By Pop Off!
We’re Here, We’re Queer, And Look At All These Options… !
As a teen queer in the 90s surviving in the conservative backwoods just outside a major (much more friendly) city I knew two things.
1. Dance remixes of diva anthems could save your life.
2. You were either gay or straight (and one was the wrong one).
There was not the multitudes of flags upon flags like we see today. I only ever heard it called the gay community and we only ever went to the lone gay club in our area. We had one rainbow (and not even the original 8-stripe rainbow). It took much longer than it should have for me and my friends to discover the many options but thanks to the internet and social media it did happen. The most important thing I learned through this new technology was that I had the option to not use a label at all. I was queer even without a letter and whether or not I put on the theatrics of “coming out”.
Likewise, it also took mainstream music a while to give us options beyond the camp of Village People or the spectacle of Diana Ross, Kylie, and even Beyonce in the mainstream music realm. Granted the straight divas were our voice in the public and the voices of acceptance when we didn’t have one. But thankfully in the 90s Melissa Etheridge and folks like The Indigo Girls and K.D. Lang were present, plus my boyfriend man crush George Michael was oozing gay sexuality in a way that had not been present on MTV and radio prior. But the music was still often very coded. Now everyone has a voice (and a flag) and musicians don’t have to cloak or code the language they can be as coy or as explicit as they want to. And the music videos can really tell some moving truths or go full camp. The bar, as it were is fully stocked.
It would have been so easy to lean on our gay icons and the traditional anthems I hear every year at the mall in June but I felt it was time to update the pantheon of songs and artists in the vaulted rainbow hall and explore gender (and sex) in music with this new colour palette. There were some 400-plus nominations and I’m sure I probably missed some while scrolling (so apologies). For the A-list I wanted to lean more into songs that spoke more directly about gender and the public and personal stories associated with it. The B-list got a little looser. But as is always the case I’m all over the map. Also, I hope these playlists can be served as an easy link to share so people young and old can get a little bit of an education that being queer in music isn’t new but it is certainly much more “out” and remind everyone that rainbows do their magic all year long.
It was so hard to choose songs and to order them so I started with what I felt was the only proper place to start for A and B lists and then basically went alphabetically as opposed to sonically and 24 for being born on the 24th!
PopOff!’s MixCloud Pride Parade:
The gAy-List Playlist:
1. David Bowie – Rebel Rebel
2. Bimini – God Save This Queen
3. Chavela Vargas – Macorina
4. Christine and the Queens – iT
5. Chumbawamba – Smash Clause 29!
6. Culture Club – Church Of The Poisoned Mind
7. Elvis Presley – Jailhouse Rock
8. Fat White Family – Feet
9. The Gossip – Standing In The Way Of Control
10. Grace Petrie – Black Tie
11. Jayne County and the Electric Chairs – Man Enough To Be A Woman
12. Jobriath – Im’aman
13. John Grant – Queen Of Denmark
14. Lil Nas X – Sun Goes Down
15. Living Colour – Bi
16. Ma Rainey – Prove It On Me Blues
17. Michel Sardou – Le Privilège
18. Panic! At the Disco – Girls/Girls/Boys
19. Peaches – I U She
20. Regina – Haluan Sinut
21. The Replacements – Androgynous
22. Shemekia Copeland – She Don't Wear Pin
23. Skyhooks – Funky And Gay
24. Utada Hikaru – Pink Blood
The Bi-List Playlist:
1. Queen – I Want To Break Free
2. Black Lips – Feeling Gay
3. D.A.F – Der Räuber und der Prinz
4. The Damned – Jet Boy, Jet Girl
5. Divine – Jungle Jezebel
6. Dusty Springfield – In Private
7. Frankie Goes To Hollywood – Relax
8. George Michael – Outside
9. Hayley Kiyoko – Girls Like Girls
10. Indigo Girls – Power Of Two
11. Joan Armatrading – Drop The Pilot
12. Josie Cotton – Johnny Are Your Queer?
13. K.D. Lang – Save Me
14. Katie Pruitt – Georgia
15. Pansy Division – Anthem
16. Pete Shelley – Homosapien
17. Revolting Cocks – Beers, Steers, & Queers
18. Shirley Bassey – I Am What I Am
19. Scissor Sisters – Any Which Way
20. Studio Killers – Jenny (I Wanna Ruin Out Friendship)
21. Tom Robinson Band – Glad To Be Gay
22. Teegan and Sarah – Closer
23. Turbonegro – Prince Of The Rodeo
24. Willie Nelson – We Are The Cowboys
Guru’s Wildcard Picks: High 5 for turning 45:
What is Pride without some Sylvester? And Stars, while not a mainstream hit was HUGE in the clubs and is a song that announces EVERYONE queer or not is worthy. Then we have the ultimate Spanish language queer anthem from icon Alaska Y Dinarama which asks more or less ,”What’s the big deal I’m queer so what?” And to my surprise nobody nommed Against Me! I almost considered breaking A-list rules because I felt Against Me! needed the A-list more than a simple guru pick but I behaved myself. Still it would be criminal for a playlist on gender not include one of the modern era’s defining gender anthems from one of it’s most public figures. This is followed by Melissa Etheridge and Silent Legacy, the first song whose lyrics spoke about my life and EXACTLY what I was feeling as teenager and the hell I was living. And lastly a song from 2020 while not about gender it does speak to an aspect of queerness many of us deal with and that is finding your chosen family when the biological one doesn’t work out.
Sylvester – Stars
Alaska Y Dinarama – A Quien Le Importa
Against Me! – Transgender Dysphoria Blues
Melissa Etheridge – Silent Legacy
Kree Harrison – Chosen Family Tree
These playlists were inspired by readers' song nominations from last week's topic: Gay pride struggles and strides: songs exploring gender and LGBTQ. The next topic will launch on Thursday at 1pm UK time.
New to comment? It is quick and easy. You just need to login to Disqus once. All is explained in About/FAQs ...
Fancy a turn behind the pumps at The Song Bar? Care to choose a playlist from songs nominated and write something about it? Then feel free to contact The Song Bar here, or try the usual email address. Also please follow us social media: Song Bar Twitter, Song Bar Facebook. Song Bar YouTube, and Song Bar Instagram. Please subscribe, follow and share.
Song Bar is non-profit and is simply about sharing great music. We don’t do clickbait or advertisements. Please make any donation to help keep the Bar running: