Bringing The Glam Back to Rock
By Spence Abbott

Haynes enlisted the services of R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe and Randy Poster to corral a vast spectrum of modern day talent and coax them into recreating the flamboyant ambiance of classic Glam Rock.
In retrospect, the early 1970s were a netherworld of sonic ambiguity; a time when the parameters of music were in a state of flux. The peace-and-love of the '60s was giving way to a more cynical energy, arena rock bombast was in full bloom, punk was roiling up from the working class underground, and a select few chose to go the route of flamboyance. I am, of course, referring to the emergence of Glam, when David Bowie ceased to exist and Ziggy Stardust occupied his flesh. Bryan Ferry and Brian Eno concocted the romantic, progressive cocktail sound of Roxy Music, and wayward youth took to eye shadow, fingernail polish, lipstick, and unisexual clothing.

In his new film, Velvet Goldmine, writer/director Todd Haynes captures the dizzying atmosphere of the Glam Rock era, presenting the viewer with a lush, highly-stylized (and, he stresses, fictionalized) account of the infamous David Bowie/Iggy Pop relationship of the mid-'70s. While the crux of the film rests on elaborate stage sets and romantically psychedelic excess, it's the music that ultimately provides the needed sense of surrealism.

Rather than relying solely on old material, Haynes enlisted the services of R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe (who acted as Executive Producer on the film) and noted Music Supervisor Randy Poster (Kids, Suburbia), to corral a vast spectrum of modern day talent - Placebo, Shudder to Think, Grant Lee Buffalo, Pulp, Teenage Fanclub with Donna Matthew (Elastica) - and coax them into recreating the flamboyant ambiance of classic Glam Rock.

Initially, Haynes compiled ten 100 minute-tapes spanning the parameters of Glam from the mid-'60s to 1975. "Out of those tape recordings, I had my favorite 50 or 100 songs - the ones I was really eager to get into the film one way or another." It turned out Haynes was unable to procure all of his choices (Bowie declined to have his songs used in the film) and, as a result, a number of openings for original compositions were created.

Though it wasn't his original vision, combining Glam covers with newly-composed material gives a weird, dreamy feel to the film. One of the songs created specifically for the film is "The Whole Shebang," written by Grant Lee Buffalo. "Grant was the first person we went to," says Haynes. "The Grant connection came from Michael [Stipe]. He said that Grant could write prolificly and knew the era very well - and Michael was so right."

"It's a music that I grew up with," says GLB frontman Grant Lee Phillips. "So being a fan of all that stuff, and also being a fan of Todd's seemed like an unbeatable combination. Velvet Goldmine was an interesting project. I was handed the script one day, I had a conversation or two with the director, and I basically just wrote. I was given that bit of information and then just sort of given free license. I had to work in a very intuitive way, but I was satisfied with the material."

Another act thatprovided original material was New York-based Shudder to Think (in fact, their song "Hot One" was chosen as the first single and has already been serviced to radio).

"To me that was a great moment of liberation - when we weren't gonna use the Bowie songs," remembers Poster. "That's where Shudder to Think stepped in, and that's what makes the movie more original on a certain point. I just love the fact that in the midst of certain known songs, you hear these songs like 'Hot One' and just go, 'Do I know this song?' It's sort of like the pop hit of your dreams."

"We were assigned to do sort of Ziggy Stardust/Diamond Dogs era Bowie -styled songs," says STT guitarist Nathan Larson. "That was stuff I grew up on and just loved, so it was pretty easy to bust that stuff out.

Some of the artists who contributed to the soundtrack also wound up in the film, including the members of Placebo, who found themselves dolled up in Glam drag for a few scenes. "We play musicians; it's a little bit of typecasting going on, I think," laughs Placebo lead singer Brian Molko. "We're kind of like the London version of the New York Dolls. Big Hair, big shoes, and big willies," chuckles drummer Steve Hewitt.

But perhaps the biggest coup was the creation of the two fictional bands - Venus in Furs  (loosely based on the Spiders From Mars and comprised of Radiohead's Thom Yorke and Jon Greenwood, Bernard Butler, Clune, Paul Kimble, and Roxy Music alumnus Andy MacKay) and the Wylde Ratttz (modeled after the Stooges and featuring an all star line-up of Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore and Steve Shelley, Mike Watt, Mudhoney's Mark Arm, Jim Dunbar, Don Fleming and original Stooge Ron Asheton).

"Todd and I worked really closely on the whole project," says Poster. "We started working on music a year before they started shooting, picking songs and trying to lasso the people whose support we needed in order to get the thing done.

"I was really involved in it, particularly with the Wylde Ratttz. I had done Suburbia with Sonic Youth, and Mike Watt and I had worked together before. And just through brainstorming we landed on this group. Thurston [Moore] and Don Fleming were involved in the movie Backbeat, where they had recorded a lot of songs live for playback. Since we had to do all of the songs on camera, we had to have them recorded before the movie started shooting, I sort of looked to them to help me figure out how to do it."

As for Venus in Furs? "I was really eager to get some of my favorite Brit Pop artists involved in the soundtrack," says Haynes. "So for me, people like Radiohead and Pulp were among my favorites right away. And Bernard Butler was a really cool idea; he was an amazing auteur figure to bring into the mix. And to team those guys up with Andy MacKay from Roxy Music - to mix the younger artists with the artist from the period - it was great."

This mixing of old and new is what makes both the film and the soundtrack a unique visual and aural experience - one in which the '90s-meets-the-'70s to create a lush, surreal sonic universe.

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