Thursday, December 13, 2012

Jobriath: A Cheese Camp Quest For Knowledge (Day 1-Boston Public Library)


A short, visual vignette from World of Wonder, that serves to introduce any foreigners on the topic of Jobriath, the would-be, Great American glitter rock superstar.

For any passers-by or for the rag tag group of Cheese Camp supporters on Facebook, I need not pose a preface to my fascination with Bruce Wayne Campbell (alias Jobriath Boone.) If I am alienating anyone with a hint of bewildered curiosity on my rabid, life-consuming fanboy entanglement, I might want to refer those confused readers to earlier entries concerning this fringe, glam demigod

 Jobriath A.D. (Brattle Theatre, Cambridge, MA) 

Jobriath: a man ahead of his time, whose time has now come...
(http://putcheeseinthatsandwich.blogspot.com/2012/02/jobriath-man-ahead-of-his-time-whose.html)

 I have recently commenced a serious quest to use my human bar code scanner for the purpose of finding and securing any Jobriath-related journalism to my collected pipeline of rock articles.Since I am not an affiliated member of any major academic institution, along with my inhibited means of transportation, my knowledge quest is temporarily stunted. The frequency in which I update this photo album may vary. I aspire to expand my studies across the nation. Roughly a year and a half ago I traveled by bus to the city of New York to unearth and soak up the shelved demos to Jobriath's thinly-veiled autobiographical stage play, 'Pop Star.' Once I procure enough money, I am taking my hobby back to New York for a more in-depth analysis. Other destinations on my agenda include Chicago, IL, Atlanta, GA, and the Library of Congress among other pit stops I may encounter.


A concert advertisement for the Berklee Performance Center in Harvard Square. Jobriath performed here on Wednesday July 23, and Tuesday July 24, in 1974. (Boston After Dark)


According to an online concert roster, Jobriath performed in Boston, at the Berklee Performance Center, following the shows held at the Bottom Line night club in New York. Due to time constraints and a lack of primary sources I was only able to uncover this advertisement in a July 1974 issue of the Boston Phoenix (After Dark.)
 
As you can see, Jobriath received top billing and shared the stage with a parodic jazz rock musician by the name of Sweet Pie. I am yet to perform any further journalistic excavations on Jobriath. I have found several articles on the internet and have filed them in a singularly, Jobriath-focused binder. As far as local periodicals go, I know of a concert review that appeared in the Harvard Crimson on July 26, 1974. The original text is available on the Harvard University Library's website, but I would love to get my hands on the original publication, as preserved by microfiche.

 An empty search for Boston Globe coverage of Jobriath's shows at the Berklee Performance Center.
 Yep, this is what I do for fun. Here is some Boston Globe microfilm from the mid-seventies. After doing a Proquest search, I found a Jobriath-less universe in these archives. 
 The Liberace-envied, old world-flavored courtyard at the Boston Public Library's Central Branch.
 I thought this was a scenic area, so I kicked back with the Kevin Cann Bowie book I am re-borrowing from the Merrimack Valley Library Consortium and wolfed down a mean egg salad sandwich. In addition to the Jobriath ad, I also uncovered some Bowie and New York Dolls spots from the Boston After Dark publication. I hope to upload these at some point, but I still need to invest in a working photo scanner.