placebo (pləsē´bō), inert substance given instead of a potent drug. Placebo medications are sometimes prescribed when a drug is not really needed or when one would not be appropriate because they make patients feel well taken care of. Placebos are also used as controls in scientific studies on the effectiveness of drugs. So-called double blind experiments, where neither the doctor nor the patient knows whether the given medication is the experimental drug or the placebo, are often done to assure unbiased, statistically reliable results. A traditional placebo's lack of side effects, however, often identifies it, so an older drug is sometimes used in drug tests instead of or in addition to a placebo.

The "placebo effect" is an apparent improvement in health due not to any treatment but only to the patient's belief that he or she will improve (as by taking a dummy pill that is thought to be a cure). A report released in 2001, however, reviewed 114 studies where use of a placebo was compared to both treatment and no treatment and found no placebo effect with respect to measurable medical conditions, such as blood pressure and cholesterol levels. An opposite, or "negative placebo effect," has been observed when patients believe their health will get worse.

placebo A treatment which has no effect, and is administered to a control group in experimental research, in place of a treatment whose effects are being studied. This usually happens only in medical research; in social research, control groups are rarely offered a placebo experience or treatment.

In the medical context, a substance lacking known pharmacologically active ingredients is given to the sick in order to please them; that is, for possible beneficial effects arising from faith in the powers of treatment (the placebo effect). Placebos are also widely used as controls in evaluating the therapeutic efficacy of the active components of new drugs. Conventionally, the experimental treatment is given to cases selected at random, with the ineffective placebo given to all other cases, even though they are suffering from the same illness. In the ‘double blind’ situation, even the person administering the treatments does not know which is which, as the medicines are made to look the same, to prevent him or her inadvertently communicating their knowledge to recipients.

pla·ce·bo / pləˈsēbō/ • n. (pl. -bos) a harmless pill, medicine, or procedure prescribed more for the psychological benefit to the patient than for any physiological effect: his Aunt Beatrice had been kept alive on sympathy and placebos for thirty years | [as adj.] placebo drugs. ∎  a substance that has no therapeutic effect, used as a control in testing new drugs. ∎ fig. a measure designed merely to calm or please someone.

placebo (liturg.) vespers for the dead. XIII. First word of the antiphon to the first psalm in the office: ‘Placebo Domino in regione vivorum’ (Psalm 114: 9) I shall please the Lord in the land of the living.

placebo (plă-see-boh) n. a medicine that is ineffective but may help to relieve a condition because the patient has faith in its powers. New drugs are tested against placebos in clinical trials.

placebo a pill, medicine, or procedure prescribed more for the psychological benefit to the patient of being given a prescription than for any physiological effect.

Placebo

Punk rock band

For the Record…

Selected discography

Sources

The London-based trio known as Placebo takes pride in creating provocative music. “We like to provoke strong reaction in people,” bassist Stefan Olsdal admitted in an interview with the iMusic.com website. “Indifference is something we try to avoid. Sometimes that leads to confusion, or anger, or interest—but you can never really predict the outcome.” And forthose who follow up-and-coming pop-rock bands, figuring out Placebo did prove challenging at first.

Based on appearances alone—frontman Brian Molko favored an androgynous look with heavy dark makeup—reviewers most often dubbed Placebo a goth-rock ensemble. But after the release of the band’s eponymous debut in 1996, followed by 1998’s Without You I’m Nothing, pop enthusiasts discovered that there was more to Placebo than meets the eye. Rolling Stone writer Chuck Eddy, for instance, asserted, “Placebo are the latest—and toughest—in the recent line of English pretty-boy guitar-glam bands ([London] Suede, Supergrass, Mansum, Rialto, Elcka).” Soon, the band earned a reputation for their eclectic songcraft, as well as for their ambiguity and uncertainty, and also gained admiration from such accomplished musicians as R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe, U2’s Bono, David Bowie, and Marilyn Manson, all of whom Placebo claimed as friends.

Gender-bending lead singer Brian Molko first met Swedish-born bassist/guitarist/keyboardist Stefan Olsdal while attending school in Luxembourg. However, even though both students shared the common interest of music, the pair didn’t become fast friends. Olsdal was a jock and played sports, on the one hand, while on the other hand, Molko was a self-described loser. Although they never hung outtogether much during their school days, the two did meet up again by chance years later in London and decided to form a band. Together, along with drummer Robert Schultzberg, Molko and Olsdal formed a group called Ashtray Heart. By around 1995, Ashtray Heart transformed into Placebo.

For Placebo’s first release, the band enlisted the technical skills of Chicago-based producer Brad Wood, who also worked with Liz Phair, Sunny Day Real Estate, and Jesus Lizard. On the surface, Placebo, issued by Caroline Records in the United States, contained some more traditional rock and roll ingredients, like heavy-metal guitar riffs and lyrics that celebrated sex and drugs. However, as Mark Jenkins concluded in a review for the Washington Post, “the effect of the band’s self-titled album is not exactly routine. Indeed, such ironically titled songs as ‘Teenage Angst’ and ‘Hang on to Your IQ’ are engagingly askew…. Molko’s vocals are so ambiguously high-pitched, on ‘I Know,’ he scales heights reminiscent of the Undertones’ Feargal Sharkey.” Placebo’s

For the Record…

Members include Steve Hewitt (born c. 1971 in the U.K.; joined band C 1997), drums; Brian Molko (born C 1973; son of Scottish and American parents), vocals; Stefan Olsdal (born C 1974 in Sweden), bass, guitar, keyboards; Robert Schulzberg (left group C 1997), drums.

