Arthur Stuart (Christian Bale’s character in Velvet Goldmine) is sitting in his school classroom. As the teacher speaks of lawyers and judges, his mind whistles and drifts, dreaming of traveling in two’s and how daddy found his mum’s pills. Blinking hard, he’s back in his room, sliding on tight fitting, midnight blue glam smoking jacket and red glitter platform shoes. Arthur heads out the door and makes his way down to Piccadilly Circus to meet Curt Wild and Brian Slade for what will no doubt be, a night to remember and forget.
They walk down the stairs of the dark, dank club where Warhol sits idol in the corner, gazing in vague observation while Ziggy Stardust captivates the onlookers, dressed in glitter and feather boas. Bells from the cathedral chime, and suddenly he’s marching down the street in sequenced procession, as if this was his path to execution. The alley opens into a meadow, where he finds himself running in slow motion towards his Wild betrothed. They bash their heads together in classic, Benny Fashion; pop on the shiny blue scooter nearby, and head for the vineyards of Italy, smiling and giggling all the way.
Arthur is suddenly awoken by the slap of his teacher’s ruler on his head. He’s still in high school. Buggers.
Velvet Goldmine came out in 1998. Starlight Mint’s Drowaton missed its chance at completing the movie’s soundtrack by eight years, and from going down in Glam Rock’s history books by more than 30 years. Thankfully, the band’s imagination travels time and distance quickly from the streets of London to their home state of Oklahoma. This album’s simply the tops mate.
