Over the rainbow and onto the charts
June 28, 2002 9:56 AM   Subscribe

Over the rainbow and onto the charts Creative loafing counts down the Gay Top 40. [via What Do I Know]
posted by kirkaracha (45 comments total)
 
Okay, this wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

I see the usual suspects are there -- I Will Survive, Vogue, Believe, etc.

But it's kind of annoying. I'm wondering if I'm the only gay man who's not a big dance music fan.
posted by Tin Man at 10:01 AM on June 28, 2002


I have to agree with Tin Man. I mean, YMCA at # 7? Please.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 10:06 AM on June 28, 2002


They forgot "It's My Life" by Talk Talk.
posted by whatnot at 10:26 AM on June 28, 2002


What a terrible bunch of songs.
posted by dydecker at 10:32 AM on June 28, 2002


All "best of" lists are inherently arbitrary, but this list somehow seems even more arbitrary than usual. Every gay friend of mine, incidentally, rightly loathes Cher's "Believe."
posted by Skot at 10:32 AM on June 28, 2002


Silly fun, but I loathe most of those songs. I'm pretty much a failure as an 'out and proud' gay man, preferring to bliss out at home to Bach's Goldberg Variations or a disc full of Two-part Inventions.

I think what is identified as 'gay culture' is actually 'nightlife culture' and, since nightlife gives me hives, who am I to judge?

Besides, the world's gayest piece of music is Ravel's Daphnis And Chloƫ.
posted by evanizer at 10:38 AM on June 28, 2002


Careful Skot - you're setting yourself up to be flame-bait for Wolfdaddy.

And Tin Man is pretty observant, this list leaves out Ty Herndon, the county heartthrob caught in a tea room, who had songs titled "Don't tell Mama" and "Living in a Moment". The nod to Tchaikovsky was nice though.
posted by TuffAustin at 10:41 AM on June 28, 2002


At the risk of sounding like a broken record (heh) I'd like to include The Soundtrack to "Newsies"
posted by ColdChef at 11:03 AM on June 28, 2002


What's so gay about Right Said Fred?
posted by spilon at 11:15 AM on June 28, 2002


I'm straight, and live in the gayest part of Toronto. This weekend, I'll be fully closeted, hiding with my clothes from the onslaught of truly awful music at Toronto's Gay Pride celebration.
posted by websavvy at 11:17 AM on June 28, 2002


I'm a straight man and I'm ashamed to admit that I enjoy a bunch of those songs on that list.

Not because they are "gay" songs, but because they are just bad songs (except for "Smalltown Boy", "1812 Overture" and "Streets of Philadelphia").

But that doesn't mean I don't privately enjoy singing/humming along to "It's Raining Men" or "A Little Respect". Boogie!
posted by grum@work at 11:25 AM on June 28, 2002


OK, so if they're going to choose a random song by Cole Porter, why not "You're the Top," which has much more suggestive gay subtext than anything else in his repertoire, I think. :)
posted by grrarrgh00 at 11:26 AM on June 28, 2002


...you're setting yourself up to be flame-bait for Wolfdaddy.

Sounds hot! Pictures please! Oh yeah, and umm without Tribe 8, Bikini Kill, Le Tigre, Imperial Teen, The Toilet Boys, and Robin Black, among many others, let us all remember that disco sucks dog dick for quarters. pardon my french
posted by RJ Reynolds at 11:32 AM on June 28, 2002


Funny, but I had you pegged as a disco bunny, RJ. Go figure.
posted by evanizer at 11:36 AM on June 28, 2002


What's so gay about Right Said Fred?
posted by spilon at 11:41 AM on June 28, 2002


Argh-- Q just had a top 5 gay anthems from Boy George, but I can't find it online. The only interesting choice was a Buju Banton anti-gay song. The idea being the backlash from the song made Banton a better person.
posted by yerfatma at 11:57 AM on June 28, 2002


I would think Chances Are and Sally Go Round The Roses should have made the list.
posted by y2karl at 12:01 PM on June 28, 2002


Here's the car for you to drive whilst listening to these songs.

