Placebo (band)

Placebo
Placebo at Coachella Festival, April 29, 2007.
Background information
Origin	London, England
Genre(s)	Alternative rock Rock Indie Rock Synthpop Britpop Glam Rock Synth Rock
Years active	1994–Present
Label(s)	EMI Virgin Records (current), Hut Records, Caroline Records
Website	Placeboworld.co.uk
Members
Brian Molko Stefan Olsdal
Former members
Robert Schultzberg (1994–1996) Steve Hewitt (1996–2007)

Placebo are an alternative rock band currently consisting of Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal. The band was founded in London in 1994 when Molko and Olsdal, who went to the same school but apparently never spoke, met again by chance in London and subsequently formed 'Ashtray Heart'. Drummer Steve Hewitt left the band on October 1 2007, citing "personal and musical differences".^[1]

History

Early years

Placebo was founded when former Luxembourg schoolmates Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal met by accident at South Kensington tube station in 1994 and decided to form a band. They attended the American International School of Luxembourg, and Molko also attended the European School of Luxembourg. While briefly known as Ashtray Heart, the band quickly settled on the name Placebo - when they were choosing a name for the band, they noticed that many bands at this time had a drug name. They decided to name the band after a drug with no effect. The band could not decide on a drummer at first with Steve Hewitt and Robert Schultzberg alternating on the spot. While Hewitt was the preferred choice, he also had other commitments as drummer for London band Breed, leading to Schultzberg being the drummer when the band signed its contract with Caroline Records. The band officially says "personal demons" were the reason for his absence. As Molko was having difficulty getting on with Schultzberg, they persuaded Hewitt to rejoin the band in 1996.^[2] Hewitt returned to the band after the departure of Schultzberg. The band gained some measure of notoriety for the sexualities of its members (Olsdal is homosexual, Hewitt is heterosexual and Molko is bisexual), Molko's androgynous image, and their excessive lifestyles, often chronicled in their songs. Placebo encountered resistance from the British music industry upon release of the single "Special K" from their third album Black Market Music (2000) due to its use of a Ketamine high as a metaphor for love. The 'single' was released in Australia before eventually being made available in the UK as an extended EP featuring the b-sides and remixes that would have filled out a conventional two disc single release. At the time the band claimed this was due to dissatisfaction with the two disc single format, a claim somewhat undermined by their subsequent single releases all being made available in two cd formats accompanied by a 7inch vinyl.

Middle years

The singles Nancy Boy, from Placebo (1996), and Pure Morning, from Without You I'm Nothing (1998), were the peak of their British success, both charting in the top ten. Since Without You I'm Nothing the band have received less positive coverage from the British music press, who on occasion have mocked the perceived pretentiousness of frontman Molko. However, the band retained a huge popular and critical following in continental Europe. By way of their English-accented fluent French, France has become their very first target market in Europe - which has led them to gain huge popularity there, in excess of even their British fan base.^[3] Their style altered little from Placebo through Black Market Music (2000), based around fairly straightforward guitar playing, often influenced by the style of 1970s British and American rock, and Molko's high-pitched vocals. Sleeping with Ghosts (2003) was more adventurous, experimenting with dance tunes, electronic music influences and a less polished rocky guitar sound, though keeping the traditional sound for several songs, including the first single The Bitter End. The band was asked to play at David Bowie's fiftieth birthday party at Madison Square Garden. Placebo played "20th Century Boy" live with David Bowie at the BRIT Awards show in 1997. The band's glam connections continued in 1998 when they recorded a cover of T. Rex's "20th Century Boy" for the Velvet Goldmine soundtrack. The band also appeared in this film. In the same year, their peak album Without You I'm Nothing was recorded and released. The song Without You I'm Nothing from this album has had a version released in which David Bowie duets with Molko. Molko has been open about his use of recreational drugs; in a 1997 interview with New York Doll, admitting at one point that heroin was "probably the only drug on this planet I haven’t tried".^[3] However, he later admitted to experimenting with heroin as well. ^[4]

