Platinum Weird
Platinum Weird |
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Platinum Weird is a musical collaboration formed in 2004 between Dave Stewart and Kara DioGuardi. It is also the subject of an elaborate hoax placing the band in 1974, including a half hour mockumentary produced for television network VH1 and a series of bogus World Wide Web fan sites for the "lost" group.
Origin
In a 2005 interview, DioGuardi explained that she and Stewart were asked to write songs for The Pussycat Dolls in 2004. Instead, the pair ended up with material that DioGuardi described as resembling Fleetwood Mac. Although the collaboration did not produce the intended Pussycat Dolls songs, Interscope chairman Jimmy Iovine encouraged the continuation of the project, and longtime DioGuardi partner John Shanks was brought in for album production duties. [2] Stewart confirmed the collaboration in a separate interview. [3] In March 2005, it was reported that they would release an album entitled Avalanche that year. [4] MP3 versions of the tracks "Avalanche" and "Happiness" were made available via MySpace.
Back-story
Believing that the unusual combination of an older, well-known artist and a relatively unknown, albeit highly successful, writer for much younger performers may not be accepted by the public, they adopted an elaborate back-story conceived by Iovine. [5]
In a November 2005 Rolling Stone interview, Stewart started to plant the new story about the group's origin, stating that he conceived of the project in 1973. At that time he also disclosed that the project would be accompanied by a short film. [8] This followed a message posted by Catherine Schwartz on her Web site that she was working on two Platinum Weird projects, a video for "Happiness" and what she described as a mockumentary set in the 1970s. [9] [10]
Early in 2006, several Web sites appeared, purporting to be maintained by fans of a band named Platinum Weird that existed from 1973 to 1974. Varying in format and appearance, the sites contained mostly the same text, audio files and images, with some sites claiming to have been online since the 1990s. Weirdos.info even claims to have been on the Web since 1987, even though the World Wide Web itself only appeared 1991 [11] and the domain was registered on 2005-05-10. All of these were linked to one another and to the official Platinum Weird Web site. Some of these domains were in fact registered to the New Media Department of Interscope Records, while others are run by existing Eurythmics fan site operators. [12] [13] [14] The remaining sites included platinumweirdfans.com, platinum-weird.co.uk, platinumweird.nl, platinumweird.online.fr, platinumweirdwired.com, whatisplatinumweird.com, platinumweirdos.com, and weirdshit.biz. Video clips showing Mick Jagger, Ringo Starr, Christina Aguilera, Stevie Nicks and others recalling the band were distributed, along with audio tracks said to have come from 1974.
The fictional version of Platinum Weird is a partnership between Stewart and a mythical singer/songwriter from New York City named Erin Grace. Erin made a strong impression on numerous artists in the UK, including Stevie Nicks, who emulated her style. After a handful of performances and with an album partially completed, Erin suddenly disappeared. Apparently distraught over the death of Nick Drake, she abruptly ran off with Elton John's boyfriend in late 1974. Soon afterward, she turned up in Los Angeles, where Don Henley introduced her to Lindsay Buckingham, setting into a motion a relationship that would be the inspiration for the Fleetwood Mac Rumours album.
Years later, a young DioGuardi would meet a neighbour in New York, an older hippie woman who became a mentor in her song-writing efforts. In her 2004 meeting with Stewart, DioGuardi found that she already knew the words to an old Platinum Weird song, "Will You Be Around", that he was playing on his guitar. She had learned the song from her old neighbour, evidently the lost Erin. [15] [16]
Much of the Platinum Weird story line is apparently identical to an earlier promotion by the unrelated band Unicorn. After being discovered at a celebrity party, their cancelled 1967 debut album, The Cosmic Storyteller, is said to have been lost forever until the original master tapes were found and released in 2001. Also in common with Platinum Weird are fabricated artifacts and a "documentary" film with celebrity interviews. [17] [18]
Pre-release tracks
The tracks distributed from platinumweird.com and fan Web sites include "Happiness", "This Guitar", "Lonely Eyes", "If You Believe" and "Picture Perfect New", also an interview said to be taped in 1974. This version of "Happiness" is quieter than the earlier MySpace version, sung in a lower register.
"This Guitar (Can't Keep From Crying)" originally appeared on George Harrison's 1975 album Extra Texture (Read All About It). The Platinum Weird release is an alternate recording, also featuring Harrison on lead vocals. One report states that this track was originally recorded in 1992, and completed with 2006 contributions from Stewart, Dhani Harrison, Starr and Mark Hudson. [19]
Film and live debut
The real Platinum Weird performed at the Recording Academy Honors show on 2006-06-08. [20] This was followed by a 2006-06-12 screening of the film Rock Legends: Platinum Weird in New York, described in Billboard magazine as "a documentary film (sort of) about a band by that name". [21] Another report notes that Stewart treated the film seriously, "insisting the group really did exist." [22] [23]
On 2006-07-05, the day Rock Legends: Platinum Weird was shown on VH1, Platinum Weird admitted to the hoax in a Los Angeles Times interview. Stewart did note that the film was "80% true", with real biographical information mixed into the back-story.[5]
Releases
A Platinum Weird EP entitled Will You Be Around was released to iTunes on 2006-07-04. In addition to the title track, it includes "Picture Perfect" and "Lonely Eyes". All three were written by Stewart and DioGuardi. [24]
The eponymous album is scheduled for release on 2006-08-22.
See also
External links
- Vancata, Brad. ""Happiness" video storyboard". Famous Frames.
Notes
- ^ "Platinum Weirdo Dave Stewart Is Having Acid Flashbacks". psychoPEDIA Daily News. 2006-07-05. Retrieved 2006-07-10.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Moss, Corey (2005-04-20). "Ashlee And Hilary's Hitmaker Decides To Sing A Few Herself". VH1. Retrieved 2006-06-19.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Eurythmics". Total Music Magazine. 2005. Retrieved 2006-06-19.
- ^ Hennesy, Martin (2005-03-07). "80's Nuts News Archive 3/7/05". Retrieved 2006-06-19.
- ^ a b Lee, Chris (2006-06-05). "Fact or fiction? It can get a bit Weird". Los Angeles Times. p. E1. Retrieved 2006-06-05.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Giambarba, Paul. "Polaroid OneStep packaging prototypes, 1977". Retrieved 2006-07-04.
- ^ "Polaroid OneStep Gallery". P3 Designwork. Retrieved 2006-07-04.
- ^ Baltin, Steve (2005-11-08). "The Eurythmics Look Back". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2006-06-19.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Schwartz, Cat (2005-10-24). "Platinum Weird Video Shoot". Retrieved 2006-03-29.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Eurythmics October 2005 News". Ultimate Eurythmics. 2005-10-27. Retrieved 2006-06-22.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "WWW Project History". World Wide Web Consortium. 1992-11-03. Retrieved 2006-07-07.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ weirdos.info WHOIS record. Retrieved on 2006-07-08
- ^ weirdshit.biz WHOIS record. Retrieved on 2006-06-28
- ^ platinumweirdos.com WHOIS record. Retrieved on 2006-06-28
- ^ Noble PR (2006). "Platinum Weird, The Untold Story". Retrieved 2006-06-19.
- ^ Platinum Weird (2006). Rock Legends: Platinum Weird (film). Interscope Records.
- ^ "Platinum Weird - Plagarism?". Popdirt. 2006-07-10. Retrieved 2006-07-10.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Unicorn's Cosmic Storyteller Home Page". Unicorn. Retrieved 2006-07-10.
- ^ "George Harrison "This Guitar" 2006". Deminoid.com. 2006-03-31. Retrieved 2006-06-19.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Tip Sheet for June 8, 2006" (PDF) (Press release). The Recording Academy. 2006. Retrieved 2006-06-19.
- ^ Schlager, Ken (2006-06-16). "Billboard Bits: Snow Patrol, DJ Screw, Platinum Weird". Billboard. Retrieved 2006-06-19.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ WENN (2006-06-17). "Stewart creates biopic for fictitious band". Retrieved 2006-06-19.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Stewart forms fictitious group". Virgin Music News. 2006-06-17. Retrieved 2006-06-22.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Platinum Weird (2006). Will You Be Around - EP (sound recording). Santa Monica, California: Interscope Records.