"The modern world of science and invention... is of particular interest to women." "Histories, like ancient ruins, are the fictions of empires," "while everything forgotten hangs in dark dreams of the past, ever threatening to return." "Lord in heaven." "Madame Wilde!" "Richard!" "Come quickly!" "I want to be a tailor." "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." "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." "♪ Those who know ♪" "♪ They don't let it show ♪" "♪ They just give you one long life ♪" "♪ And you go Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪" "♪ Goes to show ♪" "♪ How winds blow ♪" "♪ The weather's fine and I feel so, so, so ♪" "♪ Birds of prey ♪" "♪ With too much to say ♪" "♪ Oh, what could be my destiny ♪" "♪ Another rainy day ♪" "♪ Why ask why ♪" "♪ For by the by and by ♪" "♪ All mysteries are just more ♪" "♪ Needles in the camel's eye ♪" "Look." "That's Jack Fairy." "Who's Jack Fairy?" "♪ Those who know ♪" "♪ They don't let it show ♪" "♪ They just give you one long life ♪" "♪ And you go Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪" "♪ Why ask why ♪" "♪ For by the by and by ♪" "♪ All mysteries are just more ♪" "♪ Needles in the camel's eye ♪" "The streets of London are ablaze... in sparkle makeup 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." "Brian Slade, he's just so different." "I've never seen anyone like him." "Lipstick Traces- his last album— was just something special to me." "It was an album that just appealed to so many people." "A palpable whir of anticipation... can be felt outside London's Lyceum Theatre... as fans await the final show of Slade's smash world tour." "Security around the performer has tightened... following a recent BBC interview in which he admitted... to premonitions of being assassinated on stage." "Turn it off." "That hasn't deterred any of his enthusiastic and colorful followers, some of whom have been queuing here since" "Brian, 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!" "Put out the torches." "Hide the moon." "Hide the stars." "For once, there was an unknown land, full of strange flowers and subtle perfumes;" "a land of which it is joy of all joys to dream;" "a land where all things are perfect and poisonous." "♪ Well, you're the grand one ♪" "♪ Have you noticed ♪" "♪ When you're walking all the fella boys are fella nervous ♪" "♪ Well, my starship doesn't want me ♪" "♪ And neither does his wife ♪" "♪ I'm glad I caught you on my view screen ♪" "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 love beads have given way to glitter makeup, 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'll they think up next?" "And heading up this flash stampede... is none other than 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 Pauly Small." "Thanks to Slade, today's youngsters are singing a whole new tune." "So you're saying you're a bisexual?" "Yeah." "I like boys, I like girls." "They're 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." "At the moment, having a gay image is the "in" thing." "You know, just like a few years ago, it was trendy to wear a long gray coat... with a Led Zeppelin record under your arm." "Everyone's into this scene because it's 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." "Most of these kids just aren't gonna make it." "That line, "everyone's bisexual," it's a popular thing to say now." "Personally, I think it's meaningless." "♪ Ooh, the sun but it's a crime ♪" "♪ Your mystique ♪" "♪ A momentary seizure ♪" "♪ Oh, love ♪" ""I knew I should create a sensation," gasped the rocket, and he went out." "Okay, 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?" "With this Slade fellow?" "Well, he's a..." "early '70s glam-rock singer." "Told you we can count on Mr. Old Time Rock and Roll." "Count on me for what?" "I thought I was on the Reynolds trip." "Well, you are, but the president isn't due until the eighth, and I need a piece for the Weekender now." "Great." "Oh, now, look." "Next week is the tenth-year anniversary of the whole shooting stunt incident." "I'd like you to find out what happened, where he is today." ""Whatever happened to Brian Slade?"" "Okay?" "Yeah, and, uh, naturally you want me for this because, um, I'm the resident Brit, right?" "No." "No, no, no." "I want you because you remember." "President Reynolds is urging young people everywhere... to sign up at 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 a serious life made so certain I'd forget." "And for what?" "Some meaningless prank a decade old." "Why was it suddenly up to me to figure it out... when clearly there was something, something from the past, spooking me back?" "I didn't realize at the time that it was you." "It's all right, everybody." "What kind of people are you?" "Thank you, Transelectric and C.R.A.," "Microatlanta and Dupree for their generous support." "And thanks to President Reynolds's Committee for Cultural Renewal... for making this broadcast possible." "And thanks to you, the three billion viewers tuning in right now... on global satellite!" "Yesterday upon the stair," "I saw a man that wasn't there." "He wasn't there again today." "How I'd wish he'd go away." "Ten years." "Ten years, and the world had changed so completely... that the life I 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'd 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."" "♪ I won't laugh at you when you boo-hoo-hoo ♪" "♪ 'Cause I love you ♪" "♪ I can turn my back on the things you lack ♪" "♪ 'Cause I love you ♪" "♪ I just like ♪" "♪ The things you do ♪" "♪ Don't you change ♪" "♪ The things you do ♪" "♪ I'm in a spot It's the smile you got ♪" "♪ And I love you ♪" "Can you lend us a couple of quid?" "I