100. "Everybody's Free," Rozalla In the early '90's, the club scene was the midst of change. Gays were r
Contents:
- THE VELVET MAFIA: THE GAY MEN WHO HELPED SHAPE MIC THE 60S
- TOP 100 GAY SONGS - THE DEFIVE LISTTOP 100 GAY SONGS - THE DEFIVE LIST
- 40 BT GAY SGERS & MICIANS OF ALL TIME (LGBTQ+ SGERS)
THE VELVET MAFIA: THE GAY MEN WHO HELPED SHAPE MIC THE 60S
* gay songs from the 60s *
In the 1920s and early ’30s, Prohibn’s end gave way to the “Pansy Craze”: baret drag performanc that brought gay nightlife to the mass and rried their athetics to mastream mil theater. In the mid-’30s, at the edge of the Great Deprsn, moral backlash—sometim disguised as enomic nservatism but ually explic s bigotry—shut down many of the clubs and formally crimalized gay sex at a sle that had never before been seen. Jazz n’t be imaged whout the ntributns of giants like Billy Strayhorn (of De Ellgton’s band), who was openly gay, and, later, Cecil Taylor, who found that three-letter word was too limg.
The ’70s brought glam and dis, genr play, and explicly queer nightlife back to the mastream; we n’t fet that ’s great gay pop in, Elton John, and s great bisexual on, David Bowie and Freddie Mercury.
TOP 100 GAY SONGS - THE DEFIVE LISTTOP 100 GAY SONGS - THE DEFIVE LIST
Their first gay kiss was junr high, wh someone wearg a matchg flannel, while listeng to Peter Murphy's "Deep" on shared Sport Walkman headphon. Some of the songs were nsired que progrsive durg the time they were released, when homosexualy was nsired a mental illns and crossdrsg was illegal. Mad About The Boy – Dah Washgton – Origally wrten by Noël Coward 1932 for mil revue Words and Mic, the song has a hidn gay meang.
The msage behd this versn is that cema un all, and you n maybe even extend that to beg acceptg of other people, that gay or straight, we’re really not that different after all. Noël Coward even wrote vers supposed to be sung by a bsman who is eher gay or bisexual about beg “mad about the boy” – ‘When I told my wife, she said “I’ve never heard such nonsense my life! Noël Coward was really secretive about his sexualy bee those days, society was really homophobic and he feared losg everythg if he me out.
“Let me tell you about a place somewhere up a New York way, where the people are so gay” – sure gay at that time meant happy, but let have this one! One more though mak pecially sound like a gay song “Here’s a fella blue jeans dancg wh an olr queen who’s dolled up her diamond rgs and twistg the night away”. Sally Go Round the Ros – The Jayts – One terpretatn of this song is that Sally is gay and she is upset that her csh is gog wh another girl.
40 BT GAY SGERS & MICIANS OF ALL TIME (LGBTQ+ SGERS)
While didn’t happen on their stud versn of the Bo Diddley song, happened durg a live performance for the BBC on Christmas Eve 1964, years before homosexualy was legalised the UK. Still, people have terpreted as havg a gay theme sce he mentned that an terview when the song me out and even mentned that he would be gay if he wasn’t wh his wife.
You’ve Got to Hi Your Love Away – The Beatl – One terpretatn of this song is that ’s about their manager Brian Epste, who was gay, but hid public. Not only do he have a boy csh on David Watts, David Watts is gay, scribed the song as “so gay and fancy ee” and that “all the girls the neighbourhood try to go out wh David Watts… but n’t succeed.