...in pandering to the gay market. I've heard live renditions of four of her newer songs, and they were all great, but the weakest one was "Set Your Heart", yet it seems that song is going to be the first single from her next album. The only explanation for this has to be that the song has a typical gay disco beat, and they want to capitalise on her popularity with gays. It also seems most of the producers she's working with are European dance oriented producers.

Cyndi has had to do some real stooping over the last 10 years just to get records released (two covers albums and re-recordings of her hits, for example), but it would be terrible if her first proper album in years was ruined by wooing any one perceived market. Fortunately the album is not yet finished so the plans may change, but I'm worried.

Gay audiences always have legendary divas' back, thought ya knew.

Timmy84 said:

Yeah, but Cyndi never tailored her music specifically to gays before and they loved her anyway. It just smacks of desperation. She's been treated so shabbily by record companies now for the last 15 years that maybe she feels she's got to resort to these kind of tactics, but in my view it goes against the spirit of her music. In the 90s she really found her groove, and that groove was organic, certainly not the kind of computer beats favoured in gay clubs.

Sounds great! I'll buy it. I have all her records, and it would be cool to hear her take on dance-pop.

Making dance music doesn't mean you're "pandering to the gays"; if anything it means you're pandering to people who like dance music. Cyndi has always been big in the clubs, gay and straight. Furthermore, she has an amazingly strong connection with the gay community (her sister is a lesbian, and she does a shitload of charity work and tours for Pride), so it's insulting her to suggest that she's making this music to "pander" to anyone when clearly embracing the community is a big part of her life and has been for decades, just as making eclectic music that spans all genres has been a hallmark of her career. She is making music for herself, just as she has always done. As an aside, the gay community embraced Sisters of Avalon when basically no one else did.
[Edited 1/17/08 16:09pm]

midnightmover said:

Didn't she cater to members of the lesbian community not too long ago?

Plus Cyndi never focused on one genre too long, when she started out, she was straight ROCK, then when she started getting famous, she settled on a new wavish/pop-rock style, then as her sound got older, she incorporated soul, alternative and later jazz so she's just trying another style of music.

Didn't she say 25 years ago that she was "unusual"?

Cyndi's been playing at LGBT benefit gigs and Pride celebrations for quite a long time, hasn't she?

Timmy84 said:

Well, I know she had sex with a lesbian when she was fifteen, so she definitely catered to at least one member of the community. But as far as her music goes, it always had a more organic, musical feel from "Hatful Of Stars" onward. I just hope she doesn't sacrifice that for commercial reasons.

Anxiety said:

Yes, but if you listen to her albums they have never been overtly aimed at a gay audience. My issue with it is that I prefer a more human sound. Those beats they play in gay clubs sound terrible to me, just on a musical level.

midnightmover said:

yeah, it's always a disappointment when humans go gay

Anxiety said:

You're turning a musical issue into a sexual one.

midnightmover said:

can you explain the characteristics of "human" and "gay" music?

Anxiety said:

If you listen to the kind of music played in gay clubs it's very sequenced, rigid and mechanical sounding, and also very fast. It is simply not organic. The term "human sounding" is a commonly used phrase, meaning the opposite of more machine-like music. For instance "Dirty Mind" is more human sounding than "1999". My concern is that Cyndi may sacrifice the more organic elements in an attempt to please one audience.

Anxiety said:

I'm surprised that it's talked about. Like I said, the LGBT has divas' backs.
[Edited 1/17/08 17:16pm]

Anxiety said:

In which IMHO there's no such thing.

Anxiety said:

and at those events she's always done the dance mixes of her songs.

and don't forget True Colors last year.

ehuffnsd said:

Which confirms my argument. She does the dance mixes when playing to gay audiences. In other words she recognises that gays like that style. What is so controversial about saying that?

ehuffnsd said:

Yeah I remember hearing about that tour. Had Rufus Wainwright on it too.

midnightmover said:

It's probably the way it's worded, that's why people give you the look.

Timmy84 said:

It also featured the lead singer of this band... http://prince.org/msg/8/257931

Timmy84 said:

yeah and the thread title.

Madonna has always catered to the gay audience, in fact her first apperance as a recording artist on Sire were in Gay Clubs.

Kylie has been embraced by the gays because of the SAW sound.

Cyndi has been a major gay icon since she started out as well.

he made is sound like it was a bad thing to be embraced by the gay community.


look at what happened to Donna Summer when a rumor got around her and the gay community.

ehuffnsd said:

In 2000 Kylie explicitly changed her music to capitalise on her popularity with the gay audience. It worked and so she's stuck with it. In 2005 Madonna did the same. That's why I said Cyndi may be "joining" them. All these people were popular with gays from the start, but there came a point where it dictated their music. That's never been the case with Cyndi before. Now, her identification with the gay audience is a beautiful thing, but if it starts to dictate her music then I've got a problem. Maybe I'm an idealist, but I just feel your music should be based on what you love and what is satisfying musically. I doubt if Cyndi would be interested in that style of music if it weren't popular with her target audience.
[Edited 1/20/08 12:07pm]

ehuffnsd said:

Exactly. I feel if Donna hadn't announced being born again and having words come out of her mouth that weren't there, her career would have a stronger hold than it does now.

Timmy84 said:

OMG. What did Donna say?

Rodya24 said:

the rumor is she said AIDS is God's punishment.

ehuffnsd said:

Rodya24 said:

Didn't you see the word "rumor"? She didn't say it but someone ran with it!

Timmy84 said:

So, has she spoken up about the rumor?

Rodya24 said:

She has constantly DENY it every time she was asked about from the '80s 'til now. When some newspaper put the rumor as "fact", Donna sue the newspaper and held an emotional press conference where she tried holding back tears saying that everything said about her was false. Donna's a sweetheart, she just got fucked with.

Now Gloria Gaynor on the other hand...

Timmy84 said:

I am so glad to hear that!