got money at home." "You must be mental." "Please." "I swear I got it." "Piss off." "Thanks." "What's it for?" "Give it here, then." "Nothing." "Let's have a look." "Bloody Nora!" "Our kid's one of them pansy rockers." "He's a fucking poof, that one there." "He is not." "That's naff." "That's naff." "You're disgusting." "You know that?" "♪ Well, you're the grand one ♪" "♪ Have you noticed ♪" "♪ When you're walking all the fella boys are very nervous ♪" "♪ Well, my starship doesn't want me ♪" "♪ And neither does his wife ♪" "♪ I'm glad I caught you on my view screen ♪" "♪ Sailor, you're the grand one ♪" "♪ Come and court me ♪" "♪ 'Cause this booing is one of mourning ♪" "♪ When my space suit comes to warm me ♪" "♪ And hold me like a girl ♪ Just going out for a bit." "♪ I am a captain of your gravity ♪" "♪ Maxwell ♪" "♪ Everywhere I see your face ♪" "♪ For the starship over Venus ♪" "♪ To the sun ♪" "♪ But it's a crime your mystique ♪" "♪ Momentary seizure ♪" "♪ Of love, of love ♪" "♪ Well, you're the grand one ♪" "♪ Have you noticed ♪♪" "Today in London, officials confirmed... that the shooting on the fifth of February of singer Brian Slade... at London's Lyceum Theatre was a publicity stunt... mounted by the singer's company, Bijou Music Limited." "Manager Jerry Devine announced today that... his company meant no harm in their escapades, that it was intended solely as entertainment." "Very sad and unfortunate that in this day and age, an artist's quest for artistic freedom... should cost him his career." "Why do you think?" "I don't know." "No, it got too big, I guess." "Too" " Got too schizoid." "You know?" "I mean, he thought he fuckin' was Maxwell Demon in the end, you know?" "And Maxwell Demon, he thought he was God." "♪ We must ♪" "♪ But if it all works out nicely ♪" "♪ You'll get the bonus you deserve ♪" "♪ From doctors we trust ♪" "♪ The fat lady of Limberg ♪" "♪ Looked at the samples that we sent ♪" "♪ And furrowed her brow ♪" "Brian Slade?" "♪ You would never believe that ♪ Oh, yes." "Quite well." "Once upon a time." "So?" "Yes?" "So, um, what was he, um—" "What was he like?" "Who's that?" "Brian?" "Yeah." "Like nothing I'd ever seen before." "And in the end, like nothing he appeared." "He was... elegance, walking arm in arm with a lie." "His real name, in fact, was Thomas, and his father owned a small tiling business in suburban Birmingham." "But Brian never cared much for the suburbs, and, as a young boy, had the rare fortune of spending a summer in London with his aunt— a figure of some ill repute in the Slade family... after she married a cockney in the entertainment field... and followed him off to Deptford." "♪ I never was a one to go and stiff myself♪" "♪ If I like a thing, I like it That's enough ♪" "♪ But a lot of people say that if you like a thing a lot ♪" "♪ It'll grow on you and all that sort of stuff♪" "♪ Oh, I've always held in having it if you fancy it ♪" "♪ If you fancy it that's understood ♪" "♪ And suppose it makes you fat I don't worry over that ♪" "♪ 'Cause a little of what you fancy does you good ♪♪" "Brian's tender introduction to the theatrical underworld... would leave a dramatic impression." "♪ A wop, bop-a-loo-bop a wop bam, boom ♪" "♪ Tutti frutti oh, Rudy♪" "♪ Tutti frutti, oh, Rudy ♪" "♪ Tutti frutti oh, Rudy ♪" "♪ Tutti frutti, oh, Rudy♪" "♪ Tutti, frutti tutti, frutti ♪" "♪ A wop, bop-a-loo-bop a wop-bam-boom ♪♪" "So what are ya?" "A mod or a rocker?" "I'm six of one, half a dozen of the other, really." "Taking their cue from Little Richard, the swank London mods— short for modernists- were the first to wear mascara and lacquer their hair, the first true dandies of pop, and known to just about any indiscretion... where a good suit was involved." "♪ Try if you might No one's in sight ♪" "♪ And we got so much to share ♪" "♪ Talking's fine if you got the time ♪" "♪ I ain't got the time to spare ♪ All right, lads?" "♪ Do you wanna touch ♪ ♪ Yeah ♪" "♪ Do you wanna touch me there, yeah ♪" "♪ Do you wanna touch ♪ ♪ Yeah ♪" "♪ Do you wanna touch me there, where ♪" "♪ There, yeah ♪" "♪ Yeah, oh, yeah ♪" "♪ Oh, yeah ♪" "Style... always wins out in the end." "♪ Don't you know that I'd wait— ♪" "Cheers!" "For Brian, the mods were a glamorous call to arms." "Or at least to London, where three years later at the Sombrero Club in Kensington," "I would hear him sing for the very first time." "Everything, it seemed, started at the Sombrero." "No club in London had a more notorious sway." "And there in the center of it... was Brian's American wife, Mandy, whose dramatic transformation to London party girl... was a constant source of amusement to us all." "You all know me— subtlety's my middle name." "It's as subtle as the piece of skin between my vagina and my anus." "Ooh, la-la." "What's that called?" "Does anyone remember what that's called?" "I don't think I quite remember." "No man's land." "Oh, gosh." "My geesh, darling!" "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and whomever else may be in the house this evening, it is my supreme pleasure to introduce... all you lovely little minskies here tonight... to the Sombrero Club's prettiest star... and my most shimmering hubby." "Shoosh!" "I give you Brian Slade!" "♪ Oh, I was moved by your screen dream ♪" "♪ Celluloid pictures living ♪" "♪ Your death could not kill my love for you ♪" "♪ Take two people romancing ♪" "♪ Smoky nightclub situation ♪" "♪ Your cigarette traces a ladder♪" "♪ Here's looking at you, kid ♪" "♪ Celebrate years ♪" "♪ Here's looking at you, kid ♪" "♪ Wipe away tears ♪" "♪ Long time ♪" "♪ Since we're together ♪" "♪ Now I hope it's forever ♪" "Who is he?" "Some scrubber, my dear." "I assure you." "But not that scruffy, as I last