Anyone ever heard the thing about Losing my Religion being about coming out? New one to me...
posted by internal at 12:21 PM on June 28, 2002


disco sucks dog dick for quarters.

You are so wrong.
Pardon my French but Va bouffer ta merde, va te faire voir!
posted by y2karl at 12:57 PM on June 28, 2002


Careful Skot - you're setting yourself up to be flame-bait for Wolfdaddy

Ooo, I just can't resist a little vanity. However Skot's comment isn't very tempting, but that's only because I'm old enough to have seen Sonny and Cher in concert (I was eight, but still). This: "What's so gay about Right Said Fred?", however, is a juicy morsel asked twice in seeming innocence that I simply. Must. Address.

spilon, what's so gay about Right Said Fred?

This is what's so gay about Right Said Fred. I trust you see what I mean. :)

Oh, and uh, RJ, sweetie pie? I'm more effeminate than you! :-D

As for what I'd add to that so-called Gay Top 40. Let's not even go there. Tammy Wynette.
posted by WolfDaddy at 1:17 PM on June 28, 2002


Gee, and I had some great ideas for photos too.

*Goes home*

(PS--The "Losing My Religion" took me aback as well.)
posted by Skot at 1:22 PM on June 28, 2002


I think the only connection "Losing My Religion" has with being gay is that Michael Stipe has come out of the closet.

Similarly I think the only connection "Streets of Philadelphia" has with gay-dom is that it was in that oh-so-earnest movie where Tom Hanks gave yet another oh-so-earnest oscar winning performance as an AIDS patient. Not that it's a bad song - it is a very good song, it's just nowhere near the gay top 10.

The big, huge, glaring, stupid omission: Sister Sledge's "We Are Family."
posted by dnash at 2:15 PM on June 28, 2002


23 of those 40 are in my MP3 collection right now. I wonder if I know something I haven't told me?
posted by mr_crash_davis at 2:28 PM on June 28, 2002


Congrats, Crash! You're a FauxMo.
posted by ColdChef at 2:30 PM on June 28, 2002


Cool. Do I get a parking placard?
posted by mr_crash_davis at 2:44 PM on June 28, 2002


Didn't you both propose to me at one time or another? I seem to have that effect on married men.

When you both decide to switch over, gimme a call. We can listen to "Newsies".
posted by evanizer at 3:04 PM on June 28, 2002


Funny, but I had you pegged as a disco bunny, RJ. Go figure.

/me freaks out, sticks safety pin in nose, turns up yeah yeah yeahs ep, window-dresses bunker to hide from gay pride onslaught.

We have to have these ridiculous gay threads at least once a month. Muy entertaining Metafilter break. I'm butchly resisting Wolfdaddy's bait... for now.
posted by RJ Reynolds at 3:18 PM on June 28, 2002


But it's kind of annoying. I'm wondering if I'm the only gay man who's not a big dance music fan.

No, you're not. Not only am I "not a big dance music fan", I despise 99.999% of what's played in gay dance clubs. It's painful.

I like rock (indie/alternative especially), classical, trad jazz, blues, good roots country and alt.country, roots/trad music of almost any variety, and lots of truly danceable music, from African pop to down and dirty blues to zydeco to the Grateful Dead. I don't like Madonna, or ABBA, or the Pet Shop Boys, or Frankie Goes to Hollywood, or the Weather Girls. I also find the concept of one's musical taste being keyed in to one's sexuality to be quite bizarre (but that's just me).

I guess I'm a bit of an odd man out, musically. Sigh.
posted by chuq at 3:28 PM on June 28, 2002


My tastes run toward punk, showtunes, queercore and country-western so, chuq, I see your "odd" and raise you one. ;-)
posted by bradlands at 3:46 PM on June 28, 2002


dnash, etc: I think you can explain "Losing my Religion" by the fact that it's an Atlanta pub, and you can't mention music in Georgia without discussing REM.

