From the very beginning, the blues has had a close connection with the LGBTQ community. There is a long and decorated history of so-called 'dirty blues' songs, stretching back beyond the earliest attempts to capture the blues on record. The 1920s and 30s saw the release of dozens of raunchy, bawdy blues recordings aimed at a knowing LGBTQ audience.Queer Blues tells the story of the pioneering LGBTQ composers and entertainers that wrote, performed and recorded these wonderfully outlandish, life-affirming songs and chronicles, including: Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Josephine Baker to Frankie 'Half-Pint' Jaxon and many more.This is the definitive account of the LGBTQ trailblazers of early blues and a fascinating consideration of the intersection between music and LGBTQ history, from the award-winning Darryl W. Bullock.

‘Lovingly detailed and exhaustively researched – easily the most readable and comprehensive guide I've seen to this fascinating hidden history’ Tom Robinson, musician, broadcaster and long-time LGBT rights activistFrom Sia to Elton John, Dusty Springfield to Little Richard, LGBT voices have changed the course of modern music. But in a world before they gained understanding and a place in the mainstream, how did the queer musicians of yesteryear fight to build foundations for those who came after?Pulling back the curtain on the colourful world that shaped our musical and cultural landscape, Darryl W. Bullock reveals the inspiring and often heartbreaking stories of internationally renowned stars, as well as lesser-known names, who have led the revolution from all corners of the globe. David Bowie Made Me Gay is a treasure trove of moving and provocative stories that emphasise the right to be heard and the need to keep up the fight for equality in the spotlight.

‘Lovingly detailed and exhaustively researched – easily the most readable and comprehensive guide I've seen to this fascinating hidden history’ Tom Robinson, musician, broadcaster and long-time LGBT rights activistFrom Sia to Elton John, Dusty Springfield to Little Richard, LGBT voices have changed the course of modern music. But in a world before they gained understanding and a place in the mainstream, how did the queer musicians of yesteryear fight to build foundations for those who came after?Pulling back the curtain on the colourful world that shaped our musical and cultural landscape, Darryl W. Bullock reveals the inspiring and often heartbreaking stories of internationally renowned stars, as well as lesser-known names, who have led the revolution from all corners of the globe. David Bowie Made Me Gay is a treasure trove of moving and provocative stories that emphasise the right to be heard and the need to keep up the fight for equality in the spotlight.

David Bowie Made Me Gay isthe most “sweeping” and “comprehensive” (Kirkus Reviews, A Best Nonfiction Book Selection) history of LGBT music ever compiled, encompassing a century of music by and for the LGBT community. From Sia to Elton John, from Billie Holiday to David Bowie, LGBT musicians have changed the course of modern music. But before their music—and the messages behind it—gained understanding and a place in the mainstream, how did the queer musicians of yesteryear fight to build foundations for those who would follow them? David Bowie Made Me Gay is the first book to cover the breadth of history of recorded music by and for the LGBT community. Darryl W. Bullock reveals the stories of both famous and lesser-known LGBT musicians, whose perseverance against the threat of persecution during decades of political and historical turmoil—including two world wars, Stonewall, and the AIDS crisis—has led to some of the most significant and soul-searching music of the last century. Bullock chronicles these struggles through new interviews and archival reports, dating from the birth of jazz in the red-light district of New Orleans, through the rock ‘n’ roll years, Swinging Sixties, and disco days of the ‘70s, right up to modern pop, electronica, and reggae. An entertaining treasure trove of untold history for all music lovers, David Bowie Made Me Gay is an inspiring, nostalgic, and provocative story of the right to be heard and the need to keep the fight for equality in the spotlight.

Raised in poverty on an Iowa farm, the Cherry Sisters had little education and no training. But they possessed a burning desire to take to the stage and show the world what they could do--and what they could do was awful. Their unique act was "so bad it was good." When the sisters took the stage, they were met with rotten fruit and vegetables, festering meat, dead cats… Riots often broke out after (and sometimes during) their concerts, but they carried on, changing attitudes--and laws--along the way.This book follows the five women through their forty-year career in vaudeville theaters across the U.S. Proud, fearless and fiercely independent in a time when women were treated as second-class citizens, the Cherry Sisters insisted that their voices be heard.

