PDogz said:

Gunsnhalen said:

So can someone explain to me what make's these and other band's gay icons or gay music?

I've been around for a few seasons, and I've absolutely NEVER heard that Ray Charles or Stevie Wonder were considered Gay icons - never heard (or felt) that in my entire life. And if I were you, I'd be highly suspicious of the "people" that told you that.

But if Depeche Mode, New Order, OMD, The Cure, Talk Talk, Pet Shop Boys, & Blondie are considered Gay icons at all, it's because their music gets heavy play in Gay clubs & bars, and has little to do with the sexuality of the artist.

Oh Lord, the first time I ever went into a white gay club in the early 1990s, they played the HELL out of Depeche Mode and similar sounding artists for years. I can definately see why someone would think they are gay icons. They were played as much in the white club as Martha Wash was played in the black club.

The funny thing though, in the black gay club in my area, to this very day, they are totally unaware of anything by Sylvester other than "You Are My Friend" and that's only because one of my best friends made the song famous in there years ago by performing it all the time in the show. It was in the white gay club that I heard songs like "Do You Wanna Funk", "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)", "Dance (Disco Heat)", etc. The regional area and the DJ's taste in the clubs definately has a lot to do with what the area is familiar with.

MJJstudent said:

lazycrockett said:

^The idea with VP was that each persona was a iconic gay image singing subtle gay themed songs. They were meant to be camp, but crossed over to the mainstream which didn't get or understand the "gayness" of the band. Im sure when The Villiage People were strutting their stuff on American Bandstand many Mo's at the time were laughing at the straight people wondering how can those breeders be so clueless.

i don't think their songs were subtle at all... they sang songs called 'fire island' and 'YMCA', very popular gay spots at the time. the funny thing is, most of the dudes in the band were gay, except the singer, who used to be with roxie roker at one point.

So HE says. Please. He's in that group with all those openly gay queens and he's also doing drugs too! I'd bet my whole paycheck that his ass is trade and that one, if not all, of those queens have done sucked his dick before. And remember, motherfuckers like that, in their own little mind, think they are straight because they got sucked but didn't do the sucking.

He's about as straight as I am.

vainandy said:

PDogz said:

I've been around for a few seasons, and I've absolutely NEVER heard that Ray Charles or Stevie Wonder were considered Gay icons - never heard (or felt) that in my entire life. And if I were you, I'd be highly suspicious of the "people" that told you that.

But if Depeche Mode, New Order, OMD, The Cure, Talk Talk, Pet Shop Boys, & Blondie are considered Gay icons at all, it's because their music gets heavy play in Gay clubs & bars, and has little to do with the sexuality of the artist.

Oh Lord, the first time I ever went into a white gay club in the early 1990s, they played the HELL out of Depeche Mode and similar sounding artists for years. I can definately see why someone would think they are gay icons. They were played as much in the white club as Martha Wash was played in the black club.

The funny thing though, in the black gay club in my area, to this very day, they are totally unaware of anything by Sylvester other than "You Are My Friend" and that's only because one of my best friends made the song famous in there years ago by performing it all the time in the show. It was in the white gay club that I heard songs like "Do You Wanna Funk", "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)", "Dance (Disco Heat)", etc. The regional area and the DJ's taste in the clubs definately has a lot to do with what the area is familiar with.

vainandy said:

MJJstudent said:

i don't think their songs were subtle at all... they sang songs called 'fire island' and 'YMCA', very popular gay spots at the time. the funny thing is, most of the dudes in the band were gay, except the singer, who used to be with roxie roker at one point.

So HE says. Please. He's in that group with all those openly gay queens and he's also doing drugs too! I'd bet my whole paycheck that his ass is trade and that one, if not all, of those queens have done sucked his dick before. And remember, motherfuckers like that, in their own little mind, think they are straight because they got sucked but didn't do the sucking.

He's about as straight as I am.

vainandy said:

MJJstudent said:

i don't think their songs were subtle at all... they sang songs called 'fire island' and 'YMCA', very popular gay spots at the time. the funny thing is, most of the dudes in the band were gay, except the singer, who used to be with roxie roker at one point.