recall." "Oh, you're wicked!" "She won't be back tonight." "Mmm." "So, I introduced myself, told him I was developing... my own management company and on the lookout for new talent." "He introduced me to his wife, asked me what sign I was, and before the week was out we were signing contracts." "You see, Brian believed in the future." "He despised the hypocrisy of the peace and love generation... and felt his music spoke far more to its orphans and its outcasts." "His revolution, he used to say, will be a sexual one." "But in 1970, rock audiences bred on Credence Clearwater and the Beatles... were not entirely sure what to make of this particular brand of revolt." "♪ Radiate simply ♪" "♪ The candle is burning so low for me ♪" "♪ Generate me limply ♪" "Somehow he got it into his head that he had to perform in a frock." "Don't ask me why." "I mean, I thought it was a bit naughty." "A bit of a giggle, but, uh—" "♪ Somebody call me Sebastian ♪" "♪ Somebody call me Sebastian ♪ Hey, who is this geezer then?" "Some shirt-lifter from Birmingham." "Mmm." "♪ Work out a rhyme ♪" "♪ Toss me the time ♪" "♪ Lay me your mind ♪" "♪ And we all know ♪" "Get the fuck off!" "Cut the shite!" "Bugger off, you woofter!" "Fuck off!" "♪ Your Persian eyes sparkle Your lips, ruby blue ♪♪" "Darling?" "Darling, you were fabulous." "Every bit." "I was beaming, truly, like someone's mum." "Well done, Brian." "And they- they adored you." "The whole lot transported." "Transported?" "We went down like a fuckin' knackered lift!" "Brian, I tell you, I think it's simply a matter of presentation, and with the proper backup— Backup?" "What happened to Judy Garland?" "What happened to all your bloody torch song rubbish?" "I know, I know, in a cab ride." "But in the context of a rock show, I see now it's a bit more dodgy." "But the act was there, wasn't it?" "Absolutely." "Next up, all the way from New York City, lead singer and founder of the greatest garage band known to mankind," "Curt Wild!" "Curt Wild." "♪ She don't care ♪" "♪ Yeah, I do mean you ♪" "♪ She don't care ♪" "♪ Yeah, I do mean you ♪" "♪ She got a TV eye on me ♪" "♪ She got TV eye ♪" "♪ She got a TV eye on me ♪" "Curt Wild, founder of the influential garage band The Rats, came from the aluminum trailer parks of Michigan, though rock folklore claims far more primitive origins." "♪ She got a TV eye on me ♪" "♪ She got TV eye ♪" "♪ She got a TV eye on me ♪" "♪ She don't care ♪" "♪ Yeah, I love her so ♪" "♪ She don't care ♪" "♪ Well, I love her so ♪" "♪ She got a TV eye on me ♪ Wanker!" "Wanker!" "♪ She got TV eye ♪" "♪ She got a TV eye on me ♪" "According to legend, when Curt was 13... he was discovered by his mother in the family loo... at the service of his older brother... and promptly shipped off for 18 months of electric shock treatment." "The doctors guaranteed the treatment... would fry the fairy clean out of him." "But all it did was make him bonkers... every time he heard electric guitar." "They despised him." "Yeah." "But when you're abused like that, you know you've touched the stars." "I know." "I just—" "I just wish it'd been me." "I wish I thought of it." "You will, love." "You will." "♪ I'm tired of wasting gas ♪" "♪ Living above the planet ♪" "♪ Mister, show me the way to earth ♪" "♪ The boys from Quadrant 44 with their vicious metal hounds ♪" "♪ Don't come around here no more ♪" "♪ Sometimes I wonder if I'm still alive ♪" "♪ Or six feet down at age 25 ♪" "♪ Maxwell let a demon lock hand jive ♪" "♪ I came down like water♪" "♪ For the age of solar♪" "♪ Give hell to the fathers ♪" "♪ Kiss your sons and your daughters ♪" "♪ Good-bye, good-bye ♪" "♪ Steam steady roller♪" "♪ Mate, it's un-controller♪" "♪ At ten feet tall better walk it back down ♪" "♪ I came down like water♪" "♪ For the age of solar ♪" "♪ Give hell to the fathers ♪" "♪ Kiss your sons and your daughters ♪" "♪ Good-bye, good-bye ♪" "♪ I came down like water♪" "♪ For the age of solar ♪" "♪ At ten feet tall better walk it back down ♪♪" "Nice stuff." "Thanks." "Devine.Jerry Devine, personal management." "I'm interested." "Oh, thank you, but I already have management." "He's, uh— Not in my opinion." "The truth is, you have talent." "That's obvious." "But it doesn't really matter much what a man does with his life." "What matters is the legend that grows up around him." "Today, you're a talented singer." "That's all right." "I can make you a star." "And just how do you propose to do that?" "I will tell you, sir," "when you pin me." "I have never in all my life—" "May the best man win." "♪ Funny how some people ♪" "♪ Never learn at all ♪♪" "♪ We'll take the whole shebang ♪" "♪ All or nothing, anything ♪" "♪ Ecstasy's the birthright of our game ♪" "♪ We'll take the whole shebang ♪" "Earlier tonight on the popular chart show Top of the Pops, newcomer Brian Slade performed his hit single "The Whole Shebang"... dressed in platform boots and wearing glitter eye makeup." "A spokesman for the show, known for showcasing pop's brightest stars, says they've been deluged with calls all evening." "The next day, every schoolgirl in London... was wearing glitter eye makeup, and I was out of a bleeding job." "And that, as they say, was that." "I would not hear another word from Brian— or any of them, for that matter- ever again." "Have you got any, uh, idea what ultimately happened to him?" "I mean, where he is today?" "Last I'd heard he'd returned to Birmingham, but this was... three years ago?" "Four?" "No, I'm sorry." "I'm afraid I can't help you there." "Looks as though it may be unavoidable." "What's that?" "The ex, I'm afraid." "But then every story needs a contrary opinion, and with Mandy you're guaranteed... excesses of both." "Miss Slade?" " Yeah?" " I'm