How Music Gave Gay People a Voice

Originally published on www.sosogay.co.uk

We’ve heard a lot of talk through our lives about how people and certain aspects of culture have helped change perceptions of gay people. From films such as Cabaret and Brokeback Mountain to people like Antony Grey and Peter Tatchell, and of course there are the Stonewall riots.

But one thing that has been a constant throughout the fight for equality is the sound of music, and I don’t mean the Julie Andrews film. Music is a way of connecting people from a broad range of social backgrounds as it expresses pain, emotions, determination and everything else in between and has certainly given many gay men and women across the world a voice over the years. Not only that but many of the artists have helped give us representation in the public eye for quite some time now.

Before and up to the mid 1960s it would have been pretty hard to release a record such as Lady Gaga’s‘Born This Way.’ During this period, many gay men attached themselves to songs such as ‘Over the Rainbow’ and ‘The Man That Got Away’ by Judy Garland, who is often considered a gay icon due to her struggles, which many gay men identified with. But back in the 1960s there was a counterculture big enough to see the release of some records that are now seen as gay. The book From the Closet to the Charts: Queer Noises 1961 – 1978 documents this and discusses a number of records such as ‘The Shower Song (I’m So Wet)’ that would have apparently embarrassed the Village People, and even an openly gay record label called Camp, which saw the release of 10 singles and two albums.

Music itself hasn’t always been as ‘straight’ as many would think. Openly straight songs about men and women falling in love dominated the charts back then, but you have to remember that during 1960s America black people had their own separate music charts. The mainstream industry was very straight and white then; some people didn’t even like the birth of rock ‘n’ roll.

However, as music progressed into the 70s and 80s it got a little more ‘queer’. We saw the birth of disco and glam-rock; filled with sparkles, platform shoes, big hair and men in make-up, and we saw gay men hit the charts and gay songs do very very well.

One of the most well-known and arguably most pivotal moments of the 1970s was David Bowie’s ‘I’m Gay’ interview in Melody Maker, which finally saw music come out, so to speak. However, years later Bowie stated that there was a backlash in America, but there’s frequently some kind of resistance over there. You only have to look at the controversy Adam Lambert caused during the 2009 American Music Awards – where he kissed a man on stage, prompting ABC (the American television network that aired the awards) to receive over 1,500 complaints and cancel Lambert’s performance on Good Morning America – to see just how shocking something like this would have been in the 1970s. Still, we progressed and music helped in our fight. Hits like ‘Y.M.C.A’ proved popular across the world, despite the majority of the straight population not realising that the song was referencing the YMCA’s reputation as a gay hook-up and cruising spot. Similarly, Sylvester burst onto the scene with ‘You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)’. With a black, gay drag queen now lighting up the charts we can see just how far music had progressed, and the exposure Sylvester gained for gay people should never be overlooked.

It’s no doubt that Sylvester helped inspire a barrage of gender bending stars of the 1980s. As the MTV generation was born, singers like Boy George, Steve Strange, Pete Burns and in many ways Annie Lennox – whose androgyny blurred the lines of what it was to be male and female – burst into the mainstream with their highly popular music videos showcasing a new non-traditional image for all to see. The decade saw gay people get a huge voice through music as Frankie told everyone to relax and Bronski Beat let the small town boys know they knew exactly how they felt. The 1980s saw the thumping sounds of so called ‘gay music’ burst onto the scene and dominate the charts the world over; I can just imagine the faces of many a bigot flicking on their TV sets to see Divine singing ‘You Think You’re a Man.’

Despite the negativity of the AIDS crisis, gay men and women were still fighting hard throughout the 90s, but not without a little help from the power of song. As Melissa Etheridge came out and Brian Molko and Billie Joe Armstrong announced their bisexuality, the queen of pop Madonna was bringing ‘voguing’ into the mainstream straight out of the gay clubs of New York. Not only that but she also released the very provocative ‘Justify My Love’ video featuring gay men. Despite the fact it was banned on MTV it was still out there and managed to become a huge hit. But one of the most significant parts of the 1990s, in terms of LGBT visibility and music, came from the overly camp Eurovision. Out were the days of Cliff Richard and Sandy Shaw with their wholesome images and in was Dana International, the transsexual Israeli pop singer and winner of the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest. By now we had moved a long way in terms of freedom and rights and music had progressed and indeed helped with it, but this was only the beginning.

