I remember him saying that Ashtray girl and that song was to do with how James Dean used to like his gay 爱人 to stub out cigarettes on his chest and Ashtray 心 was Placebo's name before they chose Placebo. I don't know where it comes from though.
Actually, when Brian and Stef first met, they create a band named "Ashtray Heart"....which became later, when Robert joined the band, "Placebo".I think that's how it all started!But anyway, Brian especially likes this particular word...the way this word sounds!
'Ashtray Heart' is a song 由 rock/avavt-garde musician Captain Beefheart (real name Don 面包车, 范 Vliet), put out in 1980 off his album 'Doc at the Radar Station'.