Arthur Stuart." "From the Herald." "We spoke on the phone." "Um, anyway, I've just got, you know, a few questions I want to ask." "It shouldn't take long." "Do you mind if I sit down?" "It's a free country- sort of." "So what are you having?" "Scotch." "Rocks." "Make that two." "Gee, you must be after some damn exclusive copy." "Well, it's a piece on, um, Brian Slade." "What, sort of a memory jog kind of thing?" "Yeah." "You know, it's been, um, ten years since the whole fake shooting incident." "And what a fake it was!" "Tricking us all in the end with such an authentic demise." "His career, you mean?" "I mean, you know, have you got any idea what happened to him... or where he is today?" "Can't you just run him through the files and punch in the name?" "No, not exactly." "Because honestly, darling," "I haven't spoken with Mr. Slade in... seven years, at least." "Seven years." "Wow." "Wow." "Yeah." "At least." "Smoke?" "No thanks." "No, right after everything crashed, we, uh— we split." "And Brian, he just—" "became someone else." "Then again, he always was." "That's ten bob to you, mate." "It was new year's eve, 1969— the start of a new decade." "And everywhere you went, there was this sense of the future, the feeling in the air that anything was possible." "Oh, my favorite song!" "See, Jack Fairy had also come to London in the swinging '60s." "And in crowded clubs or hotel bars, this shipwreck of the streets... rehearsed his future glory." "A cigarette tracing a ladder to the stars." "Maricon." "Epicene." "Sexe douteux." "Le vice anglais." "I needn't mention how essential dreaming is... to the character of the rock star." "Jack, darling!" "Jack was truly the first of his kind." "A true original." "Everybody stole from Jack." "But from the moment Brian Slade stepped into our lives, nothing would ever be the same." "It was his nature." "♪ You got me, girl on the runaround, runaround ♪" "♪ Got me all around town ♪" "♪ You got me, girl on the runaround ♪" "♪ And it's getting me down ♪" "♪ Getting me down ♪" "♪ Lady, if you want to find a lover♪" "♪ Then you look no further♪" "♪ 'Cause I'm gonna be your only ♪" "♪ Searchin' ♪" "♪ At the start of the season ♪" "♪ And my only reason ♪" "♪ Is that I'll get you ♪" "Do you jive?" "♪ The sun will show ♪" "♪ We're a connection ♪" "♪ Hiding my intentions ♪" "♪ Then I'll move up close to you ♪" "♪ I'll use you ♪" "♪ And I'll confuse you ♪" "♪ And then I'll hold you ♪" "♪ Still you won't suspect me ♪" "So I married him." "♪ I was dancing when I was 12 ♪" "Time" "♪ I was dancing since I was 12 ♪ places, people" "♪ I was dancing when I was 12 ♪ they're all speeding up." "♪ I danced myself right out the womb ♪" "So to cope with this evolutionary paranoia," "♪ I danced myself right out the womb ♪ strange people are chosen..." "♪ Is it strange to dance so soon ♪ who through their art... ♪ I danced myself right out the womb ♪ can move progress more quickly." "It was the most stimulating and reflective period... of our marriage." "♪ I was dancing when I was eight ♪" "♪ Is it strange to dance so late ♪" "Thank you and welcome, pop pickers, to Pick of the Pops." "I'm Davy Rocket, and we have a very special show for you today, dedicated to one of pop's blazing new talents... and one who's been holding a virtual reign over the British charts... for a startling, record-breaking eighteen-month span." "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the incomparable Brian Slade!" "Or should I say, Maxwell Demon!" "The bloke at the front." "Brian, why the makeup?" "Why?" "Because rock and roll is a prostitute." "It should be tarted up, performed." "The music is the mask, while I, in my chiffon and taff" "Well, varda the message." "The bloke in the suit." "What about your fans?" "Aren't they likely to get the wrong impression?" "And which wrong impression is that?" "Well, that you're a blinking fruit." "Well, thank you, sir." "And, no, it doesn't concern me in the least." "I should think that if people were to get the wrong impression of me, the one to which you so eloquently refer, it wouldn't be the wrong impression in the slightest." "That's me!" "That's me, Dad!" "That's me!" "I mean, everybody knows most people are bisexual." "Any more questions?" "I was- Yeah, woman with the beret." "I was under the impression that you were married and living in north London." "I am married." "Quite happily, in fact." "I just happen to like boys as much as I like girls." "And seeing as my wife feels pretty much the same about such things," "I should think we've been able to make a fairly decent go of it so far." "All right." "Any more questions?" "Okay, thank you very much." "For the first time in Brian's life, he was simply telling it like it was." "Did he realize what he'd actually done?" "How could he have?" "I mean, today there'd be fighting in the streets." "But in 1972, it was more like dancing." "♪ Make me a deal and make it straight ♪" "♪ Signed and sealed I'll take it ♪" "That man sitting over there in the white suit... is the biggest thing to come out of this country since sliced Beatles." "Outside this country, no one knows who the hell he is." "You people, you're gonna change all that." "You guys, you're the actors." "It's up to you to change Brian Slade, pop singer, into Maxwell Demon, space-age fuckin' superstar." "Nothing fantastic about it." "Why?" "Because the secret of becoming a star... is knowing how to behave like one." "Hey, kids, let's put on a show!" "Precisely." "Action!" "Cut!" "Cut!" "Cut!" "Cut!" "I know it's unprecedented." "I know it's unorthodox." "But, sir, if you want Brian Slade, those are the terms." "You may take them or leave them." " Yes?" " I'm Shannon Hazelbourne." " Who?" " I