October 2005

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Stream Part 2Download Part 2

Stream Part 3Download Part 3

Fabulous Dyketones - Live in P-Town (1988)

Bryan Ferry - These Foolish Things (1973)

Ian Matthews - Tigers Will Survive (1972)

Flying Pickets - Live at the Albany Empire (1982)   

hover your cursor over the albums for more info

Playlist
Part 1 - 59:09
Fabulous Dyketones - She's So Fine (1988)
Bryan Ferry - It's My Party (1973)
Ian Matthews - Da Doo Ron Ron (1972)
Flying Pickets - To Know Him Is To Love Him (1982)
Flirtations - To Know Him Is To Love Him (1990)
Flirtations - Johnny Angel (1992)
Flirtations - The Boy from New York City (1992)
Kinsey Sicks - I Will Swallow Him (1999)
Kinsey Sicks - Locked Out of the Chapel of Love (2002)
Kinsey Sicks - Baby Dyke (1999)
Buena Vista - He's a Rebel (1978)
Barnes & Barnes - Pineapple Princess (1986)
Rhythm Method - I Met Her on a Sunday (1994)
Women In Comfortable Shoes - My Dyke (1992)
Alix Dobkin - I Only Want to Be With You (1974)
Walter Mayes - Johnny Get Angry (1998)
Hollywood Brats - Then He Kissed Me (1979)
Me First & the Gimme Gimmes - My Boyfriend's Back (2001)
Monica Grant - My Boyfriend's Back (1995)
Good Riddance - Leader of the Pack (2002)
Revolvers - Then He Kissed Me (2003)

Part 2 - 56:53
Blow Monkeys - You Don't Own Me (1987)
Pearlfishers - Go Away, Boy (2000)
Dave Edmunds - Da Doo Ron Ron (1980)
Jonathan King - He's So Fine (1975)
Patrick Arena & Andy Monroe - Johnny Angel (1998)

Neil Sedaka - My Best Friend Barbara (1961)
Neil Sedaka - Where the Boys Are (1967)
Roger Cook & Roger Greenaway - Golden Wonder Boy (60s)
Jackie DeShannon - Nothing's Gonna Stop Me (early 60s)
Jackie DeShannon - There's Gonna Be A Fight (early 60s)

Montells - Someday My Prince Will Come (1964)
Flying Pickets - Da Doo Ron Ron (1982)
Alice Donut - My Boyfriend's Back (1990)

BeeJays - My Boyfriend's Back (1980)
Tom Bogdan - He's So Fine (1999)
Tom Bogdan - Doo Rundy Song (1999)

Julian Clary - My Guy (1993)
Joan Collins Fan Club (Julian Clary) - Leader of the Pack (1988)
Roadies - Packer of the Leads (1977)

Part 3 - 52:55
Frank Rogala - My Boyfriend's Back (1996)
Frank Rogala - He Hit Me (and It Felt Like a Kiss) (1996)
Melissa Etheridge - Be My Baby / Love Child / Leader of the Pack (1996)

Fabulous Dyketones - Da Doo Ron Ron (1988)
Fabulous Dyketones - Be My Baby (1988)
Fabulous Dyketones - To Know Her Is To Love Her (1988)
Fabulous Dyketones - My Girlfriend's Back (1988)
Girls In The Nose - Two Lovers (1990)
Klaus Nomi - You Don't Own Me (1983)
Dave Burland - Da Doo Ron Ron (1988)
Jeff Krassner - Son of a Preacher Man (1995)
Laurence Tan - I Will Follow Him (1998)
Luvs - We Kiss in the Shadows (1963)

Michael Callen - Where the Boys Are (1989)

Flirtations - The Flirtations (1990)    Flirtations - Live Out on the Road (1992)    Kinsey Sicks - Boyz 2 Girls (1999)

Kinsey Sicks - Sicks in the City (2002)    Buena Vista's cover of "He's a Rebel" came from the 1978 film "Word Is Out." This is their only recording, a 45.    Barnes & Barnes - Sicks (1986)

The Rhythm Method - The Rhythm Method (1994)    Women in Comfortable Shoes - Sole Searching (1992)    Alix Dobkin's "Lavender Jane Loves Women" (1974) is now available on CD, with "Living With Lesbians"

from the V.A. comp "Stranger Than Fiction" childern's writer Walter Mayes brought us an over-the-top "Johnny Get Angry" (1998)    Hollywood Brats - Then He Kissed Me (7" 45rpm, 1979), their material is now on a  CD    Me First and the Gimme Gimmes - Blow in the Wind (2001)

Monica Grant - Parodisiac (1995)    Good Riddance - Cover Ups (2002)    from Germany, the Revolvers' "Then He Kissed Me" appeared on the comp "Punk Chartbusters Vol 4" (2003)

The Blow Monkeys - You Dont Own Me (from the "Dirty Dancing" soundtrack (1987)    The Pearlfishers - Go Away, Boy (from the comp "Caroline Now! The Songs of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys," 2000)    Dave Edmunds - Subtle as a Flying Mallet (1980)

Jonathan King's "He's So Fine" played with George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" (1975)    Patrick Arena & Andy Monroe - Night Cap, featuring the gorgeous "Johnny Angel," and others    Neil Sedaka - Let The Good Times In (a 2-CD comp of rare tracks)

Roger Cook & Roger Greenaway performed in the early 60's as David & Jonathan, but had more hits as writers    Jackie DeShannon wrote prolifically, and recorded many demos regardless of gender    The Montels - My Prince Will Come (1964)..click to hear the original

