Placebo (band)
Placebo is a British alternative rock band, formed in London in 1994 by vocalist-guitarist Brian Molko and bassist-guitarist Stefan Olsdal, and joined in late 1994 with Robert Schultzberg as drummer. Molko was born in Belgium and Olsdal and Schultzberg in Sweden; Molko and Olsdal grew up in Luxembourg before separately relocating to London and becoming British citizens. Schultzberg left the band in 1996 shortly after the release of the band's eponymous debut album due to conflicts with Molko, and was replaced the same year by Steve Hewitt.
Following the release of a demo, a split single, and their eponymous debut album, Placebo gained exposure in 1997 after the single "Nancy Boy" became popular in the UK. The band stood out amongst the Britpop scene of the time because of their androgynous appearance and musical content, as well as Molko's distinctive voice and lyrics which openly discussed sexuality, mental health, and drug use. Their 1998 album Without You I’m Nothing was a massive international breakthrough, going platinum in the UK and gold in France.
Hewitt left Placebo in 2007, due to personal and musical differences. He was replaced the following year by Steve Forrest. Placebo released two albums with Forrest, who left in 2015 to pursue his own musical career. Since 2015, Placebo are officially a duo, though augmented with additional musicians.
Placebo have collaborated with various artists over the years, including David Bowie, Justin Warfield, Michael Stipe and Alison Mosshart. Placebo have released eight studio albums, all of which have reached the Top 20 in the United Kingdom, and have sold around 14 million records worldwide.
History
Formation (1994–1995)
Placebo founders Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal had both attended the American International School of Luxembourg, although they did not interact at the time as they were part of different social circles. The two met by chance in 1994, in London, England. At the time, Olsdal was taking guitar lessons and was on his way home when he met Molko at the South Kensington tube station. Molko, observing that Olsdal had a guitar strapped to his back, invited Olsdal to watch him perform at a local gig. On the strength of Molko's performance, Olsdal decided that they should start a band. The two formed as Ashtray Heart, named after the Captain Beefheart song of the same name. Molko, however, denied in 2009 that Ashtray Heart was the first name of the band, dismissing this as a rumour and claiming that the band had more names initially.Originally, the two were unable to decide on a drummer. They played for a while with Steve Hewitt, a friend of Molko, but Hewitt had prior commitments to local band Breed. Robert Schultzberg assumed the position of drummer in late 1994.
The band eventually chose the name Placebo, due to its meaning in Latin, "I shall please". Molko has frequently stated in interviews that the name is a rejoinder to the 1990s cliché of naming one's band after a drug. In an interview, Molko stated:
It's a complex question to answer, really. As musicians you try to find a name for your band that represents you and you never really do, because, basically, names for bands lose their meaning after a while. They become a series of sounds that you associate with people in music. The most important thing for a name is that you can imagine forty-thousand people screaming it in unison.
Debut album, line-up change and glam connection (1996–1998)
In October 1995, the band released "Bruise Pristine", a split single with the band Soup, on Fierce Panda. Molko would later speak in negative terms about this release.By 1996, Placebo were signed with Caroline Records. Their debut album, the self-titled Placebo, was released on 17 June 1996. The album was produced by Brad Wood and was influenced, according to Molko, by Sonic Youth and Depeche Mode. The release peaked at No. 5 on the UK Albums Chart at the height of the Britpop era: their highest-charting album in the country until 2022. After the album's release, Placebo went on a headline tour across Europe, performing in countries including France, Italy, and Switzerland. When reviewing a concert, the New York Times compared them to bands of the "first wave of post-punk rock, particularly New Order, the Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, early U2 and Talking Heads".
Tension between Schultzberg and the rest of the group had begun to rise in the previous year. The band initially fired him in September 1995, but he was rehired to record the first seven-inch single "Bruise Pristine". After an argument in August 1996, Molko decided that it would be best for the band if Schultzberg left. The band came to an agreement that Schultzberg would leave once they had finished the promotion of Placebo.
Eventually, Schultzberg did indeed leave the band in September 1996, on a United States tour. Before going on stage for their first show in the state of New York, Olsdal informed Schultzberg that he wasn't going on the tour in Germany that was following the US one. At the manager's request, Schultzberg did two more shows with the band in Paris after the US tour, the last of which was a performance on the French TV show Nulle part ailleurs. According to Schultzberg "Molko said that he was 'tired of being the focus of Robert's rages against the world', and quite frankly, I was tired of being his". While Schultzberg was with the band, several early works were recorded, including their first 7" single "Bruise Pristine", the "Come Home" EP, the single version of "Nancy Boy" and their eponymous debut album. On the track "I Know", Schultzberg played didgeridoo as well as drums.
Steve Hewitt, who had played with the band in 1994, joined Placebo as a full-time member at Molko's request.
The most successful song on the debut album was "Nancy Boy", which peaked at number 4 in the UK Singles Chart upon its release in 1997. The song had been written in 1994, being partially inspired by an infamous quote of Suede's Brett Anderson: "I'm a bisexual man who's never had a homosexual experience." Its lyrics were full of sexual allusions, and Molko admitted at the time: "It's not absurd. It's obscene. A song this rude should not be number four in the charts." Note: copy stored at Placebo Official Website. Molko would go on to describe his relationship with the song in a 2016 interview as "very ambivalent", adding that, although he appreciates the fact that the song had been instrumental in their development as a band, he considers it immature.
The song attracted the attention of David Bowie, who invited the band to open several of his concerts in early 1996. The following January, Bowie invited them to play at his 50th birthday celebrations at New York's Madison Square Garden. The party also included Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins, Robert Smith of the Cure and Lou Reed.
The band's glam rock connections continued. In 1998, Placebo recorded a cover of T. Rex's "20th Century Boy" for the Velvet Goldmine soundtrack and the band appeared in minor roles in the film. Bowie made a special appearance on-stage with Placebo during a tour stop in New York as part of the band's late February tour with Stabbing Westward. Placebo played "20th Century Boy" live with David Bowie at the BRIT Awards show in 1999.
Placebo were heavily criticised by the media due to their unorthodox attitude and Brian Molko's androgynous appearance. In a 2016 interview related to their early years, Molko commented:
We were reacting very strongly against the machismo, terrace chants and revisionism of Britpop, and the nationalism that we interpreted as xenophobia of the musical kind. We were trying to make a strong political statement about the fluidity of sexuality with the dresses and make-up that we wore. We set out to confuse, and I guess Nancy Boy was the perfect soundtrack to that.
''Without You I'm Nothing'' and ''Black Market Music'' (1998–2002)
In 1998, Placebo switched to the major label Virgin Records, and issued their follow-up album Without You I'm Nothing on 12 October. The band had a dysfunctional relationship with producer Steve Osborne during the recording of the album, and ended up not speaking to him at all by the time the sessions were over.The album was another large seller in the UK. The US market embraced the album's lead single "Pure Morning", which appeared on MTV and reached number 20 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart, but subsequent singles and videos failed to match the success of its predecessor. "Pure Morning" became Placebo’s highest charting single in the U.S., peaking at number 19 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks. "Pure Morning" enjoyed the same success as "Nancy Boy" in the UK, reaching number 4 in the British chart. The video of the song was nominated for the Best British Video award during the 1999 edition of Brit Awards, but lost to Robbie Williams' "Millennium". Molko subsequently deemed the lyrics of "Pure Morning" as unsatisfying, and refused to perform the song live for nine years.
The band kept enjoying success in the UK, as the second single, "You Don't Care About Us" reached number 5 in the British chart. The third single released was "Every You Every Me", a number eleven hit. The song appeared on the soundtrack for the film Cruel Intentions, which was inspired by the novel Les Liaisons dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos.
The last single on the album, "Without You I'm Nothing" was re-recorded and released as a duet with David Bowie, at Bowie's request. Molko would describe this moment in 2016 as an honour, adding that he realised its importance much later in his career.
The band's third album, Black Market Music, released in October 2000, and produced by Paul Corkett, further experimented with genres outside of the traditional scope of rock. Placebo collaborated with Justin Warfield on "Spite & Malice" and sampled Pavement's "Texas Never Whispers" on "Slave to the Wage". A re-sequenced version released in the US featured a slightly different track listing, adding the aforementioned Bowie version of "Without You I'm Nothing" and the band's cover of Depeche Mode's "I Feel You".
The album generated additional UK top 20 hits in "Taste in Men" and "Slave to the Wage", which reached number 16 and 19 in the UK Singles Chart, respectively.
In a 2001 interview, Molko declared:
I think it's the album we always wanted to make. I think without exaggerating even the tiniest bit, we love it and we've never been so happy with an album. Our debut was fast and rough, punk pop, Without You I'm Nothing showed our melancholy, depressed side and Black Market shows a perfect combination of both sides.
The singer would later become more reserved towards Black Market Music, describing it in 2016 as "real somber", and expressing the regret of not having been involved enough during the production phase.
Placebo encountered resistance from the British music industry upon release of the single "Special K" due to its reference of a ketamine high as a simile for love. Due to this metaphor, the song was censored in the UK. In spite of the controversy, Black Market Music reached number 1 in France and number 6 in the UK.