Strong Love, Songs of Gay Liberation 1972 – 1981 is a new compilation of gay themed songs by male artists.
The collection has been put together by record label head Guy Blackman. Blackman’s music career began here in Perth in the early 90’s when he used to put out music ‘zines and host RTRFM’s Out to Lunch new music program. OUTinPerth spoke to Blackman to find out where his interest in obscure gay rights records began.
When did your interest in obscure gay rights records begin?
Many years ago my boyfriend brought home a record from the op shop which was by Michael Cohen. We thought it was some cute novelty at the time, it was like; songs sensitively address being a gay man in a modern lifestyle; it was from the early or mid seventies. But it stuck with me and grew more important and I started to look for more records from that day.
Then I got the idea that there is a whole history that’s pretty much undocumented about the first people in the whole world to go on record musically, talking about being gay. It just struck me that was something that hadn’t been explored in a compilation before.
There’s one record that came out a few years back compiled by Jon Savage called Queer Noises, it has a couple of the same artists but it was more a compilation about homosexuality. There are songs by straight artists singing about how we should be more tolerant of homosexuals or talking about ‘the sad plight’. This is the first compilation where it’s all I’m gay and I’m proud and exploring those first expressions.
How do you go about finding all these records?
Well once you know what you’re looking for they’re not hard to find, they turn up on e-bay for five dollars. They’re not highly coveted or expensive. I found this website that was very influential in compiling the compilation. It’s called Queer Music Heritage, its run by this guy in America; in Houston, who does a monthly radio show and he puts up all the transcripts and MP3s of everything he plays and photos. It’s basically the best resource available, it’s exhaustive. Pretty much everything on the compilation I first heard on that radio show.
When we think of gay music we tend to think of disco or house music but the tracks on this compilation are really genre defying there’s everything from country to rock and folk.
The initial instances for me seemed to come out of the folky protest genre. In the early ‘70s folk music was the genre where people spoke out about injustices. There are a few where it’s a guy with his guitar singing about his life. From there it just sort of flowers and heads off in all directions.
This is a compilation of male artists, why a focus on men? Is there a female compilation to come in the future?
I wrestled with that issue, basically Chapter is a label based around personal preferences. I’ve been working on it since I was a seventeen year old in Perth. The compilation is from the perspective of one person’s special interest and obsession. But I do own a lot of lesbian records from the ‘70s and I’m really fascinated by women’s music from that period too. But for this compilation I felt that it was the men strangely enough that were underexposed.
There was a label in the ‘70s called Olivia that put out of lot of records; there is a lot of older women’s music and old lesbian music. Women like Cris Williamson, Holly Near and Meg Christian. Women like that were stars. The women were so much more organised than the men. The men were a little more prickly and uncomfortable with what was going on. I’ve read a lot of reviews from the time…from things like The Advocate…they’re pretty uniformly hostile towards the male artists and negative. They were underappreciated. I guess gay men at the time wanted to listen to Judy Garland or go out to the disco.
Five Tracks We Love
It’s Okay by Blackberri
This is a beautiful soul tune with bongo drums and gospel background vocals. Charles Ashmore changed his name the gender neutral Blackberri after living in a feminist commune in the ‘70s. He first started performing his openly gay songs in Tucson, Arizona before moving to San Francisco and joining one of the world’s first openly gay radio shows.
Strong Love by Smokey
First released in 1976 this is an intriguing mix of electronics and rock that just screams leather queen. In the photo in the CD he looks like Mr Quatro. Smokey put out five singles between 1974 and 1980 and Chapter music will be reissuing all his work in the future.
Big Strong Man in My Life by Chris Robinson
Chris Turner was previously a member of pop band Steam who are remembered for their hit Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye – later a hit for Bananarama. This track is classic ‘70s rock and was originally recorded as a demo to later be sung by a female vocalist.
Hot Magazine by Buena Vista
It’s an ode to going to a book store and buying a hot magazine. The vocals on this track are so clear it feels a little bit like a track from a lost musical. The band’s drummer Richard Dworkin has written an excellent introduction to the CD where he remembers the ‘70s music scene.
Stand Up For Your Rights by International Gay Society
This one sounds a bit like a queer Sly and the Family Stone, an uplifting anthem asking everyone to get involved and make a noise. Wouldn’t be awesome if we could learn the words and sing it at Equal Love rallies instead of those tired old chants.
Graeme Watson
