Lance Bass and Gay Rockers
Boy George, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Pet Shop Boys and More
From flamboyant, proud, defiant, hurt and estranged, the out of the closet 80s UK pop scene provided fans with plaintive, sincere and hip music
If Bass would have chosen to be openly gay in the 80s, he would've had to compete with some heavy competition where UK musicians were concerned. From flamboyant, proud, defiant, hurt and estranged, the 80s UK pop scene provided fans with plaintive, sincere and hip music that reflected the diversity of gay men's experience across the pond.
Given the lyrical and vocal skill of the likes of Jimmy Sommerville (Bronski Beat) Boy George (Culture Club), Holly Johnson (Frankie Goes to Hollywood), Andy Bell (Erasure), and Neil Tenant (Pet Shop Boys), much of the defining sound from the 80's was determined on the other side of the closet door.
One of the more memorable tunes was Bronski Beat's "Small Town Boy"(UK #3, 1984) whose video portrayed the dangerous and alienating experience of coming out to one's family, far ahead of any Tinsel Town offerings on the same subject. Over 20 years later, Jimmy Sommerville's falsetto remains unmatched in pop music. "Small Town Boy" is a poignant anthem from the moment the first bars of synthesizer starts the song off.
On the other end of the synthesizer spectrum is the copulation cult hit, "Relax" (UK #1, 1984), by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Released without incident in North America it was banned in the U.K. However, it did nothing to stop the other hits the band would later produce.
Next, Boy George, who along with Culture Club, probably created the only gay friendly reggae song, made it into 80's immortality with "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" (UK #1, 1982). Apart from "Hurt", Culture Club were an upbeat, animated outfit and O'Dowd did not revisit the charts with his sexuality again until the 90's as a solo artist with the stirring theme song for "The Crying Game," a sleeper hit which is renowned for "one of the top most shocking scenes" in film ever.
These artists represent a small part of the musical genius and cultural icons of the fabulous gay 80s.In addition to blockbuster bi-sexuals such as David Bowie and Freddie Mercury before them, a closeted existence was a world away in the universe of 80's pop music.
