Cole Berlin (aka Jobriath) - Sunday brunch

[cheesed00d]

bruce wayne campbell you were one the greats

[MelodyMaker151]

His theatrical nature and voice seemed perfectly suited to disco ... I am surprised he didn't go in that direction. Such a lovely instrument.

[godisbad2008]

B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L.

[beowulven]

The emperor wears no clothes.

[GoRubSalt]

..only to have the rug pulled out from under him while Brandt siphoned off the money and sank it into his next venture. What a typical music biz vampire...I hope Brandt winds up in a home, drooling on the arms of his wheelchair.

Rest In Peace, Bruce Wayne.

[antonovskaja]

Jobriath could sing, as opposed to David Bowie, who on the other hand is still alive...

[Slammerworm1]

In retrospect it seems that glam rock was the wrong medium for his talents; he looks (and sounds) far more at home with this arch 'musical theatre' stuff. Totally agree with fireupthequatrobolly; bring on the movie and/or documentary. So odd there isn't one...

[GoRubSalt]

@Slammerworm1 I completely agree, not so much because I think the glam/gliter thing was wrong for him..but because at that point, it had just about shot it's wad, so to speak. His two records have plenty of musical theater references on them, I think he could have gone a long way with them had he pursued that path. Since I'm old enough to recall the whole Jobriath hype and how it played out, try to imagine that the enormous build-up he was subject to by that egomaniacal creep Brandt,

[fireupthequatrobolly]

so far ahead of his time. his company overestimated people.

he deserves a movie and a documentary

if i win the lottery, it'll be the first thing i fund :)

[Danimal14222]

Shame what happened to him...clearly was a talent...less than a decade later, he would have fit right in with the British New Wave weirdness on MTV and been a star.

[blueukeangel17]

"you can have your fairytail and eat it too..." lol what a character this guy was. sadly exploited and ruined by terrible mismanagement. I'm just glad he had his piano talent to fall back on at least for the last years of his too short life. So sad.

[williefogle]

So lovely! :)

[jimdivax]

Bowie-wannabe became a Sondheim wannabe ! Actually that's not fair. This was obviously a talented songwriter who never got the breaks!

[williefogle]

Wow.

[Williepe]

OMG I slept here in 1978.

[krakenwave]

Slept 'where' precisely ;)

do tell

[garymewis]

Wonderful stuff - shame the end is missing off of the soundtrack though. I was singing along and it faded! Drat! Just after this was aired by the BBC way back as part of the documentary on the Chelsea Hotel I wrote to him to ask about the full score of the show he refers to. Sadly I didn't hear back from him. No idea if it was ever published. Thanks for posting it though - it's a great song.

[Argantonio]

VTERRIFIC american Ziggy he was!

[Alfrunk]

His wife must have been so proud of his achievements!

[loiraso]

he looks and sounds like he just step'd out from Andrew Holleran's Dancer from the Dance, like My face sit´s five, my honeypot's on fire Sutherland

[Williepe]

Closer than you guessed.

[ohhowilovecricket]

Not any good really that's way he went nowhere, of course other untapanted people did get somewhere but that ain't saying much.

[princette]

Christopher Tracy

[stoneylarsen]

Thank you for posting this. Jobriath was way ahead of his time - he does have a few spiritual children in the music world here in Boston, particularly Gene Dante, John Powhida, and Rick Berlin.

[Alfrunk]

Yeah failing as a Bowie clone, then copying other people and doing musicals. Wow, what a visionary. Lol grow up

[lamondeb]

Does anyone know if this, or any other music from "Sunday Brunch" is available anywhere?

[EddieG1888]

I don't understand, how was he allowed to stay on the roof of the Chelsea Hotel?

[Argantonio]

I wish I had that, man!

[danskelf]

This is an extract from my favorite Arena documentary about the residents of the Chelsea Hotel.

If you have that doc, any chance of uploading the Nico clip? She sings Chelsea Girls in a hotel room accompanied by a guy on fuzzy electric guitar, and it's one of my absolute favorite performances I've ever seen on TV.

[voxepisode]

What's on that plate? It looks gross.

[ILikeCalliopes]

There's got to be more footage out there

of Jobriath/Cole Berlin. This guy was ahead

of the curve from Glam pop star to lounge musician.

He was way ahead of David Johanson in this respect.

I just recently found his only two albums at a record

store and they were selling for $100 bucks each.

[quirkwork]

OH, what could have been! I didn't know there was ANY footage of the Cole Berlin persona and I'm so grateful for this. I know he recorded demos beyond Jobriath maybe someday they will be heard. I'd pay big bucks! Thank you Morrisey for reviving interest in Jobriath. And thank you Argantonio for posting this!

Richard Bone

[Sammit2]

I adore his facial expressions. =)

[yngwiefreak]

Cole was just too far ahead of his time. When we can drop the labels that make us feel safe then maybe we can start celebrating the genius of people like Cole Berlin. Gay or straight we are all brothers and sisters in spirit.

[MattBisAwesome]

it makes me sad that I'll never witness Jobriath in the fleash

[kenytco68]

... or the flesh.

[lovestreams]

mmm thanks... it's wonderful when someone corrects your spelling for you.

[kenytco68]

Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude. I'm still trying to figure out what he meant by "My razor blades stay very sharp" about 1:40 in to the video. ;-)

[EggmanSteele]

The blades staying sharp is part of the Pyramid Power. it was a mid 70's craze

[originalgeekpie]

Didn't understand it either. Apparently according to 70's New Ageistsss, if you align a razor blade within a pyramid it stays sharp. I think it's a mild witticism on where he resides.

[bowiemott]

@originalgeekpie Yep pyramid power was all the rage at one point. The whole sharpening the razor blade thing was attempted by every stoner around - usually to no effect. Todd Rundgren's Utopia used this as a prop in a big way.

[GrlLeastLikelyTo]

It's a damnable shame. The boy had far more talent than most of the gimmicky "controversial" acts of today. However, what's with the chicken liver flashes?

[krakenwave]

Poor sod looks really booze puffy and pale.

[Argantonio]

? Happy, I'd say!

[seintzeit]

sod?; fuck off; he looks HOT.

[krakenwave]

oops. The Internets Types1stThinks? Syndrome hits it. "Poor sod" is common UK slang for 'poor soul/guy' etc, always meant sympathetically and usually for someone unjustly served. You've got your knickers in a twist over 0; presumably u can type 1 handed so give em a tug when you're done.

[seintzeit]

internets types 1stthinks? uk slang too?

oy...

[Timmybear]

yes - if he were attired like a leatherdaddy, I'd so be down there. ;)

[SexyJock411]

@krakenwave

He was dying of AIDS

[krakenwave]

@SexyJock411

Based upon when this filmed we can't be sure of that...

[mg196]

@krakenwave - It's called AIDS.

[krakenwave]

@mg196

This is spring 1979. He was unlikely to have yet sero-converted with resultant immune-deficiency symptoms and signs at this point. His prodigious intake of alcohol and drugs would be a more reliable explanation for the way he looks here. I mean, its still daytime. And I look like shit if I have to get up by the sun.

[allwillbewell]

I remember him as being talented but HORRIBLY promoted by the record company back in the 1970's. Don't know about in the US but in the UK he was rather a laughing stock by people who had never heard a note of his music. Nice to see this little clip anyway.

[seintzeit]

he had something of a following in the UK; Morrissey tried to sign him up to open for his Your Arsenal tour, but didn't know he had died; and then supervised a Jobriath re-issue in 04...

[justdustqueen]

Al 1:24, aprox., hay un mensaje subliminal o me lo parece a mi? xD

[jobriathboy]

Apparently the cost to purchase the rights to broadcast it (or something like that) are astronomical. However, I'm thankful we have his 2 albums, and the one he recorded while a member of Pidgeon as a small document of his tremendous talent. Were it a different time and place for him, perhaps things could have worked out far more in his favour.

[jobriathboy]

I've always adored this footage...there's so very little available of Joby, in any stage of his career and life. The Midnight Special footage would be incredible to see...it's attained near-legendary status, but very few people have actually seen it :(

[Snax]

Can anyone tell me where I can see Jobriath's performance on the Midnight Special? If anyone has it, please put it on here!!

[bockybalboa]

How did he flame out? He apeared to have the chops.

[cpc24]

His record label dropped him, mainly because he was out, not to mention they spent way too much money on him too fast.

[ezywonder]

Jobriath was fab. Morrissey was doing a comeback tour and wanted Jobriath to open for him. He found out he died 15 years earlier. I have both albums from 72 and 73.

[Williepe]

Well! It's back on YouTube, then. God, and I've been so worried they will pull my Jobriath video because of the soundtrack. Sad, cuz the music was written for/about me. Nice to see this piece back.