Author of the Penderyn Prize-winning The Velvet MafiaFifty years on from Britain's first Pride march, the long road to LGBT equality continues. Through protest songs and gay club nights, street theatre activism and fundraising concerts, the performing arts have played an influential role in each great stride made.With new interviews with musicians and DJs, performers and activists, including Andy Bell, Jayne County, John Grant, Horse McDonald and Peter Tachell, Pride, Pop and Politics hears from those whose art has been influenced by the campaign for LGBT rights - and helped push it forward.This informative, eye-opening book is the first to focus on the relationship between gay nightlife and political activism in Britain.

A GUARDIAN MUSIC BOOK OF THE YEAR 2025Joe Meek. Wayward genius; the British Phil Spector,the first producer to treat the recording studio as an instrument; head of oneof the earliest independent record labels; creator of some of the mostincredibly influential pop music ever, including 'Telstar', the first Americannumber one single by a British band; and a man tormented by mental healthissues and financial battles. He was all these and more, as author Darryl W. Bullockreveals through numerous original interviews with friends and colleagues in hiscompelling biography of the legendary producer. Love and Fury takes readers on a guided tour ofMeek's fabled Holloway Road studio, examines the recordings issued during hislifetime, looks at the wealth of unreleased material he left behind - thelegendary Tea Chest tapes, rumoured to include recordings by David Bowie, MarcBolan, Ray Davies of the Kinks and others - and examines that events whichultimately led to murder and suicide.

Marlene Dietrich, Billie Holliday, Freddie Mercury, Little Richard... David Bowie me hizo gay nos habla de la influencia de los artistas LGTB en el nacimiento del jazz y el blues; examina el casi olvidado Pansy Craze del periodo de entreguerras, donde las salvajes fiestas drag de los años 30 iniciaron la vida nocturna gay; la expansiva era Weimar, el ambiente bohemio de las grandes ciudades como París, Berlín, Londres y Nueva York antes de que la violencia de las mafias, el nazismo y la homofobia de Hollywood devolvieran a los músicos queer a la clandestinidad. Sin olvidar el rock and roll, el swing de los sesenta, la explosión de música posterior a Stonewall, el movimiento punk, el glam de los ochenta, la muerte de Bowie, y todo lo que pasó en el medio. Un recorrido por la música que ha permitido a generaciones de personas sentirse más libres y expresarse sin miedo.

From the very beginning, the blues has had a close connection with the LGBTQ community. There is a long and decorated history of so-called 'dirty blues' songs, stretching back beyond the earliest attempts to capture the blues on record. The 1920s and 30s saw the release of dozens of raunchy, bawdy blues recordings aimed at a knowing LGBTQ audience.Queer Blues tells the story of the pioneering LGBTQ composers and entertainers that wrote, performed and recorded these wonderfully outlandish, life-affirming songs and chronicles, including: Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Josephine Baker to Frankie 'Half-Pint' Jaxon and many more.This is the definitive account of the LGBTQ trailblazers of early blues and a fascinating consideration of the intersection between music and LGBTQ history, from the award-winning Darryl W. Bullock.

‘Lovingly detailed and exhaustively researched – easily the most readable and comprehensive guide I've seen to this fascinating hidden history’ Tom Robinson, musician, broadcaster and long-time LGBT rights activistFrom Sia to Elton John, Dusty Springfield to Little Richard, LGBT voices have changed the course of modern music. But in a world before they gained understanding and a place in the mainstream, how did the queer musicians of yesteryear fight to build foundations for those who came after?Pulling back the curtain on the colourful world that shaped our musical and cultural landscape, Darryl W. Bullock reveals the inspiring and often heartbreaking stories of internationally renowned stars, as well as lesser-known names, who have led the revolution from all corners of the globe. David Bowie Made Me Gay is a treasure trove of moving and provocative stories that emphasise the right to be heard and the need to keep up the fight for equality in the spotlight.

‘Lovingly detailed and exhaustively researched – easily the most readable and comprehensive guide I've seen to this fascinating hidden history’ Tom Robinson, musician, broadcaster and long-time LGBT rights activistFrom Sia to Elton John, Dusty Springfield to Little Richard, LGBT voices have changed the course of modern music. But in a world before they gained understanding and a place in the mainstream, how did the queer musicians of yesteryear fight to build foundations for those who came after?Pulling back the curtain on the colourful world that shaped our musical and cultural landscape, Darryl W. Bullock reveals the inspiring and often heartbreaking stories of internationally renowned stars, as well as lesser-known names, who have led the revolution from all corners of the globe. David Bowie Made Me Gay is a treasure trove of moving and provocative stories that emphasise the right to be heard and the need to keep up the fight for equality in the spotlight.

