Jobriath (not much Kate Kontent)

[Robb McCaffree <nsrjm@nursepo.medctr.ucla.edu>]

wayne fisher wrote:


> 
> Double WOW!!! I'm a huge fan of Jobriath. I remember at the time he was
> considered a Bowie wannabe. To me his style was quite different than
> Bowie's. His 2 LPs were wonderful and I still listen to them, but I think he
> was closer in style to the Stones and Gershwin. Well crafted rock/pop songs
> with a Broadway flair. He wrote some wonderful love songs (Heartbeat,
> Inside, Be Still). I did get a chance to see him (in Hollywood yet) at the
> Troubador. I didn't think anybody had heard of him...thought I was the only
> one. ;-) BTW, sadly he died about a year ago.
> 
> So Robb how is her CD? Is it available? Does she do any Jobriath or Bowie on
> it? Is Wow on it?
> 
> Fan-tastic!
> Wayne

Cool!

The friend I went with was debating with me whether or not 
Jobriath actually existed, or was simply a manifestation of Ann 
herself. Though Ann is certainly capable of such a thing, I 
didn't think the music sounded at all like her own stuff. She 
did say that he was obscure, that she had obsessed over him as a 
teen and that a friend of hers had seen him perform at a club in 
Manhattan under the band name Cold Berlin. He was performing 
cover versions (she mentioned Gershwin, though it's hard to tell 
if she was being serious) and when someone requested he do one 
of his own songs, he blanched and said that he never performed 
his original material anymore. Ann said that he died of AIDS.

No, unfortunately, there are no recorded versions of Ann singing 
other people's material that I know of. And -- though I love her 
weird sense of humor and her single solo album "The Luv Show" -- 
I cannot in good faith recommend it to Kate fans. It is filled 
with alternative-sounding riffs and showtunes, rambling 
narratives and quick ironies -- not at all the studied and 
perfected work that is celebrated here.

Robb