Maybe Adam Ant? The Stones? someone from the Punk Rock generation?
shareI don't know what the band or who the singer were based on officially but they seemed to be inspired by the The Smiths.
shareDefinitely NOT based on or inspired by The Smiths.
Sisters of Mercy would be a better guess, though I wouldn't attempt to draw parallels between Andrew Eldritch (Sisters of Mercy singer) and the character depicted in the film beyond basic goth style and voice.
There were dozens of gothy second-string bands in the Eighties, but the Smith's isn't even close. They didn't do dance music, they weren't druggy, they didn't wear makeup and they didn't draw large crowds in stadiums (in America anyway). I can't think of any bands, however, that were quite so depraved in the Just Say No days. I'd say this character is a fictional invention, a pastiche of rock cliches associated with the Stones and Led Zeppelin mixed with post-punk synth pop like that of Simple Minds or INXS.
I thought The Sisters of Mercy/Bauhaus, but also could have been Billy Idol/Generation X, Flesh for Lulu,Psychedlic Furs,Love and Rockets,Alphaville, The Fixx and so on...Though not sure about the extreme excesses! Sure the band and lead singer are just based on an amalgamation of all those new wave/goth rock bands and rock star past times..
share
You hit the nail on the head with your mix of Billy Idol/Generation X and The Fixx.
Billy was quite the sleaze bucket, with a case of not what he was into, but rather what wasn't he into. It's a wonder they didn't include a Anthony Perkins cameo for good measure.
As for the Chris Issak and beach girl scene that was Tom Sellick they were hinting at. Who I witnessed fall out of a limo bare assed with nothing more than a pair of leather chaps one warm evening LOL.
You're right, the look of the band is nothing like the Smiths but the new wave sound with the downbeat lyrics about alienation sound similar. How is the suggestion of Simple Minds much different than the Smiths?
It's not based on any one band in particular.
he was inspired by Bryan Ferry of Roxy Music
hence his name being Bryan.
listen to roxy music and you will see
at first i thought it was David Gahan from Depeche Mode
but after further study i have come to the conclusion that it is definitely Bryan Ferry of Roxy Music
Its really not Bryan Ferry IMHO...
sharebut ferry was always more of a glam decadent look than punk...
shareDavid Gahan from Depeche Mode.
Life of depression and struggles...
Tho there is a mix of others.
TOTALLY imagined Michael Hutchence, the lead singer of INXS. He looked like him, and the music video reminded me of him. Talk about a "life of depression"! He kind of sounded like Ian Curtis of Joy Division too.
shareThat's what I thought too... David Gahan is most certainly the main source of inspiration. The music video in the film "Only you/Feel your pain or what ever" is VERY Depeche Mode. For the video I thought Personal Jesus instantly. It also has the typical dark Depeche Mode sound and lyrics.
Incidentally the character Martin has the same hair due as Martin Gore of Depeche Mode had!
Quite well noted-David Gahan is one I hadn't thought off...
shareFor everything that Dave is/was he was never an abusive bi sexual pedophile. Plus if you're getting technical, all the references to an ex who wont let him see his son, his heroin addiction and the fact that he used to live in LA wouldnt have fit at all in 82/83 when this "movie" is supposed to be taking place.
Regardless, the actor who played the part did so so poorly that it was pathetically comical and cartoonish IMO.
As I said above, Ferry had left that gothy decadence behind by the Eighties. I assume the Informers are based on one of the second string bands that attracted large crowds in their day: The Fixx is a good guess.
shareYea deffo Dave Gahan and a little bit of Bryan Ferry
Brian mode.
The music video with him standing in the desert made me instantly think BOWIE.
shareDefinitely not Bryan Ferry. He would never hurt a living thing. Bryan Ferry lives in the forest and hates to see animals in cages..
Irony completed.
Iggy Pop. 80s Iggy Pop.
my friends enjoy rides
charade social improves the quality of life
charade social is good for you
Actually, Bryan Ferry was reputed to be pretty sleazy and messed up during his darkest days, but that time had come to pass by the Eighties. Ferry had left the rock n roll lifestyle (a model on each arm, Crystal and cocaine on the table) behind by this time and was busily providing the soundtrack for Yuppies with Boys and Girls and Avalon. No idea how sweet he is in real life, but his late Seventies music got pretty morbid and queasy (listen to The Bride Stripped Bare). He never had a bisexual reputation, but who knows?
shareI don't think he is insprid by a single rockstar but more by a retrospective of the rockstars of that era. This gy is simply an Ellis trademark charictar, like Patrik Bateman or Clay from Imperial Bedrroms and Less Than Zero, a selfcentered person with a dark mind
sharePeter Murphy. and Iggy Pop
"You almost knocked over your alcohol with your knife." -Zombieland
I suppose he is quite similar to how Dave Gahan was in the 90s during his heroin addiction, apart from the pedophilia obviously
share[deleted]
If you read the novel, you really hope he's not based on anyone. Very sick dude.
Although apparently you can't be a character in a Bret Easton Ellis novel unless you indifferently torture and rape people. That's what the 80s was all about, apparently.