Ruminations and Rumours
I just re-downloaded Fleetwood Mac's classic hit record, "Rumours", the cover of which features, if I remember correctly, Stevie Nicks looking typically Wiccan and Lindsey Buckingham in some kind of terrifying man-tights and a billowing nightmare of a poet's shirt. That leads me to think about some of the more embarrassing music that I love without shame. But not in public.
1. The Carpenters. Karen Carpenter's story breaks my heart. And her voice does, too. I find their music transcendently depressing. The song "Superstar" in particular brings me back to the indulgence of high school love turmoil, when I was always pining away for the girls I was planning on bringing back to my makeshift lesbian bachelor pad and seducing with cheap white zinfandel in a jug.
2. The Gay Trifecta: Erasure, the Pet Shop Boys, and Jimmy Somerville (of the Bronski Beat and the Communards). There doesn't exist a song between these überfags that I wouldn't blast on my car stereo and pretend I was on the drag queen float at London's Pride Parade. I've spoken before about the Gayest Song in the World, Liza Minnelli sings a Stephen Sondheim staple, produced by the Pet Shop Boys, "Losing My Mind".
3. Lilith Fare (pun, not a typo). Sarah McLachlan, Heather Nova, and Tori Amos in particular...though I believe she is the most talented and interesting and actually transcends the Lilith crowd. Lilith Fair was a beautiful experiment in menses rock and I miss it, though I don't know if I'd be as receptive today as I was in high school. But at the time, it was a great place to be young, gay, and (temporarily) crunchy.
This girl loved her some Lilith Fair. And wheat.
4. (some would say terrible) DANCE MUSIC. The M People, Simply Red, Kon Kan, Kreo, and slightly more respectable things like Felix Da Housecat, Miss Kittin, and some hits of electroclash days bygone (anyone remember WIT, Whatever It Takes?).
5. Show Tunes. I have quite a few show tunes in my personal collection. I don't care. I love it all. Hum the first few bars of "Good Mornin'", "Wilkommen", "You Are Your Daddy's Son", "Make 'em Laugh", or "Mein Herr" and I am right there by your side belting out the chorus like the coattail riding little sister Liza never had.
6. Oldies: The Mamas and the Papas. I love them. But really, is there any shame in that? Mama Cass had the pipes. Herman's Hermits, yes, even that obnoxious Henry the Eighth song.
I could mention my love of disco, but I actually think my disco collection stands the test of time pretty well. I tend to be into the stuff that hasn't yet been played to death like Cerrone and Giorgio Moroder.
For every embarrassing little musical secret I harbor, I actually have pretty good, diverse taste in music and it is matched by something suitably obscure and cool enough to impress music snobs out there. Seriously, though, who do I have to impress? Screw you if you don't appreciate the beautiful and sensitive, sometimes vulnerable strains of Neil Tennant's tinny howl over a sweaty synth beat. Your loss is my faggy gain!
Anyone else have something to confess?
1. The Carpenters. Karen Carpenter's story breaks my heart. And her voice does, too. I find their music transcendently depressing. The song "Superstar" in particular brings me back to the indulgence of high school love turmoil, when I was always pining away for the girls I was planning on bringing back to my makeshift lesbian bachelor pad and seducing with cheap white zinfandel in a jug.
2. The Gay Trifecta: Erasure, the Pet Shop Boys, and Jimmy Somerville (of the Bronski Beat and the Communards). There doesn't exist a song between these überfags that I wouldn't blast on my car stereo and pretend I was on the drag queen float at London's Pride Parade. I've spoken before about the Gayest Song in the World, Liza Minnelli sings a Stephen Sondheim staple, produced by the Pet Shop Boys, "Losing My Mind".
3. Lilith Fare (pun, not a typo). Sarah McLachlan, Heather Nova, and Tori Amos in particular...though I believe she is the most talented and interesting and actually transcends the Lilith crowd. Lilith Fair was a beautiful experiment in menses rock and I miss it, though I don't know if I'd be as receptive today as I was in high school. But at the time, it was a great place to be young, gay, and (temporarily) crunchy.
This girl loved her some Lilith Fair. And wheat.
4. (some would say terrible) DANCE MUSIC. The M People, Simply Red, Kon Kan, Kreo, and slightly more respectable things like Felix Da Housecat, Miss Kittin, and some hits of electroclash days bygone (anyone remember WIT, Whatever It Takes?).
5. Show Tunes. I have quite a few show tunes in my personal collection. I don't care. I love it all. Hum the first few bars of "Good Mornin'", "Wilkommen", "You Are Your Daddy's Son", "Make 'em Laugh", or "Mein Herr" and I am right there by your side belting out the chorus like the coattail riding little sister Liza never had.
6. Oldies: The Mamas and the Papas. I love them. But really, is there any shame in that? Mama Cass had the pipes. Herman's Hermits, yes, even that obnoxious Henry the Eighth song.
I could mention my love of disco, but I actually think my disco collection stands the test of time pretty well. I tend to be into the stuff that hasn't yet been played to death like Cerrone and Giorgio Moroder.
For every embarrassing little musical secret I harbor, I actually have pretty good, diverse taste in music and it is matched by something suitably obscure and cool enough to impress music snobs out there. Seriously, though, who do I have to impress? Screw you if you don't appreciate the beautiful and sensitive, sometimes vulnerable strains of Neil Tennant's tinny howl over a sweaty synth beat. Your loss is my faggy gain!
Anyone else have something to confess?