Tag Archives: dance music

Man Parrish, Hip Hop, Be Bop (Don’t Stop), 1982. What many consider to be the single most influential hip-hop/electro track ever was created created by an openly gay guy. (I’d also put Soulsonic Force’s Planet Rock and Hashim’s Al-Naafiysh on that short list.) This clip is very, very silly and one might guess shared a make-up artist with the folks …

Pete Shelley, Homosapien, 1981. The BBC (but not MTV) banned this first solo single from the former Buzzcocks lead singer because of the references to gay sex. “Homosuperior. In my interior.” Yeah, still funny. Of course, a lot of the Buzzcocks songs had gay references too. TRIVIA: Pete’s parents were going to name him “Shelley” if he’d been a girl, …

“When I started out in music, going from acting to singing, that transition was very successful, but I also got flack for it. Many hurtful things were said. It wasn’t easy. I was only 19 and I think the gay audience kinda picked up on that and decided to defend me and adopt me. They saw I was being criticised …

Scritti Politti, Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin), 1984. Their first single to chart in the U.S., although it only got to #91. Scritti was much more successful with Perfect Way, the fifth single from Cupid & Psyche ’85, which topped out at #11 here. I’ve always liked Wood Beez better, possibly because of its similarity (especially the bassline) to …

Former Page 3 topless model and 80’s dance artist Samantha Fox is getting married to her female manager. Via SheWired: Fox, most well known for her popular nude pictorials and eighties pop songs, tells OK! Magazine of the nuptial’s planned for England, “We might get Liz Mitchell of BoneyM to do the ceremony – she’s a pastor now… and have …

“I just want to be clear before we decide to do this together: I’m gay. My music is gay. My show is gay. And I love that it’s gay. And I love my gay fans and they’re all going to be coming to our show. And it’s going to remain gay.” – Lady Gaga to Kayne West before agreeing to …

Gwen Guthrie, Ain’t Nothing Going On But The Rent, 1986. Known as the “First Lady Of The Paradise Garage” for her close relationship with DJ Larry Levan, this was Guthrie’s biggest hit, landing at #1 on the U.S. dance and R&B charts. Guthrie, who tragically died of uterine cancer in 1999 at the age of 49, was also an HIV …

Courtesy of Fly Life Inc, today’s Swag Tuesday prize is the new album by British dance artist La Roux. If you’ve attended any of the Blowoff parties around the country in the last month or so, you’ve probably heard La Roux. (I think there even might be a Rich Morel remix on the way. Squeal!) The highly anticipated 2009 debut …

Bronski Beat, Why, 1984. This song seems especially appropriate for this weekend. Contempt in your eyes as I turn to kiss his lips. Broken I lie, all my feelings denied. Blood on your fist. Can you tell me why? You in your false securities. Tear up my life, condemning me. Name me an illness, call me a sin. Never feel …

Paul Hardcastle, 19, 1985. Who could have predicted that a dance record about the average age of U.S. soldiers in Vietnam would be a global smash, going to #1 in 13 countries? Strange, and the video was disturbing as well. Trivia: Mike Oldfield successfully sued Paul Hardcastle for plagiarizing his Exorcist theme, Tubular Bells, with this track. (I’ve never been …

Malcolm McLaren, Madame Butterfly, 1984. One of my absolute favorites of the decade. There’s not much to the video, just a bunch of bored Robert Palmer girls pouting in a sauna, but man this track used to kill during morning music sets at Fort Lauderdale’s Copa. Wait for Betty Ann White’s last note. Take it away, Cho Cho.

Anne Clark, Our Darkness, 1984. One of few spoken-word dance hits that I can recall. I remember having a really hard time finding this record because the title doesn’t appear in the lyrics. Remember when you and your friends would spend the entire ride home from the club pondering what that song might have been? And then spending half of …

The Earons, Land Of Hunger, 1984. Delicious “astro-funk” from a band that only named its members with decimals. Members .28, .22 and .18 were also in Machine, which gave us the disco classic There But For The Grace Of God Go I.

Here’s a low-rez (including crowd noise) leak of the first single from Madonna’s coming greatest hits package. Over at Boy Culture, Matthew Rettenmund has all the details about the release, including artwork and track listings.

Pet Shop Boys score their 9th Billboard dance #1 in the U.S. this week with Love Etc, stretching their run on that chart to almost 25 years. The disco-tinged duo has notched 24 top ten dance singles here, but their best tally is on the UK pop singles chart, where 44 singles have hit the top 40. Last night they …

I’ve been digging this clip from Toronto’s gay gay gay Fritz Helder & The Phantoms for a few days now. It’s not to my usual tastes, but there’s something about it….

Last month many of you enjoyed YouTube member Fagottron’s Mary Poppins electro mashup Expialidocious. Here’s his latest, from Willy Wonka. Visit his site.

Here’s a few Pride classics to put you in the mood.

The Barbie Girl people are back. I really really really shouldn’t like this. Totally. Should. Not. Presses repeat. BTW, a dear friend of mine who is a grown-ass man, works out daily to the first Aqua album. For realz. (Tipped by JMG reader Claire Bear)

Full-screen versions of these photos are here.