So HE says. Please. He's in that group with all those openly gay queens and he's also doing drugs too! I'd bet my whole paycheck that his ass is trade and that one, if not all, of those queens have done sucked his dick before. And remember, motherfuckers like that, in their own little mind, think they are straight because they got sucked but didn't do the sucking.

He's about as straight as I am.

I tend to concur, wholeheartedly, with your entire response.

Timmy84 said:

MJJstudent said:

wait? homeboy used to be with phylicia ayers-allen? i didn't know that! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! YOU DON'T WHUP NO PHYLICIA!!! i bet you NOW he he was with her, she would put that foot up his azz!

And he's also a crackhead but apparently he's still paid off the royalties from Village People records (since he wrote the majority of their hits).

A crackhead that has never fooled around is a rare thing. He can say he's straight if he wants to but I bet his ass is as trade as all get out. Oh, and he wrote the majority of those hits? For someone "straight", he sure knew an awful lot about the gay hangouts.

I thought he died a few years ago.

vainandy said:

MJJstudent said:

i don't think their songs were subtle at all... they sang songs called 'fire island' and 'YMCA', very popular gay spots at the time. the funny thing is, most of the dudes in the band were gay, except the singer, who used to be with roxie roker at one point.

So HE says. Please. He's in that group with all those openly gay queens and he's also doing drugs too! I'd bet my whole paycheck that his ass is trade and that one, if not all, of those queens have done sucked his dick before. And remember, motherfuckers like that, in their own little mind, think they are straight because they got sucked but didn't do the sucking.

He's about as straight as I am.

you could be right, my man...

PDogz said:

vainandy said:

Or for instance, I can't remember who I played at a gay house party not long ago, but it was funk like Lakeside, Con Funk Shun, or somebody like that. A straight person was there who had come with a gay friend and he saw all these gay asses shaking to it and he said...."What, y'all know about that kind of funk?". Well hell, what the hell do you think we were listening to before we were old enough to go to the gay clubs? I guess that motherfucker went home that night thinking that Lakeside and Con Funk Shun are gay icons also.

You should have put on some Lynyrd Skynyrd, then told The Family to just play along and dance to it, lol. That would have REALLY fucked him up, lol.

I've been known to throw in a country song out of the blue just for laughs. I should play this one and tell people it's a gay favorite because it makes us think of dicks just a'swangin'.

vainandy said:

Timmy84 said:

And he's also a crackhead but apparently he's still paid off the royalties from Village People records (since he wrote the majority of their hits).

A crackhead that has never fooled around is a rare thing. He can say he's straight if he wants to but I bet his ass is as trade as all get out. Oh, and he wrote the majority of those hits? For someone "straight", he sure knew an awful lot about the gay hangouts.

I thought he died a few years ago.

No he's still alive. Apparently trying to kick his crack habit now.

Oh, sweet Jesus.

After reading this thread I thought "hmm, I haven't listened to Depeche Mode in quite a while". I don't have any of the original records myself as I've never been that big a fan, so I headed to youtube and started streaming "Enjoy Silence". The links to other videos provided by VEVO next to the clip are all either by Adam Lambert or "Born This Way" by Lady Gaga.

"These are just suggestions, but we think you might be into all this other gay stuff." - Yours, VEVO

novabrkr said:

Oh, sweet Jesus.

After reading this thread I thought "hmm, I haven't listened to Depeche Mode in quite a while". I don't have any of the original records myself as I've never been that big a fan, so I headed to youtube and started streaming "Enjoy Silence". The links to other videos provided by VEVO next to the clip are all either by Adam Lambert or "Born This Way" by Lady Gaga.

"These are just suggestions, but we think you might be into all this other gay stuff." - Yours, VEVO

VEVO makes me sick when they do that. Lots of loyal YouTubers are like "VEVO KILL YOURSELF".

[Edited 3/25/11 1:30am]

Timmy84 said:

novabrkr said:

Oh, sweet Jesus.

After reading this thread I thought "hmm, I haven't listened to Depeche Mode in quite a while". I don't have any of the original records myself as I've never been that big a fan, so I headed to youtube and started streaming "Enjoy Silence". The links to other videos provided by VEVO next to the clip are all either by Adam Lambert or "Born This Way" by Lady Gaga.

