Izzy Jaecks is a profsnal bootblack. She don't she sho at airports or hotel lobbi, and she tak her reer, one that she stumbled to by accint, serly. And, while today's terpretatn of the morn bootblack means that Jaecks has found work leather and gay bars, she still feels a historil nnectn wh the centuri of artisans who've e before her and who who've ma sho she sce at least the 1600s.
Contents:
- TONY WASHGTON, THE FOTTEN GAY SUPERSTAR
- HOW AN OPENLY GAY D.C. SOUL SGER MA MOTOWN HISTORY
- WHERE GAY TALE GETS HIS SHO SHED
TONY WASHGTON, THE FOTTEN GAY SUPERSTAR
* gay shoe shine *
R&B the mid-1970s saw numero acts — Sylvter, Donna Summer, Labelle and Grace Jon among them — whose ascent soundtracked the explosn of gay nightlife that emerged followg the Stonewall rts.
HOW AN OPENLY GAY D.C. SOUL SGER MA MOTOWN HISTORY
C., onted by Tony Washgton, an openly gay sger who wasn’t aaid to sometim perform drag or revise Billy Pl’s h “Me and Mrs. Neher one of those sgl — or anythg else on the but — particularly screamed gay glterati through explic lyrics or feverish energy; Richard Ells’ fabulo ver illtratn did the job proudly.
WHERE GAY TALE GETS HIS SHO SHED
While drawg on the R&B ntuum of such queer pneers as Gladys Bentley and Ltle Richard, Washgton helped lay the groundwork for the funk-homoeroti athetics of immediate succsors like Sylvter, Cameo’s oime lead sger Wayne Cooper and the Brish soul-dis group Imagatn. And we n’t fet Prce, who would perfect the art of rporatg queer culture to his artistic advantage, all the while profsg to be a ladi’ a 1977 terview wh The Advote, Washgton seemed well aware of his precent-settg stature as an openly gay sger the R&B scene: “I gus I was tryg to ph the clock ahead, ” he said, referrg to the Dynamic Superrs’ early shows.