Formed in London around 1995; released self-titled debut on Caroline Records, 1996; toured with the Sex Pistols, U2, and Weezer, 1996-1997; released Without You I’m Nothing on Virgin Records, played cameo role in Velvet Goldmine and appeared on the film soundtrack, 1998.

Addresses: Home —London, England. Record company—Virgin Records, 338 N. Foothill Rd., Beverly Hills, CA 90210. Management —Riverman Management. Booking —Creative Artists Agency (U.K.).

debut also spawned the band’s first hit single, “Nancy Boy,” which peaked at number four on the British charts.

Soon after releasing their highly-anticipated, self-titled debut album, the group seemed well on their way to establishing a name for themselves, appearing on the covers of both New Musical Express and Melody Maker, two well-known British publications. Moreover, they opened for the legendary punk group the Sex Pistols, David Bowie, and U2 in Europe, as well as for the pop band Weezer during that band’s American tour. “A lot of people were there just to hear [Weezer play] ‘Buddy Holly,’” Olsdal recalled of Placebo’s lukewarm welcome from Americanaudiences, as quoted by Doug Reece in Billboard. “We were getting coined [having coins thrown at them by the audience], so we just punked it up and ended up winning over a lot of crowds.” Spending most of 1996 through 1997 touring in Europe and abroad, Placebo was also invited to perform for Bowie’s fiftieth birthday celebration held at New York’s Madison Square Garden. By the end of 1997, Placebo had gained a respectable audience in Europe, and their fan base continued to grow in the United States.

Before starting work on their follow-up and debut major-label release for Virgin Records, Placebo replaced Schultzberg with a new drummer, Steve Hewitt, and also enlisted producer Steve Osborne. The addition of Hewitt and Osborne to the team, Olsdal believed, helped the band achieve a new direction for Without You I’m Nothing, released in November of 1998. Comparing the band’s first album to Without You I’m Nothing, Olsdal described the latteras “more schizophrenic,” according to Reece. “The first album was a very sexual record,” Molko further explained, “packed full of youthful vigor and lust. The new album is introverted, more of a post-coital depression: the comedown. It deals with an ever-pervading heartbreak and loneliness that seems to be in the air. The morning after is usually more analytical than the night before, and it’s often more painful,” as quoted iMusic.com. “On this album, we wanted to go away from that classic rock sound toward a more modern sound,” Olsdal added, as quoted by Reece. “It’s more textured with expensive toys. On the first album, we were using toy instruments.”

The time between Placebo and the debut’s follow-up allowed the band to explore other musical pursuits and renewed their focus and energy. “There’s two years between the two albums, and there’s been a hell of a lot of living going on during that time,” admitted Molko to iMusic.com. “In many ways it feels like a different band. This is our first album with Steve on drums, and the band dynamic has changed. It can seem a bit schizophrenic, but we’re just trying to take it as far as possible in each direction: stretch it, and aim for a wider scope.” And although Molko wrote most of the lyrics for the tracks on Without You I’m Nothing, all of the band members contributed to the music’s sonic flow. “The first album was pretty much written by Brian in his bedroom. This album has been a three-way collaboration,” revealed Olsdal.

The album’s first single, “Pure Morning,” introduced Without You I’m Nothing in a big way, debuting on the British singles charts at number four. A song that sounded somewhat reminiscent of the Butthole Surfers’ hit “Pepper,” “Pure Morning” immediately took hold of modern rock radio in the United States as well. “I personally feel this is one of the most compelling-sounding albums to come out of England since Radio-head,” a Los Angeles radio station executive, KROQ’s Gene Sandbloom, commented to Reece. “[Pure Morning’] is very unique, very alternative, and just something that immediately stands out on the air.” Likewise, the expansive concept video for the single earned positive feedback on cable television network MTV.

In addition to giving a nod of approval to “Pure Morning,” music critics such as Eddy provided favorable references to the album’s other songs as well. “Tracks like ’Every You Every Me’ and ‘Scared of Girls’ gallop with exhilaration; The Crawl’ and ‘My Sweet Prince’ prance into preening spaces of piano gloom,” wrote Eddy. “The disc winds down to the triumphantly downtrodden ‘Burger Queen’ (which swipes its sad tune from Altered Images’ 1981 New Waveclassic, ‘I Could Be Happy’)…. Molko’s hissy-fit voice cracks toward transcendence whenever he hitches its pitch up another fruity notch.”

By coincidence, the release of Without You I’m Nothing corresponded with the November/December release of the glam-rock-era, Mirimax film Velvet Goldmine, produced by Michael Stipe. The movie includes a cameo appearance by Placebo, for which the band performed a cover of Marc Bolan’s [formerly of the now disbanded T. Rex] “20th Century Boy.” Placebo’s version of the song also appeared for the soundtrack. “In the great tradition of T. Rex—whose ‘20th Century Boy’ they actually improved for the Velvet Goldmine soundtrack—Placebo’s hooks are no less muscular for their androgyny,” commented Eddy. About Placebo’s role in Velvet Goldmine, Olsdal recalled to Reece, “We got dressed up in these ridiculous glam clothes and a lot of makeup and strut around onstage. It was a bit like being on a video shoot.”

Selected discography

Placebo, Caroline, 1996.

(With others) Velvet Goldmine, (soundtrack), 1998.

Without You I’m Nothing, Virgin, 1998.

Sources

Periodicals

Alternative Press, August 1999, p. 42.

Billboard, October 10, 1998, pp. 14, 20.

Melody Maker, July 24, 1999, p. 4.

Rolling Stone, February 4, 1999, p. 61.

Washington Post, September 20, 1996.

Online

iMusic.com, http://www.imusic.com/showcase/modern/placebo.html(November 29, 1999).

Rolling Stone.com, http://www.rollingstone.tunes.com(December 7, 1999).

—Laura Hightower

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