rang up about the position." " The what?" " Um, assistant clerical aid." "Oh, the position." "Right." "Brilliant." "Follow me." "Crash!" "Zounds!" " Now, Shannon." "I realize, of course, your talents lie within the clerical arts, but I was wondering, per chance, if you had any experience of wardrobe?" "Um, no, never." "Fantastic!" "I think that's everything." "No, I said I didn't." "Everybody, I'd like to introduce you... to our lovely new wardrobe mistress." "Um—" "Shannon." "Shannon!" "Excellent." "Yes, Mr. Weinberg." "Thank you very much indeed, sir." "Cheers." "Extraordinary." "What, Jerry?" "What?" "So tell me, Master Demon." "Who would you most fancy meeting... in America?" "Oh, Garbo, Brian." "Please!" "Brando for me." "Einstein." "Very sorry, chickee." "He's dead." "Jerry said anyone." "Brian!" "Who?" "Curt Wild." "I want to meet Curt Wild." "And meet Curt Wild we did." "♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah ♪" "♪ No, no, no, no no, no, no, no ♪" "♪ Well, we can't take it this week ♪" "♪ And her friends don't want another speech ♪" "♪ Hopin' for a better day ♪" "♪ To hear what she's gonna say ♪" "♪ All about that personality crisis ♪" "♪ You got it while it was hot ♪" "♪ But now frustration and heartache ♪" "♪ Is what you got ♪" "♪ That's why they talk about personality ♪" "♪ But now you're tryin' to be some and now you're gonna do some ♪" "♪ You wanna be someone with cow-wow-wows ♪" "Mr. Wild." "Yeah?" "I'm Rodney from Electra." "I have Brian Slade here from England.Just wanted to pop over, say hello." "I just wanted to say, I think your music is tops, really." "Smashing." "Best of the lot." "Smashing." "Top hole." "Jolly f" "Sorry, darling." "Now at that time, Curt Wild was between management, and Brian knew this, of course, and urged Devine to pursue the situation." "And so if, in that probability, an interest arose... in which Brian would serve on some projects, possibly, though not exclusively, as—" "We're takin' our lead from you here, Curt." "Possibly as a producer on that project, how might that scenario, purely hypothetically- how might that scenario appeal to you at this juncture?" "Well, I-I— What Jerry's tryin' to say is, do you want to come to London to cut a record?" "Oh, yeah." "Cool." "Very good." "But-But how can we help you?" "You must tell us." "What do you need?" "Everything." "See, heroin was my main man." "Yeah, but now I'm on the methadone... and I'm getting my act together, and you come here and say... you wanna help, and I say, "Hey, far out."" "You could be my main man." "It was pretty clear what was happening." "Happens every day." "But for the world to think it was happening, well, that was Jerry's particular genius." "Right away he started promoting the two of them... like a pair of'40s starlets on the swoon—" "Tracy and Hepburn for the '70S." " ♪ Bum, bum, bum ♪ - ♪ Satellite of love ♪" "♪ Satellite of♪" "♪ Satellite's gone way up to Mars ♪" "♪ Soon it'll be filled with parkin' cars ♪" "♪ I watched it for a little while ♪" "♪ I love to watch things on TV ♪" "♪ Bum, bum, bum ♪ ♪ Satellite of love ♪" " ♪ Bum, bum, bum ♪ - ♪ Satellite of love ♪" "♪ Satellite of♪" "♪ I've been told that you've been bold ♪" "♪ With Harry, Mark and John ♪" "♪ Monday and Tuesday Wednesday through Thursday ♪" "♪ With Harry, Mark and John ♪♪" "♪ If I could have grown ♪" "♪ All up on my own ♪" "♪ If I could have grown I grew ♪" "♪ If I could have grew I do ♪" "♪ If I had a throne ♪" "My career was on the skids, mate, and you fished me out of the muck." "You got me back on my feet, you did." "It was nothing, chum." "I wanted to help you make more of that far-out sound." "I love your music, my son, and I love" "♪ Hey, let's do it like we're friends ♪" "You don't have to say it, mate." "♪ At last the crimson chord cascade ♪" "♪ To shower dry cordials within ♪" "♪ Too late to leap the chocolate gate ♪" "♪ Pale fountains fizzing forth pink gin ♪" "♪ Bum, bum, bum ♪ ♪ While destiny begins to fly ♪" "♪ Bum, bum, bum ♪ ♪ The farmyard chorus sings its wake ♪" "♪ Bum, bum, bum ♪ ♪ Upstanding anthem to the sky ♪" "♪ Too soon to realize their fate ♪" "Every great century that produces art is, so far, an artificial century." "And the work that seems the most natural and simple of its time... is always the result of the most self-conscious effort." "I'm not really myself, except... in the midst of elegant crowds, at the heart of rich districts, or amid the sumptuous ornamentation of palace hotels, an army of servants... and plush carpet underfoot." "What's true about music is true about life." "That beauty reveals everything... because it expresses nothing." "The first duty in life is to assume a pose." "What the second duty is, no one has yet found out." "The aesthete gives characteristically cynical evidence, replete with pointed epigram and startling paradox, while explaining his views on morality in art." "Brian!" "Brian!" "Brian!" "Maxwell Demon is the story of a space creature who becomes a rock and roll messiah, only to be destroyed by his own success." "Are you saying this is your destiny?" "Are you Maxwell Demon?" "Man is least himself when he talks in his own person." "Give him a mask and he'll tell you the truth." "Is it your belief that all dandies are homosexual?" "Ha!" "Nothing makes one so vain as being told one is a sinner." "Hey!" "Comin' through!" "Comin' through!" "Hey, guys, watch out." "Excuse me." "Comin' through." "Careful now." "There you go." "Tell us, Brian." "Are the rumors true when they say you and Curt Wild... have some sort of plans up your sleeve?" "Oh, yes." "Quite soon we actually plan to take over the world." "Excuse me, fellas, while I raise a glass to the loveliest man in