Party like it's 1899!

The latest recorded instalment from Bono & friends comes, not from the grooves of All That You Can’t Leave Behind but from the soundtrack to Moulin Rouge, Baz Luhrmann’s recently released big screen opus. A spectacular musical set in the infamous Paris nightclub at the turn of the last century, the movie features an impressive roll call of contemporary artists including Bowie, Beck, Fatboy Slim, Massive Attack and others. The soundtrack has already spawned a huge hit in the bootylicous version of ‘Lady Marmalade’ from Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mya and Pink.

But an undoubted highlight of both the movie and the soundtrack album is a stunning re-working of the Marc Bolan & T Rex classic, ‘Children Of The Revolution’ performed by Bono, Gavin Friday and Maurice Seezer. Occupying several key moments in the movie’s action the number also underpins the theme of the film, perfectly summing up the decadence and debauchery of the era. For Marius De Vries, musical director of Moulin Rouge, Bono and Gavin were among the first people he approached to contribute to the movie, as he explains:

“It felt very right that Bono was involved because the first time I ever worked with U2 was on a track called ‘Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me’ for the Batman soundtrack. It worked out superbly for us and we were delighted to have them involved again. In fact if you listen carefully to that song you might notice that the orchestra plays something very similar in ‘Children of the Revolution’. Gavin is a real talent, he was on the Romeo & Juliet soundtrack which Baz and I had also done. In fact Dublin is a fabulous city for strange, eccentric music.”

De Vries should know! He spent a year in the Capital in the mid-’90s working as a programmer on U2’s Pop album.

“It was an incredible experience to be involved in that part of the band’s history,” he recalls. “It was a very experimental, exploratory time for them – a long process of discovery. They were coming up against the boundaries of what it was possible for them to do as a rock band. Some members of the band, Larry in particular, were getting a little uncomfortable about how far out it was going. For me as someone who’s used to working quite quickly it felt like there was a lot of waiting for them to find something. But it was a pleasure to work with them and they were great people to hang out with, which we did – a lot.”

Starring Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor in the main roles, Moulin Rouge has sharply divided the critics, some describing it as a brave new take on the much derided musical and others dismissing it as an overblown travesty. Taking its inspiration from musicals such as Cabaret and Westside Story the narrative and dialogue is almost entirely told through song lyrics. Rather than use the music of the era it was decided to utilise latter day pop and rock to tell the story. Songs as diverse as Bowie’s ‘Diamond Dogs’ (performed by Beck) Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ and Elton John’s ‘Your Song’ are included.

“We decided from the start that all the major musical numbers would be instantly recognisable if not iconic moments from popular music of the last 50 years,” DeVries explains. “But beyond that our rule was to be as eclectic as possible and as daring as we could.

“To put it at its most basic the Moulin Rouge in Paris in the 1890’s is what Manumission is to us in the last ten years or what Studio 54 was to New York in the ’70s. So that dialogue between our contemporary interpretation of what things were like then is a central device of the movie.”

Kidman does a highly creditable take on ‘One Day I’ll Fly Away’ while McGregor acquits himself admirably on ‘Your Song’. “You have to marvel at their courage and the risk they exposed themselves to in taking it on,” he says. “But they were really into it especially Ewan who was so enthusiastic about the part.”

The Moulin Rouge soundtrack is out now on Interscope Records