Placebo, “Placebo”

Placebo, Placebo (1996)
Virgin
Photographers: Saul Fletcher, Mary Scanlon (band photo)

When working on artwork for Placebo’s 1996 eponymous debut album, frontman Brian Molko wanted to focus on the music, not the packaging. But keeping in line with the trend of ’90s rock bands putting children on the cover of their albums, they followed suit. The album was an unexpected smash and spawned the UK Top 5 single, “Nancy Boy.” It launched the band into superstardom, so happy ending right?

Not so much for the band’s cover model. David Fox was 12 years old when he was photographed by his cousin, Saul Fletcher, who was a professional photographer. He was visiting Fox one weekend shortly after Fox’s brother had passed away and shot the photos.

The next thing he knew, his cousin called him up and told him he was about to be on the cover of an album. What seemed like an exciting moment turned into a nightmare for Fox when the album cracked the top 5 and he couldn’t escape the sight of his own face in every store he went to. He was bullied constantly to the point where he dropped out of school. He trained to be a chef, but due to the recession, was unemployed.

His solution was to sue the band. The band’s management, Riverman Management, said the lawsuit should be directed at Virgin, as they put the album out.

As for the artwork, another photo of Fox was used in the interior of the album booklet. The majority of the booklet is just printed red, with one small image of the band, shot by Mary Scanlon, and a list of credits.