But I was floored to see how many out artists come from the Peach state.

And hey! Where's Bob Mould?
posted by emptyage at 4:11 PM on June 28, 2002


Hrm. I've got more of these than I expected(and I think I missed a few), but I'm not sure they count:

Relax - Kevorkian Death Cycle
Losing My Religion - Gregorian
Justify My Love - Frontline Assembly or Sleep Chamber
Smalltown Boy - Plastic Noise Experience
Dancing Queen/Ballroom Blitz - Black Sweden
Vogue - Astralasia
posted by Su at 4:38 PM on June 28, 2002


11. "Smalltown Boy," Bronski Beat -- This song perfectly chronicled the journey of a young gay man coming out and leaving home

How about "Strange Town" by The Jam?

But I was floored to see how many out artists come from the Peach state.

Some of the artists (R.E.M., B-52s) are from there because of the University of Georgia.
posted by kirkaracha at 4:44 PM on June 28, 2002


We could probably do this forever, but-- Joan Jett! "I don't give a #@&*^% about my bad reputation!" Yeah.

She's out now too, I understand...
posted by jokeefe at 4:54 PM on June 28, 2002


"She's out now too, I understand..."

Sure, destroy another of my adolescent fantasies.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 4:59 PM on June 28, 2002


joan jett: not necessarily a dyke. fantasize onward.
posted by patricking at 5:10 PM on June 28, 2002


Sure, destroy another of my adolescent fantasies.
Ah, but it depends on whose adolescence we are talking about here, no? Heh. And patricking, I read that entire article, and the evidence seems pretty straightforward: the only thing missing is her signed and sealed coming out statement. As far as everything else goes, all indications look clear--I mean, season's tickets for the WNBA! What could be more overt... So I claim priority fantasizing rights.
posted by jokeefe at 7:13 PM on June 28, 2002


jokeefe: if a woman buying season tickets to the WNBA is sufficient proof that she's a lesbian, what does that say about all the beer-bellied family guys with season tickets to the regular NBA?

Umm ... err ... never mind.
posted by jacobm at 8:20 PM on June 28, 2002


what does that say about all the beer-bellied family guys with season tickets to the regular NBA

It means I am a very happy homewrecker ;-)

not really. not really much
posted by WolfDaddy at 8:35 PM on June 28, 2002


It means I am a very happy homewrecker ;-)

I don't know about you, but I can't imagine too many beer-bellied sports fans I know who'd be on my list if I decided to jump the fence. Brad Pitt, on the other hand ... or Tom Cruise ... now there's a dynamic duo that could turn me. Or the Magnetic Fields' Stephin Merritt, to bring the thread ever-so-slowly back towards on-topicness.
posted by jacobm at 8:46 PM on June 28, 2002


I've never ever heard YMCA in a gay club, but maybe I don't get out enough.
posted by kerplunk at 1:40 AM on June 29, 2002


How Soon Is Now?
posted by yonderboy at 4:43 AM on June 29, 2002


Gayest.Song.Ever. [Real Player File, suspiciously via jonmc]
posted by evanizer at 5:48 AM on June 29, 2002


Hel-LO!

Wait a minute, I'm straight. But, I did grow up in Chelsea and Provincetown...
posted by nicwolff at 3:18 PM on June 29, 2002


Gayest.Song.Ever. [Real Player File, suspiciously via jonmc]

A note from lisa, aka mrs jonmc--

Ev, we dance to it every night... cheek-to-cheek. (Webcam, coming soon!) :)
posted by jonmc at 8:02 PM on June 29, 2002


No Smiths and no Pansy Division. That says it all, doesn't it?
posted by mediareport at 1:43 AM on June 30, 2002


« Older View the Wall.   |   Angered Bush to Give Speech on Corporate Reforms. Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments