock
Style: Glam
      

  

     

Viewfinder links:

          
Marlene Dietrich        

Gay Gaze 'n Daze           

Sergei Rachmaninoff             

        

Net links:

          

NY Times ~ A Life Story of Glitter and Tragedy review      

The Guardian ~ Jobriath: the man who fell to earth
                       ~ Jobriath A.D. review       
Hollywood Reporter ~ "American Bowie" gets his due   
Film Journal ~ Jobriath A.D. review       

  

YouTube links:

          
Jobriath ~            

       I'maman           

       Rock of Ages            

       Take Me I'm Yours  
       Morning Star Ship 
       Gone Tomorrow      
       Space Clown        
       World Without End  
       Be Still
       Inside
       Jobriath A.D. - Glam Rock's Lost God      
    
        

       

           

Jobriath
photograph: Factory 25

              

  

     

        

            

Styrous® ~ Friday, December 14, 2018             

              

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