Considered at the time one of pop music's biggest marketing blunders, Jobriath once boasted buses and billboards covered in larger than life images of his naked torso, was touted as the American Glam Rock sensation, and was also the first out gay singer in the pop world. But lest you blam Jobriath's spectacular sales failures on his outre sexuality - the truth lies somewhere closer to the fact that the music just isn't really all that great. I discovered this when I dusted off a copy of the first album and rescued it from a dollar bin - thinking I'd scored huge, but realizing I'd scored about $1. Looking back 35 years, however, to the following appearances on Midnight Special, one can't help but glean a little glee from Jobriath's alien Bowie presence. And a LOT of glee from Gladys Knight's snarky introduction to his theatrical performances. You'd think from the look on her face that she'd been asked to introduce a herd of pooping poodles!
Jobriath died of AIDs in the early 80s after experiencing a renaissance as a cabaret style singer, but happily, we still have the two below performances to ogle in order to keep a little bit of him alive.
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