Jobriath
Lonely Planet Boy
(Attack)
When such a huge 1970s flop turns up, you know the re-releasers were digging deep. Jobriath was an American knockoff of Ziggy Stardust-period Bowie, so gay it was part of the hype. (Morrissey, a fan, contributes the liner notes.) Jobriath’s singing can be described as caterwauling, but his songs and piano have a blissful eccentricity that fleshes out the rough edges of the glam era. Peter Frampton’s guitar could be louder. Jobriath died in 1985, and barely made the papers.
—Doug Taylor
This article appears in Dec 6-12, 2007.
