Smack dab between Bowie and Mercury rose a queer rockstar with a fraction of the audience and all of the star quality. Bruce Wayne Campbell, known to the stage as Jobriath, always had stardom in his eyes.
Whether it was dropping out of college, going AWOL on his military draft, or leaving the legendary Aquarius Theater production of Hair (a lead role from which he was reportedly fired for “upstaging” the other girls), Jobriath’s sights seemed to perpetually turn back towards his own future spotlight.
It wasn’t until he was plucked from semi-obscurity by Carly Simon’s old manager Jerry Brandt in the early ’70s that Jobriath’s would find his first true solo hype. His subsequent rise is almost mythologized; his Wikipedia page alone claims he was the first openly gay rock singer signed to a major label (Rufus Wainwright will corroborate), as well as having had “the most lucrative recording contract of [his] time.”
Related: Freddie Mercury’s isolated vocal track from “Somebody to Love” is an absolute powerhouse
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The track “Take Me I’m Yours” comes from his self-titled 1973 debut album, and its explicit grip on sex and sexuality coupled with his general flamboyance truly makes him dazzle.
The song was originally to be performed as part of his TV debut on The Midnight Special, alongside “I’maman”, but the lyrics — as well as the proposed performance thereof — were deemed far too overtly sado-masochistic for the airwaves.
It would be just a decade later that Jobriath would become one of the first major musicians claimed by the AIDS crisis, but songs like “Take Me I’m Yours” live on as a snapshot of a shooting star burning bright at its zenith.
Listen here to the sexy, funk-influenced groove that is “Take Me I’m Yours”:
