Hmm, but will it be Platinum RECORD Weird?

March 23, 2006 4:21 PM

Platinum Weirdis a mysterious band formed in 1973 (or '74, depending on the website) by future Eurythmic Dave Stewart and his "soulmate" Erin Grace. Tidbits from various sources speak of underground parties with celeb devotees, a lost collaboration with George Harrison, and a sudden disappearance by Ms. Grace who was never seen again. Except it seems the whole thing is a to-be-released album on Interscope, created by Stewart and Kara DioGuardi, a songwriter who pens tunes for top 40 artists.
posted by ktoad (17 comments total)

I'll leave it to you to decide how (un)convincing some of the plot and memorabilia are, but personally I like these kinds of odd side projects and made-up histories. I'd also like to know what the deal is with the Harrison vocal on that track. Is it just Dave having a go? Or was there some unused demo lying about?

Oh, and here's another PW tune for you.
posted by ktoad at 4:21 PM on March 23, 2006

I think this suffers a little bit from over-production.
posted by Peter H at 5:03 PM on March 23, 2006

Sorry, couldn't resist the joke on Stewart there.

similar but more convincing ---meaning a lot of people, myself included, fell for it! less is more, etc
posted by Peter H at 5:10 PM on March 23, 2006

Is this really a serious marketing attempt or a blatant wind up? Wow, Annie Lennox and Ringo Starr have heard of "Platinum Weird." You can tell by the resolution of the photos that they are modern. The merchandise is hilariously fake. I'm not even going to listen to the music. What a lame and cynical concept (unless the whole thing is a joke?) Having said that, if someone really made an effort something like this could be really cool. How hard would it be to invent a Nick Drake style character? Bankroll a few guys from Pentangle, take some shots (not on a digital SLR like platinum weird) and cook up a few songs and a suicide. Hmm..
posted by fire&wings at 5:10 PM on March 23, 2006

At least it's no more of this.
posted by docgonzo at 5:20 PM on March 23, 2006

This reminds me of the Marvel comics stunt/event The Sentry. A rediscovered background, testimonials, etc...

Maybe it'll be good, maybe it'll suck (it sounded good to my cursory listen but who knows how it would hold up to repeated plays).

It did pique my interest if only for a few moments. I assume that was the point - grabbing mindshare in a world full of too much buzz.
posted by djeo at 6:02 PM on March 23, 2006

Too bad the music's so fucking weak. And gawd, if I can tell on a streaming MP3 that you're using modern recording techniques, you're not doing your job. Lost masters? Where's the tape noise?
I dunno. I kinda feel like the inverse of the old adage about extraordinary results requiring extraordinary proof— This was neither weird enough nor excellent enough to justify the mythology. Like, all wind-up no pitch. Or "See, he's the son of God, see, and he's a carpenter, see..."
"And?"
"And what?"
"He's a carpenter? That's it?"
"He makes a fucking fine endtable, mate."

And I feel bad ragging on it here because, ktoad, this is an excellent use of the web (the interconnected websites, the multimedia sham), but it's all sizzle and no steak. It's like getting into the premier of Snakes on a Plane and finding out that it's about Dave Snakes in Nebraska.
posted by klangklangston at 6:26 PM on March 23, 2006

There's also the (once doubted, now accepted as true) story of Buddy Holocaust.
posted by klangklangston at 6:33 PM on March 23, 2006

Oh I agree, klangklangston, their reach far exceeds their grasp on the project. Also, when you're about to undertake a project like this, either commit to the ruse or don't do it at all. I shouldn't be able to find this album listed on DioGuardi's website, which it is, and I shouldn't hear Stewart talking about it to his fans.

Anyway, thanks for checking out the FPP.
posted by ktoad at 7:01 PM on March 23, 2006

klangklangston - Is that Buddy Holocaust set available online somewhere? The page you linked to mentioned WFMU had it, but I could only find one song (and it was currently offline).
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 7:45 PM on March 23, 2006

NGH. (That's "Not George Harrison" for newbies). Amusing link though, so no feh.
posted by Toecutter at 8:21 PM on March 23, 2006

On one of the sites:

"- Dec, 1997: We welcome you to the "Platinum Weird" Yahoo! Group, moderated by our friend Phil"

That's an anachronism, isn't it? Wasn't it still eGroups in 1997?
posted by litlnemo at 9:03 PM on March 23, 2006

Wow, interrobang was just telling me about this post and the first thing I said was, "Have you ever heard of Marvin Pontiac?" So I come here and Peter H has beat me to it. Oh well. Good post, ktoad, sorry to derail a bit. Fake bands (or would that be faux, cuz, you know, it sounds "official"?) are always intriguing.
posted by sleepy pete at 10:13 PM on March 23, 2006

posted by Dr-Baa at 5:11 AM on March 24, 2006

I could have sworn there was a Beware of Blog thing about it (and I didn't link to WFMU because their site was down yesterday), but here's his hit "We Will Retake Saigon." (If that link doesn't work, I've got a mirror I can post).
posted by klangklangston at 5:14 AM on March 24, 2006

Julian Casablancas blew their cover for me.
posted by bardic at 8:35 AM on March 24, 2006

Kara DioGuardi has also written and produced Paris Hilton's album. Oh, Davey, we hardly knew ye. (It could have been worse. I half expected to see Liz Phair listed.)

when you're about to undertake a project like this, either commit to the ruse or don't do it at all

I'm so with you, ktoad.
posted by dhartung at 9:59 PM on March 24, 2006