As we swung into the 2000s gay people were out and proud; gone was section 28, in America Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was finally repealed in September 2011 and gay marriage has been a hot topic around the world for many years. In terms of music, we saw t.A.T.u hit number one on the charts, despite using lesbianism as an obvious marketing ploy, and Madonna kiss Britney Spears at the 2003 VMA Awards, in one of the most memorable moments in music history. By now it wasn’t just gay men making a splash, lesbians were also edging into the mainstream despite only having a few moments previously in terms of music. With acts like Will Young selling millions of records, and gay men and women popping up in the finals of massively successful programmes like The X Factor, it became apparent that gay musicians were now firmly a fixture on the charts.

We also witnessed many anthemic songs appear in the last 10 years – ‘Beautiful’, ‘Firework’, ‘Standing in the Way of Control’, ‘Born This Way’ – and gay men and women were being featured in music videos more frequently too (just watch Kylie Minogue’s ‘All The Lovers’ below). It’s clear to see just how music has helped shape the way gay men and women are viewed, not to mention giving them a platform on which to be noticed.

From the days of being closeted and listening to Judy whilst a sub-culture was being born, to the openly gay pop stars and songs telling us to embrace ourselves and love who we are, we’ve come a long way in our fight for equality and music has undoubtedly played a prominent part in that.

The Valleys ... It isn't actually like that you know

Unless you've been living under a rock or the middle of a forest for the last few years then you've definitely heard of the abundance of so called reality television series that have been hitting the headlines, from The Only Way is Essex to Geordie and Jersey Shore its been pretty hard to avoid these headline grabbing shows.

Last week yet another of these shows burst onto our screens in the shape of the MTV show The Valleys, and all I can say is that I was shocked and disgusted by what I saw on my screen.

As someone who comes from the valleys of South Wales I sat and watched in horror as a group of fame hungry wannabes sauntered their way onto the screen declaring that they were going to be the next big thing.

Like I said, as someone who comes from the valleys I just wanted to point out that we aren't all like that, some of us are trying to forge a career the hard way by making our way up from the bottom and not sticking dead fish down our swimsuits or a dead octopus on our heads.

There were a few other points about the show that really got to me, firstly most of them aren't from the valleys, if what I've read is true then some of them live about a 10 minute train journey away from Cardiff. Secondly the way that MTV has tried to make out that coming from the valleys means that you live amongst the sheep is a far cry from what it is really like. Fair enough there are sheep but getting to Cardiff isn't the long slog they've tried to make it out to be, there are regular buses and trains (we aren't from the dark ages.)

Also when the "stars" of the show made absolute fools of themselves in a Cardiff night club it really annoyed me, due to the fact that i was once denied entry to the same place for being "too drunk" despite the fact I hadn't really drunk much (but that's probably just a very personal annoyance.)

The fact that this group of people believe that by moving to Cardiff is going to kick start their media or modelling careers is also an absolute joke. The closest you're going to get to the paparazzi in Cardiff is someone capturing a load of drunken people spilling out of a nightclub or munching a kebab down chippy alley on their mobile phone.

Overall it appears that MTV are making a joke out the valleys and using these poor deluded souls as fodder for their latest reality show. After seeing it I now take back anything I've ever said about the other similar shows on TV, as it is clear they just pick a group of people that they can take advantage of.

The second episode is currently sat recorded on my Sky box and I'm debating whether to watch it as I fear I may get too angry and shout at the TV, which is never good. The show almost makes me feel like denying the fact I come from the valleys as I may be tarnished with the same brush as these people, which really drives me insane.

All I can say is that the valleys aren't really like that and all MTV has done is select a few people that will clearly act up to the camera and give them some decent ratings. But then again we may have found the new Beyonce so it's all good (is say this with utmost sarcasm.)

Against Gaga

Originally published on www.differentscene.co.uk

Unless you’ve been living underneath a rock or in a small cave for the last three years then you’ve definitely endured the bid for world domination by one miss Lady Gaga. She has enjoyed huge success with sell out tours, platinum records galore and has every gay within a 50 mile radius of her falling to the ground in a Gaga induced mess. But doesn’t she just get on your nerves?

Now I, like most, am guilty of being drawn in by the perfectly crafted pop songs she’s launched over the past few years, and I am most definitely guilty of trying to emulate the Born This Way dance (that kind of resembles a chicken jumping over hot coals) on a drunken night out.

But amongst this plethora of songs, dance routines and bat shit crazy outfits you have to admit that she is quite possibly one of the most annoying people to hit the pop charts in recent years. Originality seems to be one of the main words that follows Gaga around, and this association is one thing that really annoys me about her, so lets look at this shall we? First of all lets just get something out of the way, Madonna did it first and Madonna did it better, way better!! The way she has crafted her huge theatre-esque stage shows are a complete rip off of what Madonna started way back in 1990 with the Blonde Ambition tour, the way that she uses sex and sexuality and juxtaposes it with religious themes was something the Queen of Pop herself started way back in the 1980s before Gaga was even born, does anyone recall the Like A Prayer video, the one that was almost banned by MTV? Yeah thought so. Well without this we wouldn’t have Lady Gaga because to be perfectly honest nothing that she has come up with has been totally original it has all been rehashed from someone who did it years before.To be honest we could probably detect where her career is going next by just looking at what Madonna did next.

Her original fashion isn’t even original. Yes I know she has worn a number of shocking outfits, the meat dress is the first that springs to mind and yes in her defence this was very original, but the attempt to shock with an outfit wasn’t. She recently dressed as a man for the MTV awards something else that was done back in the 1980s by Annie Lennox and then again a few years later by Cher, and I believe Madonna did something along the same lines in her 1989 music video for Express Yourself. Another musical icon she has ripped off is musical psycho Grace Jones, who even denied Gaga the chance of a duet due to her ‘copying her style’ you only have to look at photos on Google to see where she’s coming from.

Now I can’t spend forever looking at how Lady Gaga’s originality is anything but original, otherwise I would probably be here for a pretty long time, and I mean pretty long. So I’m going to look at one more thing about her that really annoys me, her self riotousness, lets be honest she pretty much thinks she’s god, and why wouldn’t she with everyone putting her on a pedestal and bowing down at everything she does. The woman could probably release an album filled with noises her body makes while she sleeps and it would probably sell a million copies, but I digress.

The woman is catering for the gay market, which is good there’s nothing wrong with that, look at Cher she’s done pretty well out of it. But Gaga has aimed everything towards gay fans, almost pigeon holing herself as a gay artist but to be perfectly honest this just appears to be some form of cleverly crafted PR, because if she appeals to the gays in every way possible, whether it be musically or politically, she’s tapped into an extremely lucrative market with quite a lot of disposable income who will buy her records. She does deserve a round of applause for that in all fairness.

But at the end of the day, when you watch her on TV or a video of her concert you just want to grab her, slap her and tell her that this isn’t a political rally, we don’t care about what you have to say, just shut up and do your job which is singing. This is one of the reasons I am yet to see her live, although I would probably enjoy two hours of listening to her music performed live I would have to resist the temptation to crash the stage and slap her when she decided to give some speech to the audience mid way through a song. It’s almost like she thinks she’s is some modern day Martin Luther King JR, Mother Theresa or even Jesus.

Yes I do love me some Gaga, but I just wish the woman would disappear for a while and come back with her own look and just sing and perform, instead of just rehashing someone else’s career whether it be a political career she’s rehashing or a pop career.