Duckie

The London alternative club night, Duckie, selected for Polari Magazine’s list of LGBT Heroes. For UK LGBT History Month 2012.

“For almost 17 years Duckie has been providing an actual alternative to the gay scene in London.”

Jessie J, Do It Like A Dude

The Readers Wifes twenty-fourth choice of song with LGBT significance: Jessie J, Do It Like A Dude. For 2012 LGBT History Month.

“And if I was a 2012 teen, confused about my sexuality, I’d imagine statements like “I’ve never denied it. Whoopie-doo guys, yes, I’ve dated girls and I’ve dated boys – get over it” might just feel like some kind of lifeline.”

Pet Shop Boys, The Truck-Driver And His Mate

The Readers Wifes twenty-third choice of song with LGBT significance: Pet Shop Boys, The Truck-Driver And His Mate. For 2012 LGBT History Month.

“A great big howling BRUTE of a record it’s the closest we’ll probably ever get to hearing the fellas ROCK OUT.”

The Singing Nun, Dominique

The Readers Wifes twenty-second choice of song with LGBT significance: The Singing Nun, Dominique. For 2012 LGBT History Month.

“Struggles with her faith, her fame, her sexuality and drugs, not to mention a hounding from the Belgian authorities over unpaid taxes, all took their toll. When nuns go bad.”

Lou Reed, Walk on the Wild Side

The Readers Wifes twenty-first choice of song with LGBT significance: Lou Reed, Walk on the Wild Side. For 2012 LGBT History Month.

“With its myriad references to drugs, prostitution and yer actual oral sex (“giving head”) one can only wonder at how in God’s name Lou’s timeless, wistful tribute to a coterie of Andy Warhol disciples ever made it past the censors at the BBC.”

Born This Way, Carl Bean.

The Readers Wifes ninetheenth choice of song with LGBT significance: Born This Way, Carl Bean. For 2012 LGBT History Month.

“I’m happy, I’m carefree and I’m gay… I was born this way”. If Gaga echoed these exact same sentiments recently, ageing Disco heads will remember it as a late-‘70s Lib anthem.

John Leyton, Johnny Remember Me

The Readers Wifes seventeenth choice of song with LGBT significance: John Leyton, Johnny Remember Me. For 2012 LGBT History Month.

“One of the eeriest, most unsettling Number 1 records of all time..”

Jesus Loves You, Generations of Love

The Readers Wifes sixteenth choice of song with LGBT significance: Jesus Loves You, Generations of Love. For 2012 LGBT History Month.

To this day, ‘Generations of Love’ sounds like a paean to a lost generation, a huge regretful sigh.

Echobelly, Great Things

The Readers Wifes fifteenth choice of song with LGBT significance: Echobelly, Great Things. For 2012 LGBT History Month.

“In spite of being the era where – supposedly – girls who were boys liked boys to be girls and did boys like they were girls who did girls like they were boys, Britpop threw up surprisingly few new gay stars.”

Queen, Killer Queen

The Readers Wifes fourteenth choice of song with LGBT significance: Queen, Killer Queen. For 2012 LGBT History Month.

It’s a measure of just how estranged gay and straight people were from one another back then that Queen Freddie could preen his way through the 1970s in black nail varnish and white satin looking like a chiaroscuro Zandra Rhodes and yet… nobody knew.