80s pop from the gay U.K.
On BBC2 Radio‘s Wednesday night broadcast of The People’s Songs, an hour-long episode will be dedicated to the historical influence of gays in British pop music. Here’s a preview from Stuart Maconie‘s show, Smalltown Boy, which takes its name from Bronski Beat‘s hit gay anthem:
“In part 12 of The People’s Songs, Stuart recalls the arrival of openly gay pop in the UK in the 1980s with acts like Bronski Beat and The Pet Shop Boys….
“Whilst British pop has had a long and colourful history of powerful and visionary movers and shakers who just happened to be gay, for a long time it was a story that was kept under wraps. Partly because it would have been distasteful to a huge chunk of the mainstream record buying public, but mostly because it was also illegal until 1967. But consider these gay trailblazers: Brian Epstein and Simon Napier Bell were incredibly successful managers, the former with, of course, The Beatles, the latter with Marc Bolan and later Wham. Joe Meek was a maverick music-making trail-blazer and Kenny Everett the most influential DJ of his era.”
Catch it anytime on the BBC’s website.
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