Europe." "Ooh!" "And they tell you it's not natural." "The world is changed 'cause you are made of ivory and gold." "The curves of your lips rewrite history." "♪ Baby's on fire ♪" "♪ Better throw her in the water♪" "♪ Look at her laughing ♪" "♪ Like a heifer to the slaughter♪" "♪ Baby's on fire ♪" "♪ And all the laughing boys are bitching ♪" "♪ Waiting for photos ♪" "♪ Oh, the plot is so bewitching ♪" "♪ Rescuers row, row ♪" "♪ Do your best to change the subject ♪" "♪ Blow the wind Blow, blow ♪" "♪ Lend some assistance to the object ♪" "♪ Photographers snip snap ♪" "♪ Take your time She's only burning ♪" "♪ This kind of experience ♪" "♪ Is necessary for her learning ♪" "♪ If you'd be my flotsam ♪" "♪ I could be half the man I used to ♪" "♪ They said you were hot stuff♪" "♪ And that's what baby's been reduced to ♪" "That's it!" "Jim, what are you gonna do?" "Jim!" "Thank God!" "A woman!" "Could you conceivably turn down that blasted— Arthur!" "Arthur, open this door!" "You bring shame to this house." "You bring shame to your mother and me." "It's a shameful, filthy thing you're doing." "Do you hear me?" "Stand up!" "It's funny how beautiful people look when they're walking out the door." "Really, Shannon, it's no problem." "Honestly." "I mean, I'm not frustrated." "I'm kind of open about it." "I was having a fabulous time last night myself." "Really, love." "You shouldn't let it upset you so." "Brian's a grown man... and fully capable of shagging whatever he fancies, and exceedingly partial to the practice." "Now, just because someone sees, you know, two naked people asleep in bed together, it doesn't necessarily prove sex was involved." "It does, however, make for a very strong case." "But you're a sweet, sensitive darling... to be so broken up about it." "Brian would be absolutely chafed to know that you feel this way." "Don't you dare tell Brian!" "Ow!" "Swear to me you'll never say a word, ever." "I swear." "Jesus!" ""A sudden change in plans." ""A brief holiday— much needed." ""Back by Hammersmith." "B."" "That was it." "Look, I'm sorry." "I wish I could help you more." "You seem like a nice guy." "I just, uh—" "Don't think I have what you're looking for." "See, I think you do, actually." "Oh, yeah?" "And what makes you think so?" "Well, that smile, for one thing." "Well, smiles lie." "Exactly." "Listen." "Once, of course, there was a gorgeous, gorgeous time." "We were all... living our dreams." "You see, all that went away." "All of it." "With Curt." "And not even the real Curt." "I mean, it was the idea of Curt, more than anything." "This, uh, this—" "Image, which, of course, nobody could ever possibly live up to." "I mean, Maxwell Demon, Curt Wild." "They were fictions!" "♪ Won't you come with me ♪" "Somewhere along the way," "Brian seemed to get lost in the lie." "♪ Come and take my hand ♪" "♪ And we'll find a thrill ♪" "♪ Can't you see ♪" "♪ I wanna tear it down ♪" "♪ Come with me ♪" "♪ I wanna ♪" "♪ Kick it all around ♪ Shit!" " Cut it." " Should I stop it?" "♪ Tell me what you need ♪" "♪ I wanna be your unclean ♪" "♪ And I'll be your dream ♪" "He's gonna hit the bridge a half verse early." " Now you're simply wasting tape." " All right, cut it." "♪ And I'll set— ♪" "What?" "What?" "Is there a problem?" "Again." "What?" "What?" "I'm sorry, Curt." "It appears- What?" "Curt, we only ask that when you decide to make a change, you simply inform us in advance so Eton here is properly prepared." "Otherwise— I don't know what the fuck you're talkin' about, man." "I didn't make any fuckin' change." "Brian." "Fuckin' motherfucker!" "Motherfucker!" "You're a motherfucker!" "Fuck you!" "Fuck you, Motherfucker!" "Fuck you!" " Fuck!" " Eton." "Eton, please." "I'm sorry to be the one to have to tell you this, but what started off as an interesting experiment has quite frankly... descended into a demeaning waste of your time and mine." "I mean, you've already spent 40 hours studio time— Thirty-six." "Whatever." "Thirty-six hours studio time on two, three bloody cuts?" "Brian, you seem to forget, you're a very big star now, and I think your time is worth a great deal more than this." "...Space queen on your fuckin' high horse, and all your fuckin' henchmen!" "Fuck you!" "Perhaps it's time for another little break, eh, fellas?" "Give us a stretch?" "Mate." "Jerry?" "I can't risk extending his contract, Brian." "I think it's quite clear why." "Talk to you tomorrow." "Piss off!" "Go on, then!" "Back to your wolves!" "Your junkie twerps!" "Your bloody shock treatment!" "And fuck you too!" "♪ Well, this ♪" "♪ Is such a sad affair♪" "♪ I've opened up my heart ♪" "♪ Oh, so many times ♪" "♪ But now it's closed ♪" "Out." ""O-U-T."" "Well, Brian, I'm afraid that is completely out of the question." "You are contractually bound... to finish the Maxwell Demon tour as Maxwell Demon." "Jerry, I'm tellin' you, it's gettin' too far out of hand." "Brian, Brian, I realize you're under tremendous strain, but you've just gotta hang on in there and finish the bloody tour." "You hang on in there." "I'll hang on here, right?" "And then you can do what you want, okay?" "♪ Every salty tear ♪" "♪ But when the show's in full swing ♪" "♪ Every once in a while ♪" "♪ High-stepping chorus lines means I'm forgetting ♪" "♪ Mein lullaby, Liebchen ♪" "♪ Liebchen ♪" "♪ How rich in contrast ♪" "♪ Love can be ♪" "♪ Sometimes I'm quite amused ♪" "♪ To see it twist and turn ♪" "♪ To taste ♪" "♪ Both sweet and dry ♪" "♪ These vintage years ♪" "♪ Lovers you consume my friend ♪" "♪ As others ♪" "♪ Their wine ♪" "♪ Nein ♪" "I don't believe that there is much of a future to speak of." "We're in a bit of a decadent spiral, aren't we?" "Sinking fast." "Big brother, baby, all the way." " Which is why we prefer impressions to ideas." " Situations to subjects." "Brief lights to sustained ones." " Exceptions to types." " And yourself?" "Well," "I'm-I'm just lookin' for a room at the moment." "♪ And now ♪" "♪ As you turn to leave ♪" "♪ You try to force a smile ♪" "♪ As if to compensate ♪" "♪ Then you break down ♪" "♪ And cry ♪♪" "So for one entire day," "I actually believe Brian's been shot, that the whole thing is real, all his paranoia has proven horribly true." "You mean, no one told you?" "Nope." "Why?" "Forgot." "Jesus." "I mean, I knew it was over." "I just... didn't know it was up to me to make it stop." "Mandy." "Hello, Brian." "No, thanks." "These are the papers." "I, uh, believe they're in order." "All you need to do is sign." "So you won't forget." " I already have." " Evidently." "Fuck you, Brian!" "Did you ever, for one bloody second in your life, want anything more than this?" "No." "Your problem... is you get what you want and do what you will." "Worlds, Mandy, are built out of suffering." "There's suffering at the birth of a child as at the birth of a star." "You live in terror of not being misunderstood." "Women defend themselves by attacking, just as they attack by sudden and strange surrenders." "I lost my girlhood, true." "But it was for you." "What in God's name is going on up here?" "How the fuck did you get in here?" "Brian, I am really sorry about that." "That's all right, Shannon." "Mandy was just leaving." "Mandy, if you'd be so kind as to follow me" "Let go of me!" "I am perfectly capable of making my own—" "I really don't want to have to call someone." "Call someone?" "I am his wife, for fuck's sake!" "Fuck the lot of you!" "Was that the last time you saw him?" "No." "I saw him again, briefly, a few weeks later at a concert." "He was performing'?" "No." "Curt was actually performing." "He and Jack Fairy had just finished their Berlin record... and Curt was in London playin' some gigs, and Brian was there." "For a second." "I don't think anyone even saw him." "Which concert?" "Uh, it was like a tribute, a sort of... farewell concert to glam rock." "To save your wild, wild lives, to ne'er your fans embitter, to cease your sad demise, tonight we toast—" "♪ Oh ♪" "♪ Friends say it's fine Friends say it's good ♪" "♪ Everybody says it's just like Robin hood ♪" "♪ I move like a rat talk like a cat ♪" "♪ Sting like a bee ♪" "♪ Babe, I'm gonna be your man ♪" "♪ And it's plain to see you were meant for me ♪" "♪ Yeah, I'm your toy your 20th century boy ♪" "Is this working?" "Because I want it blue-er." "I don't think you should bother." "I think I should go on stage tonight instead of you." "Arthur, come on." "Give me a hand with this." "Come on." "Come on." "I'm stuck." "Stop moving about, dude." "My eyeliner." "I'm trapped!" "I'm being attacked by a bloody porno!" "♪ And it's plain to see you were meant for me ♪" "♪ Yeah, I'm your boy Your 20th century toy ♪" "♪ 20th century boy ♪" "♪ I wanna be your toy ♪" "♪ 20th century boy ♪" "♪ I wanna be your toy ♪" "♪ 20th century boy ♪" "♪ I wanna be your toy ♪" "♪ 20th century boy ♪" "♪ I wanna be your toy ♪♪" "♪ Oh, cheeky cheeky ♪" "♪ Oh, naughty sneaky ♪" "♪ You're so deceptive ♪" "♪ And I wonder how you knew ♪" "♪ But this page don't walk too well ♪" "What is your reaction to the tour so far?" "The tour's been a tremendous success." "Um, and due to the overwhelming demand, there will be additional shows added... whenever and wherever possible." "Regrettably, Mr. Stone only has time for a few brief questions this morning, as he has a plane to catch to Zurich." "Tommy!" "Tommy!" "♪ You were always so charming ♪" "♪ As you paid your way out there ♪" "Lou." "Lou!" "Lou!" "Lou!" "Lou!" "Sorry, Arthur." "I'm late." "I think I'm on to something." "What?" "Something quite big." "I think I know who Brian Slade is." " Aw, that story's been dropped." " What?" "Why?" "I need you on the Stone show." "But that's it!" "What did they say to ya?" "Lou!" "Hi." "Yeah, um, my name's Arthur Stuart, from the Herald." "Um, I was, uh— I was given this number." "Uh, I was told I could reach Curt Wild, uh, here." "Listen." "Yeah?" "Hello?" "Hello?" "What am I supposed to say?" "Listen." "I don't know who the hell gave you this number, but Curt Wild is not available and not interested... in granting you or anyone else an interview on this subject." "You got it?" "I'm sorry." "I was" " I was told—" "♪ Oh, give me danger little stranger♪" "♪ And I'll feel you bleed ♪" "♪ Oh, give me danger little stranger♪" "♪ And I'll heal your disease ♪" "♪ There's nothin' in my veins ♪" "♪ But some ugly memory ♪" "♪ Kiss me like the ocean breeze ♪" "♪ Well, if you will be my lover♪" "♪ I will shield you from tears ♪" "♪ But if you will be my master ♪" "♪ Then I will do anything ♪" "♪ There's nothin' left alive but some ♪" "♪ Dark glassy eyes ♪" "♪ Erase my feelings one more time ♪" "♪ Hey, come on, gimme danger♪" "♪ Die, little stranger♪" "♪ Swear you're gonna feel me ♪" "♪ Come on, little stranger Die a little later♪" "♪ Swear you're gonna feel me ♪" "♪ Swear you're gonna feel me ♪" "♪ Gimme danger♪" "♪ Little stranger♪" "♪ Gimme danger♪" "♪ Little stranger♪" "♪ Oh, gimme danger♪" "♪ Every day ♪" "♪ Can you feel it ♪" "♪ I got a feelin' ♪" "♪ I got a feelin', got a feelin' ♪" "♪ I got a feelin' I got a feelin' ♪" "♪ I wanna feel it ♪" "♪ Oh, I wanna feel it ♪" "♪ I wanna feel it I wanna feel it ♪" "♪ Feel it I wanna feel it ♪" "♪ I wanna fuckin' feel it ♪" "♪ I wanna feel it I wanna feel it ♪" "♪ Feel it, feel it, feel it ♪♪" "That was really beautiful." "Yeah?" "Yeah." "Thanks." "Did you see, uh—" "No, I didn't see him." "It's only now, lookin' back, that I see how you patched through my walls... and entered my life... in waves." "Come closer." "Don't be frightened." "What's your name?" "Favorite color?" "Song?" "Movie?" "Don't be nervous." "Are you high?" "I'm on a button." "He was waitin' for me." "I'd followed his signals and slipped away." "And now, suddenly—" "Hey." "Make a wish." "Hey." "Make a wish... and see yourself... on stage, inside out," "tangle of garlands in your hair." "Of course you are pleasantly surprised." "Softly, he said—" "I will mangle your mind." "♪ Like a peppermint eaten away ♪" "♪ Will I fight Will I swagger or sway ♪" "♪ Hee-hee, milady ♪" "♪ She cries like a baby ♪" "♪ To scold us ♪" "♪ See her tumbling down ♪" "♪ Down, tumbling down ♪" "♪ See her tumbling down ♪" "♪ Tumbling down ♪" "♪ Hail to the monkey ♪" "♪ We're having a funky reunion ♪" "♪ Wasted and sunk ♪" "♪ He can only have Sunday communion ♪" "♪ He's got nicotine stains in his eyes ♪" "♪ He's got nothing to protect but his pride ♪" "♪ Oh, smother a kiss ♪" "♪ Or be drowned in blissful confusion ♪" "♪ See her tumbling down ♪" "♪ Down, tumbling down ♪" "♪ See her tumbling down ♪" "♪ Tumbling down ♪" "♪ See her tumbling down ♪" "♪ Down, tumbling down ♪" "♪ Tumbling down ♪" "Tommy!" "Whoo-hoo!" "Tommy!" "♪ Oh, cheeky, cheeky ♪" "♪ Oh, naughty, sneaky ♪" "Tommy, where did you get the idea for such a spectacular stadium show?" "Tell you the truth?" "It's a bloody pain in the ass." "The whole thing takes six full-size rigs or three chartered planes to transport." "What can I say?" "I think big." "Tommy, over here." "Tommy, what's your opinion of the work... that President Reynolds has been doing?" "Excellent." "Excellent I think he's doing brilliant work." "He's a, uh, tremendous leader, a, uh, tremendous spokesperson for the needs of the nation today." "Tommy, what's your response to the recent allegations... connecting' you with bisexual pop singer Brian Slade, who staged his own assassination ten years ago in London?" "Ladies and gentlemen, that's all that Mr. Stone has time for this evening." "Thank you very much." "Get out!" "Get out!" "Now!" "Out!" "Stone is promoting his Grammy-winning release," ""People Rocking People," to sold-out arenas worldwide." "Beer, please." "Excuse me, sir." "Are you with the Tommy Stone tour?" "No.Just a journalist." "Perhaps you'd like my, uh, press pass as a souvenir." "Thanks, sir." "You're Curt Wild." "Yeah." "Who the hell are you?" "I'm a journalist from the Herald." "You were at the concert?" "It's just funny, 'cause, uh," "I was tryin' to contact you, actually, about a story I was doin' about an old friend of yours." "Brian Slade." "I was tryin' to find out what actually happened to him." "Look" "I mean, before he became... such a mystery." "Look, man, I don't know who you've been talkin' to or what you're after here, but—" "What?" "What?" "Listen." "A real artist creates beautiful things, and puts nothing of his own life into them, okay?" "Is that what you did?" "No." "We set out to change the world." "Ended up just changing' ourselves." "What's wrong with that?" "Nothing." "If you don't look at the world." "Well, I guess in the end he got what he wanted." "That's quite a pin you got there." "Oh, yeah." "Is it old?" "Possibly." "Belonged to Oscar Wilde." "Or so I was told by the person that gave it to me." "Friend of mine... who kinda disappeared some years back." "I forget where we were." "We were on a trip." "But he said to me, "Curt, a man's life is his image."" "Here." "Why don't you hang on to it." "Me?" "Sure." "Why not?" "I've had it too long, anyway." "Go ahead." "For your image." "Really." "I couldn't." "But thanks." "God, I love this song." "Anyway." "Yeah." "I'll, uh, see you around." "Cheers." "He called it a freedom." "A freedom you can allow yourself." "Or not." "♪ Oh, I was moved by your screen dream ♪" "♪ Celluloid pictures living ♪" "♪ Your death could not kill our love for you ♪" "♪ Take two people romantic ♪" "♪ Smoky nightclub situation ♪" "♪ Your cigarette traces a ladder♪" "♪ Here's looking at you, kid ♪" "♪ Celebrate years ♪" "♪ Here's looking at you, kid ♪" "♪ Wipe away tears ♪" "♪ Long time since we're together♪" "♪ Now I hope it's forever♪" "♪ Here's looking at you, kid ♪" "♪ Hard to forget ♪" "♪ Here's looking at you, kid ♪" "♪ At least not yet ♪" "♪ Your memory stays ♪" "♪ It lingers ever ♪" "♪ Will fade away never ♪" "♪ Will fade away never♪♪" "♪ You've done it all ♪" "♪ You've broken every code ♪" "♪ And pulled the rebel to the floor♪" "♪ Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba ♪" "♪ You spoiled the game ♪" "♪ No matter what you say ♪" "♪ For only metal ♪" "♪ What a bore ♪" "♪ Blue eyes, blue eyes ♪" "♪ How can you tell so many lies ♪" "♪ Come up and see me make me smile ♪" "♪ Or do what you want ♪" "♪ Runnin' wild ♪" "♪ There's nothing left ♪" "♪ All gone and run away ♪" "♪ Maybe you'll tarry for a while ♪" "♪ Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba ♪" "♪ It's just a test ♪" "♪ A game for us to play ♪" "♪ Win or lose, it's hard to smile ♪" "♪ Resist, resist ♪" "♪ It's from yourself you have to hide ♪" "♪ Oh, come up to see me to make me smile ♪" "♪ Or do what you want running' wild ♪" "♪ There ain't no more ♪" "♪ You've taken everything ♪" "♪ From my belief in Mother Earth ♪" "♪ Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba ♪" "♪ Can you ignore ♪" "♪ My faith in everything ♪" "♪ 'Cause I know what faith is and what it's worth ♪" "♪ Away, away ♪" "♪ And don't say maybe you'll try ♪" "♪ Oh, come up and see me to make me smile ♪" "♪ Or do what you want just runnin' wild ♪" "♪ Ooh-ooh la-la-la ♪" "♪ Come up and see me ♪" "♪ Make me smile ♪" "♪ Or do what you want ♪" "♪ Runnin' wild ♪" "♪ Ooh-ooh la-la-la ♪" "♪ Come up and see me to make me smile ♪♪"