visions
| Visions on Alphaville´s music
by Alphaville, from various sources: Prostitute (album 1994) An interview with Marian about the booklet Title (Moonpaper No. 3+4/94) Why is the album called ´Prostitute´ ? "The title ´Prostitute´ doesn´t represent any concept of our new album.It represents the mechanism of the media, with which Alphaville has to deal, when we release a new album.This environment is ruled by the restrictions of a market, where numerous ´Pop Music Products´ compete with one another, more or less on every virtual street corner.(This could also be called the ´Red Light District´ of the record industry, MTV and Viva as the Eros Centers).But there is a further noteworthy correlation between the career of a prostitute and that of an artist/pop musician: Both groups try to sell something which can´t actually be measured for it´s worth in terms of money. ´Prostitute´ should mean, that the tricks of both of these groups use for their purposes are more or less identical. Proof: Whores as well as musicians have the same strange bad taste in clothes. And: Managers and record company bosses look astoundingly similar to pimps." Front cover (Moonpaper No. 3+4/94) Could you tell us something about the cover ? Who is the painter ? What was the idea behind it ? "The painter and creator of the CD booklet is Harland Miller. The idea for the front cover was the result of intensive conversations between him and the band and the lucky coincidence, that Harland was working together with an exhibition in New York doing a series on animal pictures.We had the idea of the poodle motif, because the origins of the poodle, who descended from the wolf, can hardly be recognized. Therefore we thought it fit as a symbol, albeit in a way which is difficult to describe, with the idea of prostitution (which must come from somewhere, too). Left bottom in the picture, a beast of prey´s jaws creates an aggresive contrast to this dolled poodle face. (Is it important to know, that these dangerous looking teeth belong to no other than a poodle ?!). The blood red background of the picture induces a dreary, apocalyptic atmosphere. It is supposed to connect all these contradictory, puzzling things into something new, so that the letters of the word ´PROSTITUTE´ light up like in an old worn-out advertisement from a former civilization: Alphaville ! The original, which the cover was taken from, is 5x5 meters large. On the back cover you see Veto, the beautiful bastard-bitch." Front cover (French fanclub ´Streetside Romeos´ fanzine) The prostitute cover seems to show the prostitution....the prostitute, the teeth of her guardian, and the customer looking down in the street....do you agree ? "..eh...yeah, maybe it´s all in there. But the basic point is the situation of the artist in general. As such, you always prostitute yourself somehow to one or the other degree. You´re selling things which are almost impossible to measure by money. So does the whore. What is the exact value of a song?, a painting??, a novel??. It´s purely fictional. Just make the most out of it. Frank Zappa said: We´re only in it for the money. I guess, that´s meant to be a self-ironical line. But it´s also very true. Money plays an overimportant role in the world of Pop-Music, and not always a negative one. It organizes things. Declaring myself as a prostitute makes things clear. "Soulman" (on "United") is my comment to this subject: Artists are prostitutes...record companies are whore-houses...CD-buyers are customers." Booklet (Moonpaper No. 2+3/95) What do the thick letters in the CD-booklet mean ? "If I remember correctly, the letters have something to do with the word ´Prostitute´." |