DEATH OR GLORY

I had forgotten just how good this is:-

mp3 : Marc Almond - The Idol (Part 1)

The first three seconds start off as an homage to The Jean Genie, it soon turns into a sort of Stars on 45 tribute to the glam rock that I recall from the early 70s. Great guitar riffs, amazing backing vocals, and a pumping chorus. This was tailored made for radio,when it was released in 1995, but criminally, it stalled at #44 with next to no support on the mainstream daytime shows. Just too dark a them y'see.....

Oh and if you did make the effort to buy the single, there was real treats tucked away on the b-side:-

mp3 : Marc Almond - Law Of The Night
mp3 : Marc Almond - Adored and Explored (Live at Radio One)
mp3 : Marc Almond - Bedsitter (Live at Radio One)

The 'Unplugged cover' of the Soft Cell hit is particularly wonderful.

No synths - just acoustic guitars and harmonicas. And proof that Marc was a better singer than most gave him credit for.

But if you want to see how great the full version of this single was, here's the full 9 and a bit minute version from the LP Fantastic Star:-

mp3 : Marc Almond - The Idol (All Gods Fall) (Parts 1 & 2)

And while it took a while for his prophesy to come true....he was proved right:-

Hail Hail the Idol
Hail Hail the Idol

Idol be bad
Idol be wild
Martyr your heart
Father a love child
We need all your kinks
And your dark attitude
We live on your sins
And your volatile moods

We love you, we love you
We love you, we love you
You're a pop up poster of a teenage dream
We love you, we love you
We love you, we love you
A fur inferno on a twisted scene

Go for the gold
Never grow old
In the bed or the car
It's the end of the star
Burn yourself out
Do yourself in
Don't try to mend
All gods fall in the end

Hail Hail the Idol
Hail Hail the Idol

We loved you in black
We adored you in pink
Up in the dock
Or drowned in the drink
Wrapped up in foil
Anointed in oil

We love you, we love you
We love you, we love you
Rip out your soul as
you're playing the role
We love you, we love you
We love you, we love you
Nail up your hands to fulfil our demands

Go for the gold
Never grow old
In the bed or the car
It's the end of the star
Burn yourself out
Do yourself in
Don't try to mend
All gods fall in the end

Sweet crucifixion

We hate you, we hate you
We hate you, we hate you
Watch them turn cold as you
start to grow old
We hate you, we hate you
We hate you, we hate you
Vinyl to burn as the crowd starts to turn

Go for the gold
Never grow old
In the bed or the car
It's the end of the star
Burn yourself out
Do yourself in
Don't try to mend
All gods fall in the end

Be what you are
In the bed or the car
In the bath or the bar
It's the end of the star
Burn yourself out
Do yourself in
Don't try to mend
All gods fall in the end

Fail Fail the Idol
Fail Fail the Idol
Fail Fail the Idol
Fail Fail the Idol

All gods fall in the end

Valentino the sheik was the God of them all
But his macho was dented and he took a fall
Garland sang tragedy touching our hearts
But her life was a tragedy more than her art
Fabian and Avalon gold lamed and cute
Kissed fickle fame and went straight down the chute
Elvis the cat loved us tender with youth
But what we were seeing was never the truth
Just wanted to sing but fame made its demands
And died while still young trying to please all his fans
James was a rebel that stood for an age
A drink and a drive and then death took the stage
Poor Billie Holliday paid all her dues
When her close friend the needle gave her the blues
Janis at night cruised for boys on the strip
But death by the bottle is what made her hip
Marylin's beauty showed age every day
But her sinister end helped her keep age away

We love you, we love you
We love you, we love you
We love you, we love you
We love you, we love you

Brian Jones had an aura that Mick soon would crave
But pills and a pool set the scene for the grave
Jim lived his life to put edge to his songs
But he died in the bath to reach where he belongs
Jimi played notes that were all heaven-sent
But the drink and the drugs made sure that's where he went
Osmond and Cassidy records all gold
But they made the mistake of growing too old
Bolan got fat was not pleasant to see
But we loved him again when he met with a tree
Kurt was unhappy with fame and success
A gun in the mouth and one hell of a mess
And who will be next on the big cross of fame?
A white sequinned glove and a big famous name?


Happy Listening.