Recent years

Stefan Olsdal performing in Collegno

In the autumn of 2004, Placebo released the Singles Collection Once More with Feeling (on both CD and as a DVD featuring the band's videos) and played a one-night-only gig at Wembley Arena. Robert Smith of The Cure guested with them on two tracks, "Without You I'm Nothing" and a cover of the Cure's "Boys Don't Cry". This performance was to be their last UK gig until 2006. After the Wembley gig, Placebo went on a short "Once More With Feeling" tour in South America. On July 2, 2005, the group performed "Twenty Years" and "The Bitter End" at the Live 8 concert, at the Palais de Versailles in France (see Live 8 concert, Paris). Their 2006 tour of the UK sold out in one weekend. In September 2005, the band finished the recording phase of their new album with Daniel Waite formerly of K.D.E, which was released on March 13 (Delayed in U.S. until April 4th). The first single on the new album to be released in the UK on March 6th was titled "Because I Want You". The album was mastered from October to January. Two songs feature duets with American singers. "Meds" with Alison Mosshart of The Kills and "Broken Promise" with Michael Stipe of REM. The band's fifth album Meds was leaked over the Internet on January 17, 2006. No details are available on how the album was leaked. The official release date of Meds was March 13, 2006, making the leak almost two months early. The video for the single "Because I Want You" was shot on the 24th of January at Koko in Camden, London. The leak was projected by the band's record label to potentially cause a very dangerous loss of profit upon the albums release, never the less in most countries the album debuted relatively well, at #4 in Australia, and #7 in the UK. The second single from Meds was "Infra-Red", it was released on June 19, 2006 in the UK. With Meds being the last album on Placebo's contract with Virgin Records and the title track said to be the last single it is rumoured that a B-Side album is to be released due to the sudden release of 2 brand new B-Sides (Lazarus and UNEEDMEMORETHANINEEDU, being the only B-Sides to be released since Detox-Five in 2004). Placebo are currently looking for a new record label. In October 2006, their debut, self titled first album Placebo was digitally remastered and re-released with the title "10th Anniversary collectors edition". The box set includes a DVD containing music videos, concerts and TV performances. End of March 2007, Placebo announced they were recruiting fans to star in the video for their newest single Running Up That Hill, a cover of the famous Kate Bush song. ^[5] Placebo joined Linkin Park and various other acts, including My Chemical Romance, Julien-K, HIM, Saosin, and Taking Back Sunday for 2007's Projekt: Revolution tour. On 1st October 2007, Steve Hewitt left Placebo due to personal and musical differences. Placebo have stressed that the parting with Hewitt was amicable, but that the band members "can no longer live under the same roof, so to speak...Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal will begin work on Placebo’s 6th studio album next Spring, and are in no rush to find an immediate replacement for Steve".^[6]

Members

Current members

As of 2007, the band consists of:

• Brian Molko (1994-present) – Vocals, guitar, harmonica, keyboards, saxophone
• Stefan Olsdal (1994-present) – Bass, guitar, keyboards, vocals

Additional live lineup members are:

• Bill Lloyd – Guitar, bass
• Alex Lee (from 2006) – Keyboards

Former members

• Steve Hewitt (1996-2007) – Drums, percussion
• Robert Schultzberg (1994-1996) – Drums, percussion, Didgeridoo
• Xavior Roide (2003-2005) (touring member) – Keyboards, vocals

Discography

Main article: Placebo discography

Albums

• Placebo (July 17, 1996)
• Without You I'm Nothing (October 12, 1998)
• Black Market Music (October 9, 2000)
• Sleeping with Ghosts (March 24, 2003)
• Meds (March 13, 2006)
• TBA (2008/2009)

Compilations

• Once More with Feeling (November 30, 2004)
• Covers (March 5, 2007) (exclusively for download on iTunes, originally appeared as a bonus disc on the Sleeping with Ghosts Special Edition release)
• Extended Play '07 (July 31, 2007) (USA only release)

Placebo tracks in film and television

• The band's music features prominently in the South Korean film Tell Me Something, about a serial killer. The killer videotapes his crimes and at one point holds a copy of Without You I'm Nothing up to the camera before killing his victim.
• The band's song "Post Blue" was featured in two different season four episodes (4.03 and 4.04) of the hit teen drama, One Tree Hill.
• The band's song Every You Every Me was the opening song in the 1999 hit teen movie Cruel Intentions.^[7]. The song was also on the soundtrack to the EA Sports Playstation game F1 2000^[8] This Song was also used by Mark Appleyard for his video part in Flip Skateboards video, "Sorry".
• The cover of Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill was featured in the second episode of the 8th season of the hit CBS television show CSI: Las Vegas, it was also featured in the fourth season premiere of the show The OC, and also in the episode "Judas On a Pole" on the show Bones.
• Several Placebo songs have also been featured in the popular drama Queer as Folk.
• Placebo's song Protège-Moi was featured in a 2006 French movie called Hell directed by Bruno Chiche.
• The band's song Infra-Red was featured in the seventh episode of the fourth season of the show Numb3rs.
• The band's song Pure Morning is the fourth track on the Chumscrubber soundtrack.

Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• An X-rated video was shot for the song "Protège-Moi" but was only released in France along with a magazine of screen shots. It wasn't released anywhere else due to its explicit sexual nature, but can be viewed here.
• Molko allegedly used to play harmonica and banjo in a blues bar.
• The guitar solo from the song Taste in Men has been occasionally replaced with a saxophone solo as seen in the MCM Cafe Bootleg.
• The bass line which introduces Taste in Men bears a striking resemblance to that of Pink Floyd's Let There Be More Light.
• The April 17th, 2007 Placebo show in Omaha, Nebraska was cancelled, after Molko was rushed to the emergency room after fighting flu symptoms for a number of days. Later it was revealed he had developed bronchitis on the 2007 USA tour.
• The backing loop which runs throughout Pure Morning was created by accident in the studio while working on the album Without You I'm Nothing
• Hewitt's face in the Nancy Boy video is blurred because he was still contractually obligated to another band on a different label to Placebo's. This is also Hewitt's first video appearance in the band after the departure of old drummer Robert Schultzberg.
• The song "Commercial for Levi" is dedicated to their sound technician Levi Tecofski, who saved Molko's life; Molko, drunk and about to cross the road, was quickly pulled back by Tecofski from the path of an approaching bus.
• Hewitt has wanted to be a drummer in a band since he was 11 (he states this in the documentary that accompanies the DVD Once More With Feeling).
• They are currently one of only two European-comprised bands to be on Linkin Park's Projekt Revolution.

References

External links

• Placeboworld Official Site
• Placebo at MySpace