Alice Donut - Mule, with "My Boyfriend's Back" (1990)    The Bee Jays - My Boyfriend's Back (1980)    Tom Bogdan - L'Amour Bleu (1999)

Julian Clary, aka Joan Collins Fan Club - Leader of the Pack, 1988    The Roadies - Packer of the Leads (1977). They were really an obscure UK duo named Lewis 'n Luce    Frank Rogalla - Crimes Against Nature (1996)

Melissa Etheridge appeared at the Concert for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, 1996    Girls In The Nose - Two Lovers/Two Altars (1990)    Klaus Nomi - Encore, with his 1983 rendition of "You Don't Own Me"

Dave Burland - Rollin' (1988), though I couldn't find a decent scan of the album    Jeff Krassner - Strong for You (1995)    Laurance Tan - I Will (1998)

The Luvs - We Kissed in the Shadows (1963), the real thing    Michael Callen - Purple Heart, with "Where the Boys Are" (1989)    Michael Callen (1955-1993)

And, a special treat....Click for a video of
Michael Callen singing "Where the Boys Are"

 

Rock Dreams

Phil Spector, creator of the Wall of Sound and a driving force of the popularity of Girl Group's in the early 60's, looks very out of place in this illustration from the book "Rock Dreams," (Peellaert/Cohn, UK, 1974). The idea was to show him as a misfit, and I have to wonder what inspired the creator of the drawing, Guy Peellaert, to select a locker room motif, but you can see why it stuck in my mind.

Late Additions -- Queer GG Cover Songs Discovered Since This Show
Southern California punk group Red Wedding did their psycheldelic/glam thing from 1981 through 1985, garnering some attention. They released three now rare EPs during that period, and it's only in 2007 that their material resurfaced, on a retrospective CD shown here. What's the Girl Group connection? Well, the first track of the CD is a demo from 1982 called "Red Wedding March" and you'd only know by listening that the first 1:40 seconds of the 3:30 track is really "Chapel of Love," with male pronouns intact and some odd sound effects. The band was led by partners Michael Ely and Spider Taylor, now a couple for some 39 years. More history than you're likely to care about is found on their site.

Below, two more acts singing Girl Group songs of the 60s (or, in the case of David Roter, a parody of one)...but they keep the pronouns male-to-male. David Roter turns "He's a Rebel" into "He's a Rabbi." At right is the popular act Grizzly Bear, with Out frontman Ed Droste, with the Goffin-King song "He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss)"

David Roter  Grizzly Bear

Vontanner are "So Gay"   Michael & Chris Vontanner

Chris Vontanner has had a long career in queer music. As Chris Tanner he was one of the main contributors to the landmark album "Walls to Roses," in 1979, but his music is very different now, with his sense of humor in full view. I mean, who else would call their website domain "Scream Like A Girl"...:) His version of "It's My Party" can only be heard on my August 2008 show, but his "So Gay" album above does feature his tribute song "Shangri Las Girl"

And below, (April 2011), the CD is finally Out, with lots of GG cover songs, much fun!

The CD includes the first "gay covers" (to my knowledge) of "My Guy,"
"Please Mr Postman," and the first "trans" version of, er, "Tranny Angel"

And who else but the Kinsey Sicks would turn The Chiffons song "Sweet Talkin' Guy" into "Sheep Fuckin' Guy" and make you love it? Er, no one. It's from their 2008 CD "Sicks! Sicks! Sicks!"

 

Some of these songs in this "Late Additions" section can be heard on my August 2008 QMH show, "Songs I've Been Meaning To Play," in Part 4.

 

Honorable mention: no "gay" pronouns, but Elton John did "Chapel of Love" in the 1994 movie soundtrack for "Four Wedding and a Funeral."

The queercore band God Is My Co-Pilot 1992 CD "I Am Not This Body" emitted 34 very short original songs from that genre, including one cover, of the Shangri Las song "Out in the Streets." I included this song in my July-August 2009 Special on Queercore.

And there's still more...

 

The London Gay Mens Chorus did a smashing version of "I Will Follow Him" on their 1994 CD "Hear the Difference"

And more...

Another Pretty Face's CD "21st Century Rock" was recorded in 1972, though not released until 2004. It contained "Da Do Ron Ron."

 

On my OutRadio show for March 2011 I shared a very cool cover version of the Little Eva hit, "Keep Your Hands Off My Baby." It's found on the debut album by Charles K Brown, called "Trouble Is..." and is the first "gay" cover I know of for this song.

 

Cops in Concert

Cover of "Leader of the Pack" from 1985 by a more or less novelty/cover band from California. This was their debut release and an LP came out in 1987. Listen.

 

On Tom D'Angora's 2005 CD "The Pink Album," he has fun with quite a few songs, and of interest for this page, they include "Leader of the Pack" and "Chapel of Love." He's also got some heady behind the scenes credits: as a producer, nominated for several Drama Desk Awards for "NEWSical: The Musical," and also "Naked Boys Singing," and as co-producer of the over-the-top film "The Big Gay Musical."

 

I'm afraid I'm responsible for this one. I persuaded Freddy Freeman to record a cover of the Mary Wells song "My Guy," and I'm delighted with what he did. It's on his 2013 CD "Just Bear With Me..."


Not a song often covered, due to its subject matter...it was controversial even back in 1962 when the Crystals released it (penned by Carole King). Here's UK gay artist K Anderson giving his brutal video take. December 2015.

Video

Website

Read the script and see lots more photos