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Dave Stewart, best known as 1/2 of the Eurythmics
has re-launched his 70's group Platinum Weird. VH-1 will
be airing a documentary about the history of the group
during the month of July.
Okay so I'm so confused because I read the press release
and the stuff on the websites. Maybe you all can tell
me. What is the Platinum Weird back story of the group
in the 70s?
Dave Stewart-In the years
before I met Annie and between when I was signed to Island
Music I went a bit crazy. It was post Hippie-dom and pre-punk.
They were very sort of weird years for everyone I think
in Britain. I went a bit crazy and off the edge if you
know what I mean and ended up going back and forth to
places like Amsterdam and Berlin and in Amsterdam I met
a girl I really connected with and she came to England
and I met her again and we started writing songs and became
a duo. We became really known in the London sort of scene
playing at that time people were playing at people's houses,
pubs but very quickly we got very known and then Elton
John signed us and we were making an album and the album
was going great and I was thinking, "Wow, this is going
to be it," and then she just disappeared. So that was
pretty briefly the back story.
How did the group manage to keep a fan base when the album
was never released?
Dave Stewart-Because
there were bootleg things and as you know now the web
people have posted up little pictures and bootlegs and
various bits of information. But of course the more and
more this is building about me re-launching it, there
have been a flurry of people on the web particularly Eurythmic
fans looking and finding little stuff and of course there
are people leaking stuff back then.
What led you to reform Platinum Weird at this time?
Dave Stewart-Well
basically I wasn't thinking about reforming it. It was
about a very weird piece of synchronicity that happened.
I was busy working with Kara and we meant to be working
on something else but within the first hour of meeting
we really hit it off so much that we handcuffed each other
together and we had great fun writing songs together.
We came back to America and we wrote more songs and these
songs were immediately becoming an album of a great new
sounding kind of album. Then starting singing to an old
Platinum Weird song and it kinda flipped me out and then
I had a feeling like, "Oh this is like history repeating
itself." We decided to just keep the name Platinum Weird.
For this new album did you re-record the original songs
or record new songs?
Dave &
Kara-We kept some of the original songs
and put a new twist on them. Some songs on the album,
about half of them are brand new songs written by myself
and Kara. And then the album was produced by John Schenks
which also gave it a whole new contemporary twist.
What can you tell me about the documentary that will be
airing on VH-1 about the group?
Dave Stewart-The documentary
kind of visually and story wise kind of explains what
I've just been telling you but it has a lot of other people
in it talking about that band at the time like Mick Jagger,
Stevie Nicks, Elton John, and then it has archive footage
that Elton John's record label had from back then. And
then it cuts right into the modern day and it talks about
Kara and her past and it shows how the power of the songs
lives on. And then it ends with some performances. It's
a journey.
Dave, how does the Platinum Weird situation compare to
your situation with the Eurythmics?
Dave Stewart-Well
musically it's very different because it's more guitar
oriented. It's more rock with melodies and The Eurythmics
started off as a very electronic based and Kara is a completely
different person than Kara. And another thing is Annie
and I used to live together for the first four years as
a couple. We haven't tried that yet.
Will you all tour to support the project?
Dave Stewart-We are
doing all of this because we want to play the songs live.
Where is Erin?
Dave & Kara-We
have to get her name because she will be collecting royalties.
I don't know..this girl was very mysterious when I met
her in Holland and she was always kind of dreamy the thing
is she said she was called Erin Grace and I assumed that
she was but we're convinced that isn't what her name was
or she would have stepped up now. Maybe she will when
the VH-1 documentary airs but I would really like to know
where she is/
What would you all say to the bloggers who feel like
this is just a made up story to promote a new album because
a lot of people doubt the story?
Dave Stewart-Well
the thing is in entertainment and the world of movies
and films there is a very blurry, blurry line between
what's real and what's not real. I remember when Bob Dylan
first came along and he said he was Willie Guthrie's son
and for start he was called Robert Zimmerman not Bob Dylan
David Bowie was called David Jones and where he was from
was very different kind of made a deal and fell to earth
The thing is what is real and what's not real is a blurry
line. I could go through a list of bands from Zepplin
through to bands of today that have come from some kind
mythology or by the time they ended up in some kind of
magical arena so I don't really care what people think
about it.
Related Links-http://www.platinumweird.com
Platinum Weird interview copyright
Dorrie Williams-Wheeler, and Thabiz.com 2006
Dorrie Williams-Wheeler is the author of Be
My Sorority Sister Under Pressure and the Unplanned
Pregnancy Book for Teens and College Students. She is
the founder of Thabiz.com
and Imissthe80s.com
and writes for the Rap,
Teen, and 1980s
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Platinum Weird interview
may not be reprinted, copied or distribute without permission.
You may link to this interview.Interview copyright Dorrie
Williams-Wheeler, thabiz.com July 2006.
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