This year David J, legendary member of Bauhaus and Love and Rockets and solo artist, turned 60 years old. To celebrate, David’s friend/manager/collaborator Darwin Meiners, a talented musician in his own right, asked many of David’s musician friends to record covers of J’s songs from throughout his incredible career. Darwin compiled the recordings onto an (ultra) limited CD set, titled Kanreki, that he presented to David. Darwin’s contribution was this fantastically gorgeous cover of my favorite Love and Rockets’ b-side, “Holiday on the Moon,” from 1986. The song’s lunar theme is especially appropriate for a 60th birthday gift, as David explains:
“Kanreki is the celebration of a person’s 60th birthday which is a big deal in Japan as, according to the lunar calendar, it takes 60 years for a person to finish a cycle on this earth. In a 60-year cycle the honoree has gone five times around the twelve animal years of the Chinese zodiac. It marks a person’s rebirth and return to second childhood. The cycle of life returns to the beginning.”
Happy birthday, David J!
(backing vocals by Julian Shaw-Tayler; video by John Thompson)
