Anyone uld tell you the “typil” dis tras: the synthizer, the twirlg ball, and the funky pants—but fewer know the te origs of dis, which emerged om the gay unrground of New York.
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THE FOUNR OF ONE OF L.A.'S EARLIT GAY DISS ISN'T CRYG OVER S DTCTN
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“Straight people were clumsy and had no rhythm, whereas gay men were right on. Manco’s crowd, which clud many gay men of lor, bellowed out the chos, refigurg the song’s addrsee as a new kd of girl.South Shore Commissn, ‘Free Man’ (1975)D.J.-led dance spac that were exclive to gay men — ually whe, middle-class gay men — started to open Manhattan late 1972. It helped that the mixer Tom Moulton advertently epened the female voice when he slowed down the origal for his extend dis mix.Valento, ‘I Was Born This Way’ (1975)The first rerd to feature lyrics about beg an out-and-proud gay man me om the mil performer Charl “Valento” Harris, who released “I Was Born This Way” as an apparently one-off release on Gaiee.
“I’m happy, I’m reee and I’m gay,” the sger hollers over soulful stmentatn. At Sahara, New York’s first upont lbian disthèque, pecially appreciated the double-entendre potential of “Cherchez la Femme.” “The lyrics were perfect,” she told me June.Donna Summer, ‘I Feel Love’ (1977)Gay male dance crowds were drawn to rerdgs that featured Black female volists, often intifyg wh their emotnal exprsivens and strength the face of adversy, often to the surprise of the artists, who were ually gospel-traed. A pneerg reprentative, Gloria Gaynor was crowned the first queen of dis by gay D.J.s a ceremony at the midtown Manhattan disthèque Le Jard 1975.
There's a movement to save Circ Dis, the Hollywood club that was an early sanctuary for gay people of lor Los Angel. The cy's Cultural Herage Commissn uld provi limed protectn for the stcture, but seems unlikely. The body was expected to nsir the fate of the venue at... * disco dean gay *
He died of plitns om AIDS, 1983.Patrick Cowley, ‘Mutant Man’ (1982)Patrick Cowley fed his reputatn as one of the world’s most progrsive synthizer players durg rerdgs wh the dis pneer Sylvter, cludg “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real),” perhaps the ultimate gay male anthem. Johnny Dynell and David Ian Xtravaganza to lay down a hoe track that anticipated Madonna’s “Vogue.”A versn of this article appears prt on , Sectn D, Page 5 of the New York edn wh the headle: Sp Some Gay Dis.