"These are just suggestions, but we think you might be into all this other gay stuff." - Yours, VEVO

VEVO makes me sick when they do that. Lots of loyal YouTubers are like "VEVO KILL YOURSELF".

[Edited 3/25/11 1:30am]

i didn't think people normally watched VEVO, unless they couldn't find any other source of the things they are looking for. all it does when you click on it is generate money for google, so no one liked\s to click on it, understandably. when most people upload things, they don't do it for money, and a lot of the time people go out and purchase the music if they like it enough. these major media organizations are so antiquated... i thought I was naive about modern technology...

MJJstudent said:

Timmy84 said:

VEVO makes me sick when they do that. Lots of loyal YouTubers are like "VEVO KILL YOURSELF".

[Edited 3/25/11 1:30am]

i didn't think people normally watched VEVO, unless they couldn't find any other source of the things they are looking for. all it does when you click on it is generate money for google, so no one liked\s to click on it, understandably. when most people upload things, they don't do it for money, and a lot of the time people go out and purchase the music if they like it enough. these major media organizations are so antiquated... i thought I was naive about modern technology...

No they don't. And that's why YouTubers hate it.

The videos on VEVO are of rather decent quality. The quality of the user uploads especially from the earlier years can be pretty bad. With some of the most popular bands - Depeche Mode is "popular" by my books - I don't necessarily want to waste time by trying one link after another. I know VEVO is always at least watchable.

Keeping on "topic", I wouldn't be surprised if they had some sort of a "gay", "gay music", "gay icon" tag for some of their videos. I'd figure they don't want to scare the most middle of the road audience from their closed loop of "suggestions". I don't think it can be based on just what the users in general have watched. Obviously the current artists are getting the biggest push and appear at the top of those lists. Hell, they might even have a "guys with eyeliner" secret tag.

People who complain about Vevo are ridiculous. I love being able to watch most of my favorite videos in 1080HD for free.

MJJstudent said:

Timmy84 said:

VEVO makes me sick when they do that. Lots of loyal YouTubers are like "VEVO KILL YOURSELF".

[Edited 3/25/11 1:30am]

i didn't think people normally watched VEVO, unless they couldn't find any other source of the things they are looking for. all it does when you click on it is generate money for google, so no one liked\s to click on it, understandably. when most people upload things, they don't do it for money, and a lot of the time people go out and purchase the music if they like it enough. these major media organizations are so antiquated... i thought I was naive about modern technology...

I think people normally don't really give a flying fuck one way or the other who uploaded a video they want to see. Better for it to be there than not. And there's more that happens when you click on those videos than google making money. You get to see the video you were looking for.

novabrkr said:

The videos on VEVO are of rather decent quality. The quality of the user uploads especially from the earlier years can be pretty bad. With some of the most popular bands - Depeche Mode is "popular" by my books - I don't necessarily want to waste time by trying one link after another. I know VEVO is always at least watchable.

Keeping on "topic", I wouldn't be surprised if they had some sort of a "gay", "gay music", "gay icon" tag for some of their videos. I'd figure they don't want to scare the most middle of the road audience from their closed loop of "suggestions". I don't think it can be based on just what the users in general have watched. Obviously the current artists are getting the biggest push and appear at the top of those lists. Hell, they might even have a "guys with eyeliner" secret tag.

They won't dare promote the "queerest" of the artists out there lol VEVO has great quality don't get me wrong lol it's the promotion and tags that are too much to me but yeah let's stay on topic though. Depeche Mode definitely are popular with every other "group". In fact they WERE popular for a good minute.

i'm staying out of the VEVO argument... i'll just respectfully agree to dis-agree like i usually end up doing with most things.

i WILL say this though- it's bad enough more and more of the internet is becoming corporatised, and the government chooses to vote against the interests of most citizens, with the internet kill switch bill, as well as supporting less and less net neutrality. ... it would be nice where there is SOME place where we can be free of corporatism and adverts wherever we go. perhaps it is this site we are using, right here. i don't believe in just accepting things as they are, just because we have access to something for free. i'd like to support things that are TOTALLY free, in more ways than one.

that's all i'll say on the issue. thanks.

