Velvet Goldmine

Although what you are about

to see is a work of fiction...

Although what you are about to see is a work

of fiction, it should nevertheless be played...

Although what you are about

to see is a work of fiction...

...it should nevertheless be

played at maximum volume.

Histories, like ancient ruins,

are the fictions of empires.

While everything forgotten

hangs in dark dreams of the past...

...ever threatening to return.

Dublin 1854, birthplace of Oscar Wilde...

Lord'n heaven!

Madame Wilde! Richard! Come quickly!

I want to be a farmer.

I want to be a barrister.

I want to be a truck-driver.

I want to be... A pop-idol.

One hundred years later...

Get him, get him!

Leave him!

Childhood, adults always say,

is the happiest time in life.

But as long as he could

remember, Jack Fairy knew better.

Until one mysterious day, when Jack would

discover that somewhere there were others...

...quite like him.

Singled out for a great gift.

And one day...

...the whole stinking world...

...would be theirs.

Hey!

Look! It's Jack Fairy.

Who's Jack Fairy?

"The streets of London are ablaze in

sparkle make-up and glittering frocks... "

"... As the boys and girls

of the current glam-rock...

...craze pay tribute to their patron saint... "

"pop-star Brian Slade"

"... And his space-age rock

persona - Maxwell Demon. "

"Yeah, Brian Slade, he's just so different. I

mean, I've never seen anyone quite like him. "

"And 'Lipstick Traces', his last album was

just... it was just something special. "

"It's an album that's like, appealing

to so many people like that. "

"A palpable whirl of anticipation can be

felt outside London's Lyceum Theatre... "

"... As fans await the final show

on Slade's smash world tour. "

"Security around the performer is tightened

following a recent BBC interview... "

"... in which he admitted to premonitions

of being assassinated on stage. "

Turn it off!

"... Any of his enthusiastic

and colorful followers... "

"... Some of whom have been queueing

here since late last night. "

Brian, the time!

Ladies and Gentlemen!

The Lyceum Theatre.

In cooperation with "Bijou Music"...

...is proud to present...

...straight back from their fantastically

successful European tour...

Maxwell Demon and The Venus in Furs!

Singer Brian Slade shot on stage.

Put out the torches! Hide

the moon! Hide the stars!

For once, there was an unknown land...

...full of strange flowers and subtle perfums.

A land of which it is joy

of all the joys to dream.

A land where all things are perfect.

And poisonous.

"It appears today's youngsters

have fashioned a whole new bent... "

"... On the so-called sexual

liberation of the flower-power set. "

"The long hair and the love-beads

have given way to glitter make-up... "

"... Platform shoes... "

"... And a whole new taste for glamour,

nostalgia and just plain outrageousness. "

"Is London not shocked?"

"London is improving. "

"Well, I think it's a disgrace. "

"Parading around all ponced-up

like a pack of bleeding woofters. "

"Bloody hell! What will they think of next?"

"And heading up this flash stampede is

none other that pop-giant Brian Slade... "

"whose stylish escapades have paved the way

for a whole new breed of performing artists... "

"... From Curt Wild and The Flaming

Creatures to Jack Fairy and Polly Small. "

"Thanks to Slade, today's youngsters

are singing a whole new tune. "

"So, you're saying you're bisexual?"

"Yeah. I like boys, I like girls. "

"They are all great. No

difference, is there?"

"Mr. BBC"

"Rock music has always been a

reaction to accepted standards. "

"And homosexuality has been

going on for centuries, yeah. "

"At the moment, having a gay image is 'in'."

"You know, just like a few years

ago it was trendy to wear a... "

"... A long grey coat with a Led

Zeppelin record under your arm. "

"Everyone is into this scene, because it

is supposedly the thing to do right now. "

"But you just can't fake being gay, you know.

If you're gonna claim that you're gay... "

"... You're gonna have to

make love in gay-style and... "

"... Most of these kids

just aren't gonna make it. "

"That line - 'Everyone's bisexual' - it's

a very popular thing to say right now. "

"But personally I think it's meaningless. "

Meaning is not in things, but in between them

- Norman Brown.

SLADE SHOOTING A HOAX!

"I knew i should create a

sensation", gasped the Rocket.

And he went out.

Ok, Lionel. That's it. Thanks.

I don't get it.

What don't you get? It was a

stunt. The guy faked his own murder.

- Yeah, but why?

- Publicity.

Arthur, any recollection?

Of what?

Of this Slade fellow.

Well, he's an early 70s glam-rock singer.

Told you we could count on

"Mr. Old Time Rock'n'Roll".

Yeah.

Count on me for what?

I thought I was on the Reynolds trip.

Well you are.

But the president isn't due until the 8th.

And I need a piece for the Weekender now.

Great.

Next week is the 10th year anniversary

of the whole shooting stunt incident.

I'd like you to find out what

happened, where he is today.

"What ever happened to Brian Slade?" Ok?

Yeah, and naturally you want me for this,

because I'm the resident Brit. Right?

Nah. No, no, no. I want

you, because you remember.

New York 1984

"President Reynolds is urging

young people everywhere... "

"to sign up in their local government

offices and join the committee... "

Because I remember.

Suddenly I was being paid to remember all the...

...things that money, the

future and the serious life...

...had made so certain I'd forget.

And for what?

Some meaningless prank, a decade old.

Why was is suddenly up

to me to figure it out?

Clearly there was something.

Something from the past, spooking me back.

I didn't realise at the time... It was you.

"Thank you 'Trans-Electric' and 'CRA'."

"'Micro Atlanta' and 'Dupree'

for their generous support. "

"Thanks to president Reynold's

'Committee for Cultural Renewal'...

"... For making this prodcast

possible. And thanks to you. "

"Three billion viewers tuning in

right now on global satellite".

"Yesterday upon the stair, I

saw a man who wasn't there. "

"He wasn't there again today.

How I wish he'd go away. "

Ten years.

Ten years and the world had

changed so completely that...

...that the life I'd led in England

seemed like someone else's life.

Someone else's story. Anyone's but mine.

"There were times, when it

appeared to Dorian Gray... "

"... That the whole of history was

merely a record of his own life. "

"Not as he had lived it in

act and circumstance... "

"... But as his imagination

had created it for him... "

"... As it had been in his

brain and in his passions. "

"He felt that he had known them all...

"those strange terrible figures that

had passed along the stage of life... "

"and made sin so marvelous and

evil, so full of subtlety. "

"It seemed that in some mysterious

way their lives had been his own. "

Can you lend us a couple of

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