Pride Music - My Top 5 Queer Artists
Jun. 30th, 2014 11:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
glitter_n_goreI'm saying "queer" because it's easier to type than "LGBTQ + a bunch of other letters I can never remember." (Love the people, not the acronym. It's not kind to dyslexics.) Apparently this is the only thing I'm doing for Pride Month this year. Which is still better than previous years, in which I've done absolutely nothing because I'm horrible at keeping track of when things are.
I ran into a lot of unforeseen qualifiers once I started putting this list together. For instance, I wanted to only use artists who are actually out and on the record as not-straight. As opposed to people who've been the subject of speculation but have neither confirmed nor denied anything, or people who use fanservice as a gimmick (particulary the girl-on-girl kind--yeah, don't get me started), or people who appeal to a queer audience for whatever reason but aren't queer themselves (Madonna, Cher, Celine Dion, etc.). And from there I had to narrow it down to music I actually like.
Wasn't easy, let me tell you. I've also, sadly but somehow not surprisingly, wound up with a completely male-dominated list here. It's not that I don't like Tegan & Sarah--I saw them live once, opening for Ben Folds, and they put on a good show. But it's still not really my thing. And much as I've tried to like Lady Gaga, I still feel only "meh" about her music.
That in mind. . .
Here are My Top Five Queer Artists! (In ascending order of how much I enjoy them.)
First, an honorable mention:
Sam Sparro
This song was on the soundtrack to the Fame remake, but I first heard it at a university dance recital years ago. One of the seniors did a solo interpretive thing to "Black and Gold" as part of her thesis project, and it was amazing. So amazing I immediately had to know what the song was. I've never bothered to find out more about Sam Sparro, but I am glad I tracked this down when I did.
5) Adam Lambert
I don't watch American Idol. At all. But several of my college buddies did, so I know Lambert's not the first gay boy to crack the final five or whatever they call it, but he was the first to really run with that platform in a positive way and still make really fun dance music. I'm not a huge fan--I don't know much about him except I just really like this one song, truth to be told. But I've listened to it a *lot*, and I gotta admit--the boy's got style.
4) Elton John
Did you know his cover of "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" is the first version I ever heard? Sir Elton is one of those great artists who broke onto the scene in the 60s, started out great, stayed consistently relevant and interesting, and kept putting out good music even if his wardrobe got weird. Incidentally, the first version of "Your Song" that I heard was the one Ewan MacGregor sings in Moulin Rouge.
3) Cinema Bizarre
These guys are more talented than anyone but their very small, very loyal fanbase gives them credit for. A few of them have solo projects now, and they're all pretty good, but I much preferred them as a band--and am still kicking myself for not discovering them until mere months before they split. (They played Richmond! On my birthday!! I found that out a week after they left. GAH!)
2) Savage Garden / Darren Hayes
How brilliant is it to take your band name from a line from The Vampire Chronicles? Whose idea was that? Anyways, I don't think I've mentioned this much, but I loooooove Savage Garden. One side-effect of putting this together was rediscovering that, and tracking down some of Darren Hayes' solo work, which is great. Songs like "Truly, Madly, Deeply," and "Crash and Burn," and "I Knew I Loved You" have already gone down in pop history as having some of the most romantic lyrics of all time, but personally "I Want You" always has been and always will be my favorite.
1) Queen
I remember vividly the first time I heard Freddie Mercury's voice. I was amazed that anyone in the rock world could sound like that. Not that rock doesn't have some fine vocalists, but Freddie has a technique and style that's both instantly recognizable and impossible to duplicate. Everything they've done is classic. It's no wonder Queen took over soundtrack duties on the first Highlander movie--There Can Only Be One.
So who have I left out? Anyone have recommendations? Questions? Hit me--I'm all ears. :)
I ran into a lot of unforeseen qualifiers once I started putting this list together. For instance, I wanted to only use artists who are actually out and on the record as not-straight. As opposed to people who've been the subject of speculation but have neither confirmed nor denied anything, or people who use fanservice as a gimmick (particulary the girl-on-girl kind--yeah, don't get me started), or people who appeal to a queer audience for whatever reason but aren't queer themselves (Madonna, Cher, Celine Dion, etc.). And from there I had to narrow it down to music I actually like.
Wasn't easy, let me tell you. I've also, sadly but somehow not surprisingly, wound up with a completely male-dominated list here. It's not that I don't like Tegan & Sarah--I saw them live once, opening for Ben Folds, and they put on a good show. But it's still not really my thing. And much as I've tried to like Lady Gaga, I still feel only "meh" about her music.
That in mind. . .
Here are My Top Five Queer Artists! (In ascending order of how much I enjoy them.)
First, an honorable mention:
Sam Sparro
This song was on the soundtrack to the Fame remake, but I first heard it at a university dance recital years ago. One of the seniors did a solo interpretive thing to "Black and Gold" as part of her thesis project, and it was amazing. So amazing I immediately had to know what the song was. I've never bothered to find out more about Sam Sparro, but I am glad I tracked this down when I did.
5) Adam Lambert
I don't watch American Idol. At all. But several of my college buddies did, so I know Lambert's not the first gay boy to crack the final five or whatever they call it, but he was the first to really run with that platform in a positive way and still make really fun dance music. I'm not a huge fan--I don't know much about him except I just really like this one song, truth to be told. But I've listened to it a *lot*, and I gotta admit--the boy's got style.
4) Elton John
Did you know his cover of "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" is the first version I ever heard? Sir Elton is one of those great artists who broke onto the scene in the 60s, started out great, stayed consistently relevant and interesting, and kept putting out good music even if his wardrobe got weird. Incidentally, the first version of "Your Song" that I heard was the one Ewan MacGregor sings in Moulin Rouge.
3) Cinema Bizarre
These guys are more talented than anyone but their very small, very loyal fanbase gives them credit for. A few of them have solo projects now, and they're all pretty good, but I much preferred them as a band--and am still kicking myself for not discovering them until mere months before they split. (They played Richmond! On my birthday!! I found that out a week after they left. GAH!)
2) Savage Garden / Darren Hayes
How brilliant is it to take your band name from a line from The Vampire Chronicles? Whose idea was that? Anyways, I don't think I've mentioned this much, but I loooooove Savage Garden. One side-effect of putting this together was rediscovering that, and tracking down some of Darren Hayes' solo work, which is great. Songs like "Truly, Madly, Deeply," and "Crash and Burn," and "I Knew I Loved You" have already gone down in pop history as having some of the most romantic lyrics of all time, but personally "I Want You" always has been and always will be my favorite.
1) Queen
I remember vividly the first time I heard Freddie Mercury's voice. I was amazed that anyone in the rock world could sound like that. Not that rock doesn't have some fine vocalists, but Freddie has a technique and style that's both instantly recognizable and impossible to duplicate. Everything they've done is classic. It's no wonder Queen took over soundtrack duties on the first Highlander movie--There Can Only Be One.
So who have I left out? Anyone have recommendations? Questions? Hit me--I'm all ears. :)