Pansy Division I think definitely fit the bill of "gay/queer icons".

The most popular gay artist that have a queer following would be IMO

Popular

Pet Shop Boys

Erasure

kd. lang

Known

Indigo Girls

Sylvester

Jimmy Sommerville

off the top of my head.

lazycrockett said:

The most popular gay artist that have a queer following would be IMO

Popular

Pet Shop Boys

Erasure

kd. lang

Known

Indigo Girls

Sylvester

Jimmy Sommerville

off the top of my head.

Weren't Sylvester and Jimmy the FIRST artists to be openly gay? I don't even think Sylvester had to make an announcement, he just WAS.

But yeah Pet Shop Boys definitely register as gay icons.

[Edited 3/25/11 11:27am]

^I think Jimmy and Marc = Bronski Beat was pretty openly gay. Smalltown Boy was probably the first real athnem that dealt with gay youth in the straight world. Though later I heard that Marc was/wasnt gay. I really dont know much bout him

I would say from the wiki page that Sylvester was pretty open bout it also.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvester_James

lazycrockett said:

^I think Jimmy and Marc = Bronski Beat was pretty openly gay. Smalltown Boy was probably the first real athnem that dealt with gay youth in the straight world. Though later I heard that Marc was/wasnt gay. I really dont know much bout him

I would say from the wiki page that Sylvester was pretty open bout it also.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvester_James

I got you. Interesting about Marc. Maybe he's bisexual.

Hmm, apparently Marc Almond is indeed gay. I just read his Wiki page. He said he's gay in his autobiography so there you have it.

Timmy84 said:

Weren't Sylvester and Jimmy the FIRST artists to be openly gay? I don't even think Sylvester had to make an announcement, he just WAS.

[Edited 3/25/11 11:27am]

I can't believe I forgot Sylvester!! I've never really listene to Somerville... any reccommendations?

Timmy84 said:

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)

Yeah her last album "Devil's Halo" had a few standouts including "Lola" "White Girl" and "Love You Down" as well.

Timmy84 said:

lazycrockett said:

The most popular gay artist that have a queer following would be IMO

Popular

Pet Shop Boys

Erasure

kd. lang

Known

Indigo Girls

Sylvester

Jimmy Sommerville

off the top of my head.

Weren't Sylvester and Jimmy the FIRST artists to be openly gay? I don't even think Sylvester had to make an announcement, he just WAS.

But yeah Pet Shop Boys definitely register as gay icons.

[Edited 3/25/11 11:27am]

On Sylvester's 1979 live album "Living Proof", he remade Billie Holliday's "Lover Man (Where Can You Be)" and did not change the gender in the title or the lyrics. Also, at the beginning of "Sharing Something Perfect Between Ourselves" he says..."I would like to dedicate this song to my lover who is in the audience who I love very much".

Sylvester didn't give a fuck.

PDogz said:

vainandy said:

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 regional area and the DJ's taste in the clubs definately has a lot to do with what the area is familiar with.

I also agree with the comment about region.

Depeche Mode is SEXY!! Their music makes you wanna make out. It was the same with The Cure. I live in The Bay Area so the gay men's scene is much more this style of music, but the gay womens scene is more like acoustic folk. And punk touches all shores of sexuality here....Gosh, it's so hard to generalize, I mean people like what they like..

Timmy84 said:

Pansy Division I think definitely fit the bill of "gay/queer icons".

Yeah, Pansy Division is an awsome Punk band from the Gilman days..they always said it loud and proud!

vainandy said:

Timmy84 said:

Weren't Sylvester and Jimmy the FIRST artists to be openly gay? I don't even think Sylvester had to make an announcement, he just WAS.

But yeah Pet Shop Boys definitely register as gay icons.

[Edited 3/25/11 11:27am]

On Sylvester's 1979 live album "Living Proof", he remade Billie Holliday's "Lover Man (Where Can You Be)" and did not change the gender in the title or the lyrics. Also, at the beginning of "Sharing Something Perfect Between Ourselves" he says..."I would like to dedicate this song to my lover who is in the audience who I love very much".

Sylvester didn't give a fuck.

Sure didn't.

With Jimmy Sommerville if youre new to him Id recommend the GH The Very Best of Jimmy Sommerville, The Bronksi Beat and The Communards.

You'll get a good idea overall of his stuff and style.

If you make a cameo on Absolutely Fabulous, you're a gay icon.