MJJstudent said:

i'm staying out of the VEVO argument... i'll just respectfully agree to dis-agree like i usually end up doing with most things.

i WILL say this though- it's bad enough more and more of the internet is becoming corporatised, and the government chooses to vote against the interests of most citizens, with the internet kill switch bill, as well as supporting less and less net neutrality. ... it would be nice where there is SOME place where we can be free of corporatism and adverts wherever we go. perhaps it is this site we are using, right here. i don't believe in just accepting things as they are, just because we have access to something for free. i'd like to support things that are TOTALLY free, in more ways than one.

that's all i'll say on the issue. thanks.

the only problem with this argument is that corporations own the videos that you want to watch, so they are well within their rights to be the one to provide them to you and monetize the process.

nevermind the face that music videos themselves are a commercial.

errant said:

MJJstudent said:

i'm staying out of the VEVO argument... i'll just respectfully agree to dis-agree like i usually end up doing with most things.

i WILL say this though- it's bad enough more and more of the internet is becoming corporatised, and the government chooses to vote against the interests of most citizens, with the internet kill switch bill, as well as supporting less and less net neutrality. ... it would be nice where there is SOME place where we can be free of corporatism and adverts wherever we go. perhaps it is this site we are using, right here. i don't believe in just accepting things as they are, just because we have access to something for free. i'd like to support things that are TOTALLY free, in more ways than one.

that's all i'll say on the issue. thanks.

the only problem with this argument is that corporations own the videos that you want to watch, so they are well within their rights to be the one to provide them to you and monetize the process.

nevermind the face that music videos themselves are a commercial.

this is why we need to get back to music actually being represented by the people. i'm talking old school, like the 'rites of spring'. music that enraged people and engaged them so. or even television, where the airwaves were actually (supposed to be) owned by the people.

i don't watch television at all, and most videos of musicians i watch on youtube are actually the ones when people put their records on (or show the photos of the albums), or live performances. i don't watch a lot of music videos. and i don't watch VEVO due to the commercialism aspect. i will post things from VEVO if there's no other source of the video. and that is extremely rare for me to post something from VEVO.

if google/youtube is working with record labels and some folks who upload videos as business partners; if most people are not making a dime off of what they upload, i don't see why sony, unidisc, etc. wanna put cease and desist orders on people. most people who upload already legally own copies of the music, and they want to share with others.

i remember in 1982, the government tried to get on blank cassette companies for promoting copyright infringement or whatever. it obviously didn't work. with the digital technology it's much easier to criminalize people.

the major issue is about access and class. and keeping the people asleep. because the generations don't communicate with each other as well as they should, a lot of these young kids today know about older music through sites like youtube. when you corporatise these sites and criminalize people for sharing, then you prevent people from having access to information (and good music). when i was a kid i used to hang out in record shops with all the older dudes. i don't know if that happens so much anymore.

Completely off topic, but I just made a one-hour radio documentary about Depeche Mode's "Black Celebration" album and interview Mute Records CEO Daniel Miller and album producer Gareth Jones for it. It's being broadcast on Sunday

MJJstudent said:

errant said:

the only problem with this argument is that corporations own the videos that you want to watch, so they are well within their rights to be the one to provide them to you and monetize the process.

nevermind the face that music videos themselves are a commercial.

this is why we need to get back to music actually being represented by the people. i'm talking old school, like the 'rites of spring'. music that enraged people and engaged them so. or even television, where the airwaves were actually (supposed to be) owned by the people.

i don't watch television at all, and most videos of musicians i watch on youtube are actually the ones when people put their records on (or show the photos of the albums), or live performances. i don't watch a lot of music videos. and i don't watch VEVO due to the commercialism aspect. i will post things from VEVO if there's no other source of the video. and that is extremely rare for me to post something from VEVO.

if google/youtube is working with record labels and some folks who upload videos as business partners; if most people are not making a dime off of what they upload, i don't see why sony, unidisc, etc. wanna put cease and desist orders on people. most people who upload already legally own copies of the music, and they want to share with others.

i remember in 1982, the government tried to get on blank cassette companies for promoting copyright infringement or whatever. it obviously didn't work. with the digital technology it's much easier to criminalize people.

