Welcome to Venus! Your Star-Pilot Curly is here to answer the questions cosmonauts ask most.

Isn't "Velvet Goldmine" just a biography of David Bowie?

Brian Slade is a Bowie-like rock star, but he is definitely not Bowie. Although many of the outrageous scenes in the film are borrowed from history (for example, Shannon's discovery of Brian and Curt in bed together follows a story told by Angela Bowie, who claims she found David in bed with Mick Jagger) Todd Haynes reworks them to tell a story very different from Bowie's real life. In interviews, Haynes says his idea was to do something that Bowie did, to take references from history and integrate them into his work to create something new. Haynes creates a world that is much queerer, and a love story that never happened, using stories that circulated in the press. A good biography of Bowie, such as Christopher Sandford's Bowie: Loving The Alien, show that his life was very different from Brian Slade's. Curt Wild is based on a combination of rock stars who embodied the spirit Haynes wished to convey.

Some of the dialogue in VG sounds familiar, or very literary. Have I heard it somewhere before?

Chances are many of the lines you recognize are taken from Oscar Wilde. "The world has changed because you are made of ivory and gold. The curves of your lips rewrite history" is taken word for word from Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray. Some of the dialogue is taken from interviews with David Bowie, Lou Reed, and Iggy Pop, such as Brian's quote "Because rock-and-roll's a prostitute! It should be tarted up!" is taken from a quote by Bowie, ""I think rock should be tarted up, made into a prostitute, a parody of itself."

Is it Jack Fairy that shoots Maxwell Demon?

No, it isn't Jack Fairy you see in the shadows. Who it is, is not clear. Some people have suggested that Brian wanted the public to think Jack Fairy shot him, and had the killer dressed as Jack. The resemblance may be coincidental.

The plot is confusing. Why are some events out of order in the film?

Like Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction", or "Mystery Train" by Jim Jarmusch, "Velvet Goldmine" follows a current style of filmmaking where events in the film are portrayed out of order to maintain the story's emotional flow. For instance, both Mandy and Arthur experience major turning points at the same time in the film; their realizations are brought about during sexual experiences. Although the events take place at different times chronologically, Haynes combines the orgy scene with Arthur's masturbation scene to recreate for the audience those feelings of shame, jealousy, and sadness that we sometimes associate with sex.

Where can I find guitar tabs for the songs in Velvet Goldmine?

There is no one location for guitar tabs, but if you visit the sites of the individual artists, you will find a few. The only ones not available (alas, probably the only ones people are looking for) are for the original songs, "Hot One", "The Ballad of Maxwell Demon", and "The Whole Shebang".

Who originally wrote and recorded "My Unclean"? Where can I find the lyrics?

Ron Asheton, former member of The Stooges who worked as a session musician and consultant on VG's soundtrack, wrote "My Unclean" specifically for the film. The song has not been recorded elsewhere, and the version in the film is the only version that exists.

Why aren't Jonathan Rhys Meyers' versions of "Hot One" and "Sebastian" and Ewan McGregor's versions of "My Unclean" and "Gimme Danger" included on the soundtrack?

The song "Hot One " is sung by Shudder To Think's Nathan Larson in both the film and on the soundtrack. A different version of the song appears on the soundtrack, leading some to believe that JRM sings the version in the film...it isn't so. "Sebastian " was written and originally recorded by Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel in 1974. The original song is seven minutes long and arranged with full orchestral backup and a huge chorus, and most likely cost a great deal of money to produce. As a filmmaker myself, I'm making an educated guess that the producers of VG could not afford to record a full version of "Sebastian ", choosing instead to have JRM sing the song live for the shoot. The song is supposed to sound silly, and because no full version was recorded, you won't find it on disc anywhere. "Gimme Danger" may not have been included because they could not record a clean studio version (or could not afford to) with the same intensity as the version in the film. (See above question for info on "My Unclean ")

Why are there so many songs in the film that aren't on the soundtrack?

Songs that don't appear on the soundtrack didn't make the cut for two reasons: They did not flow with the selections chosen, and/or the producers could not afford to pay, or did not want to pay, the additional licensing fees that are required when a song is reproduced on a soundtrack. VG is a low-budget film, and Todd Haynes chose to use the money he had for set design, costumes, and lighting, rather than the soundtrack. And because it it is difficult to license a song for use in a film, when both the publishers', writers' and artists' permissions have to be obtained and fees paid to each, it is equally as difficult to license the songs for the soundtrack. "Velvet Goldmine" did not make as much money as Miramax had hoped, and due to the costs, there will not be a second soundtrack issued; it would not be profitable for Miramax. However, many of the songs can be purchased separately on cds by the original artists.