Timmy84 said:

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.

why do you regret it? i don't think you should AT ALL. i'm not gonna get any more into that conversation. i'm just curious about why people always shy away from these intense socio-political conversations when talking about music.

people who read my posts know that everything to me is political. so i don't see it as being off the subject at all. ALL OF THESE THINGS SHOULD NATURALLY BE ABLE TO WEAVE TOGETHER, with no fear of being cut off or denied access to the conversation.

i'm just gonna get more grief for my views here, so i'm not going to be part of this conversation anymore. i'm just saying, here's something to think about. political conversation and music are NOT mutually exclusive. i welcome more of it into our society. like nina simone. thanks.

[Edited 3/25/11 15:28pm]

Interesting responses guy's!, i kind of see where everyone is coming from now, and i also hear Erasure is a huge gay icon band is Vince clark gay? i didn't think he was. But he has been in DM, Yazoo & Erasure & there all ''gay'' icons so idk.

But in the end music is music to me so

I mean i like culture Club and nowadays they are classified as a gay band but ik tons of straight people who dig em

MJJstudent said:

Timmy84 said:

Interesting.

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

why do you regret it? i don't think you should AT ALL. i'm not gonna get any more into that conversation. i'm just curious about why people always shy away from these intense socio-political conversations when talking about music.

people who read my posts know that everything to me is political. so i don't see it as being off the subject at all. ALL OF THESE THINGS SHOULD NATURALLY BE ABLE TO WEAVE TOGETHER, with no fear of being cut off or denied access to the conversation.

i'm just gonna get more grief for my views here, so i'm not going to be part of this conversation anymore. i'm just saying, here's something to think about. political conversation and music are NOT mutually exclusive. i welcome more of it into our society. like nina simone. thanks.

[Edited 3/25/11 15:28pm]

Because it's off topic.

Gunsnhalen said:

Interesting responses guy's!, i kind of see where everyone is coming from now, and i also hear Erasure is a huge gay icon band is Vince clark gay? i didn't think he was. But he has been in DM, Yazoo & Erasure & there all ''gay'' icons so idk.

But in the end music is music to me so

I mean i like culture Club and nowadays they are classified as a gay band but ik tons of straight people who dig em

Only one CC member is openly gay (obviously). The drummer is bi though and the other two are completely straight.

Vince Clark is straight as far as I know as is Alison Moyet who was also in Yaz/oo. Andy Bell is gay from Erasure.

Two huge gay icons that I completely forgot to mention earlier are Cole Porter and Noel Coward. Both were successful and created impressive bodies of work during a time when this kind of lifestyle was a huge taboo.

lazycrockett said:

Vince Clark is straight

lazycrockett said:

Vince Clark is straight as far as I know as is Alison Moyet who was also in Yaz/oo. Andy Bell is gay from Erasure.

Yeah he's been married since 2004 and I think he and his wife has two children.

I found the "living in Maine" more shocking than married with 2 kids.

lazycrockett said:

I found the "living in Maine" more shocking than married with 2 kids.

Since we are talking bout Vince its really amazing what a career he has had. He's been so influential for the last 30 years. Yet the guy gets very little credit. Maybe he just likes to fly under the radar. but the dude has skills.

lazycrockett said:

Since we are talking bout Vince its really amazing what a career he has had. He's been so influential for the last 30 years. Yet the guy gets very little credit. Maybe he just likes to fly under the radar. but the dude has skills.

Yeah I'm amazed at dude but it's good that he seems REAL humble and is only just about the music.

wishuhvn said:

I never really heard that Depeche Mode was considered iconic in the gay community but I do believe that the keyboardest for DM is gay. He wrote just about every song and if I hadn't read an interview with him, I would never have given it a second thought. Just really excellent lyrics and music...Listen to "People are People" and I guess now I can see how it may have been written from a gay perspective.

Martin Gore, the key songwriter for Depeche Mode is not gay. He has three kids, and I believe is on his second marriage.

MotorBootyAffair said:

wishuhvn said:

I never really heard that Depeche Mode was considered iconic in the gay community but I do believe that the keyboardest for DM is gay. He wrote just about every song and if I hadn't read an interview with him, I would never have given it a second thought. Just really excellent lyrics and music...Listen to "People are People" and I guess now I can see how it may have been written from a gay perspective.

Martin Gore, the key songwriter for Depeche Mode is not gay. He has three kids, and I believe is on his second marriage.

I wanted to point that out earlier when I saw that comment.