David Bowie Made Me Gay isthe most “sweeping” and “comprehensive” (Kirkus Reviews, A Best Nonfiction Book Selection) history of LGBT music ever compiled, encompassing a century of music by and for the LGBT community. From Sia to Elton John, from Billie Holiday to David Bowie, LGBT musicians have changed the course of modern music. But before their music—and the messages behind it—gained understanding and a place in the mainstream, how did the queer musicians of yesteryear fight to build foundations for those who would follow them? David Bowie Made Me Gay is the first book to cover the breadth of history of recorded music by and for the LGBT community. Darryl W. Bullock reveals the stories of both famous and lesser-known LGBT musicians, whose perseverance against the threat of persecution during decades of political and historical turmoil—including two world wars, Stonewall, and the AIDS crisis—has led to some of the most significant and soul-searching music of the last century. Bullock chronicles these struggles through new interviews and archival reports, dating from the birth of jazz in the red-light district of New Orleans, through the rock ‘n’ roll years, Swinging Sixties, and disco days of the ‘70s, right up to modern pop, electronica, and reggae. An entertaining treasure trove of untold history for all music lovers, David Bowie Made Me Gay is an inspiring, nostalgic, and provocative story of the right to be heard and the need to keep the fight for equality in the spotlight.

Raised in poverty on an Iowa farm, the Cherry Sisters had little education and no training. But they possessed a burning desire to take to the stage and show the world what they could do--and what they could do was awful. Their unique act was "so bad it was good." When the sisters took the stage, they were met with rotten fruit and vegetables, festering meat, dead cats… Riots often broke out after (and sometimes during) their concerts, but they carried on, changing attitudes--and laws--along the way.This book follows the five women through their forty-year career in vaudeville theaters across the U.S. Proud, fearless and fiercely independent in a time when women were treated as second-class citizens, the Cherry Sisters insisted that their voices be heard.

Author of the Penderyn Prize-winning The Velvet MafiaFifty years on from Britain's first Pride march, the long road to LGBT equality continues. Through protest songs and gay club nights, street theatre activism and fundraising concerts, the performing arts have played an influential role in each great stride made.With new interviews with musicians and DJs, performers and activists, including Andy Bell, Jayne County, John Grant, Horse McDonald and Peter Tachell, Pride, Pop and Politics hears from those whose art has been influenced by the campaign for LGBT rights - and helped push it forward.This informative, eye-opening book is the first to focus on the relationship between gay nightlife and political activism in Britain.

A GUARDIAN MUSIC BOOK OF THE YEAR 2025Joe Meek. Wayward genius; the British Phil Spector,the first producer to treat the recording studio as an instrument; head of oneof the earliest independent record labels; creator of some of the mostincredibly influential pop music ever, including 'Telstar', the first Americannumber one single by a British band; and a man tormented by mental healthissues and financial battles. He was all these and more, as author Darryl W. Bullockreveals through numerous original interviews with friends and colleagues in hiscompelling biography of the legendary producer. Love and Fury takes readers on a guided tour ofMeek's fabled Holloway Road studio, examines the recordings issued during hislifetime, looks at the wealth of unreleased material he left behind - thelegendary Tea Chest tapes, rumoured to include recordings by David Bowie, MarcBolan, Ray Davies of the Kinks and others - and examines that events whichultimately led to murder and suicide.

Marlene Dietrich, Billie Holliday, Freddie Mercury, Little Richard... David Bowie me hizo gay nos habla de la influencia de los artistas LGTB en el nacimiento del jazz y el blues; examina el casi olvidado Pansy Craze del periodo de entreguerras, donde las salvajes fiestas drag de los años 30 iniciaron la vida nocturna gay; la expansiva era Weimar, el ambiente bohemio de las grandes ciudades como París, Berlín, Londres y Nueva York antes de que la violencia de las mafias, el nazismo y la homofobia de Hollywood devolvieran a los músicos queer a la clandestinidad. Sin olvidar el rock and roll, el swing de los sesenta, la explosión de música posterior a Stonewall, el movimiento punk, el glam de los ochenta, la muerte de Bowie, y todo lo que pasó en el medio. Un recorrido por la música que ha permitido a generaciones de personas sentirse más libres y expresarse sin miedo.