the major issue is about access and class. and keeping the people asleep. because the generations don't communicate with each other as well as they should, a lot of these young kids today know about older music through sites like youtube. when you corporatise these sites and criminalize people for sharing, then you prevent people from having access to information (and good music). when i was a kid i used to hang out in record shops with all the older dudes. i don't know if that happens so much anymore.

so you'd prefer that the labels SELL you access to watch the video rather than having an advertisement on the page so that you can watch it for free?

the music industry is finally catching up to a point where it can say in business and bring you its product for free, instead of just completely denying it to you or suing you for it.

but that's not good enough, so now we're going to piss and moan about the fact that it comes with advertising.

waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

I don't watch VEVO stuff because it plays jerky and/or freezes all the time. You can just press F5 to skip the ads.

Spinlight said:

People who complain about Vevo are ridiculous. I love being able to watch most of my favorite videos in 1080HD for free.

What is this Vevo? Free videos? I'm there on the google train just as soon as i get home.

Militant said:

Completely off topic, but I just made a one-hour radio documentary about Depeche Mode's "Black Celebration" album and interview Mute Records CEO Daniel Miller and album producer Gareth Jones for it. It's being broadcast on Sunday

Where will this broadcast be? I am interested in this.

Militant said:

Completely off topic, but I just made a one-hour radio documentary about Depeche Mode's "Black Celebration" album and interview Mute Records CEO Daniel Miller and album producer Gareth Jones for it. It's being broadcast on Sunday

Interesting.

Ugh, now I regret even talking about VEVO. Let's just dead that conversation. That's not even what this thread is about.

the phrase "gay musical icons" brings to mind the following:

freddie mercury

me'shell ndegeocello (my biggest personal influence/hero)

the indigo girls

rufus wainwright

george michael

tracy chapman

andy bell

ricky martin

elton john

michael stipe

wendy & lisa

boy george

k.d. lang

jake shears

lance bass

adam lambert

johnny mathis

liberace

rupaul

carmen mcrae

marc almond

jeidee said:

the phrase "gay musical icons" brings to mind the following:

freddie mercury (I think he's more than that to me, sure the gay community connects with him but so do straights)

me'shell ndegeocello (my biggest personal influence/hero) (Yep I totally buy that, the songs "If That Was Your Boyfriend" and "Leviticus: Faggot" definitely stand out to me)

the indigo girls (I can see why)

rufus wainwright (most definitely)

george michael (oh definitely but he's also an icon overall like Freddie)

tracy chapman (hmm, don't know about that one lol, but she should be)

andy bell

ricky martin

elton john

michael stipe (I actually think he's more of a QUEER icon than just simply a gay one)

wendy & lisa

boy george (he screams "gay icon")

k.d. lang (a heroine to the lesbian community definitely)

jake shears (that guy definitely don't give a fuck, he's out and proud, more props to him)

lance bass

adam lambert

johnny mathis (he's more of a romantic icon who just happens to be gay)

liberace (hmmm... lol)

rupaul (much like Boy George, he just screams that title)

carmen mcrae

marc almond (I can see it)

jeidee said:

the phrase "gay musical icons" brings to mind the following:

freddie mercury

me'shell ndegeocello (my biggest personal influence/hero)

the indigo girls

rufus wainwright

george michael

tracy chapman

andy bell

ricky martin

elton john

michael stipe

wendy & lisa

boy george

k.d. lang

jake shears

lance bass

adam lambert

johnny mathis

liberace

rupaul

carmen mcrae

marc almond

The problem is the majority of gays dont listen to half of these artist.

lazycrockett said:

jeidee said:

the phrase "gay musical icons" brings to mind the following:

freddie mercury

me'shell ndegeocello (my biggest personal influence/hero)

the indigo girls

rufus wainwright

george michael

tracy chapman

andy bell

ricky martin

elton john

michael stipe

wendy & lisa

boy george

k.d. lang

jake shears

lance bass

adam lambert

johnny mathis

liberace

rupaul

carmen mcrae

marc almond

The problem is the majority of gays dont listen to half of these artist.

I was gonna say that too. And a few artists don't even qualify because one of them never put a solo project out (Lance) and another has only been out a year and a half with modest success. So those two don't really qualify.